http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1345526,00.html
"Cycle paths scoop the lottery poll
David Smith
Sunday November 7, 2004
The Observer
They dominated the headlines, broke visitor records and were hailed as the
great success stories of the National Lottery. Yet when it come to a popularity
contest for the nation's favourite lottery beneficiary, Tate Modern and the
Eden Project were pipped at the post - by the humble cyclist.
At last night's first National Lottery Helping Hand Awards, held to celebrate
the lottery's 10th birthday, the prize for the biggest impact on British life
by a funded project went to the little-celebrated Sustrans, a Bristol-based
charity which pioneered the National Cycle Network. In a public phone poll it
finished well clear of both the Eden Project, showcasing flora and fauna in
'biomes' in Cornwall, and London's much-visited Tate Modern gallery, the scene
of the awards ceremony.
Celebrity cyclists such as Boris Johnson, Jeremy Paxman and Jon Snow are among
those likely to toast Sustrans for co-ordinating the creation of 8,200 miles of
network so far, with a target of 10,000 miles by the end of next year. Sustrans
calculated 126 million trips were made on the network in 2003, nearly a third
of them replacing a car journey. The initiative was made possible by a lottery
award of £43.5 million from the Millennium Commission.
Gill Harrison, of Sustrans, said: 'It's great to win, it's a huge boost and
gives us prestige. It is further evidence that we are having an impact on
people's lives. It will help us carry on because there's a lot more to do.
We've just had a £10m grant from the Department for Transport to develop links
to schools.'
She admitted Sustrans had been the 'underdog' nominee against Tate Modern and
the Eden Project. But she added: 'Of the three we're the only one who can claim
to be truly national. People go to the Tate and go the Eden Project but we are
the only one that goes to the people. About half the population lives within
two miles of the cycle network. It benefits not only cyclists but people
pushing buggies, people walking dogs, horse riders and others.'
In the 'national hero' category Simon Weston, the Falklands War veteran and
founder of the charity Weston Spirit, and Kelly Holmes, this year's double
Olympic gold medalist, were outpolled by Laurie Symes, representing 100,000
surviving veterans of the Second World War. This year £5.3m of lottery funding
was awarded to more than 7,400 veterans so they could return to wartime
battlefields, including 60th anniversary commemorations of D-Day and Arnhem.
Symes is a veteran of both battles.
Around 150 lottery-funded projects across Britain opened for free or staged
special events yesterday. Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, attending
celebrations at Tate Modern along with the Olympic rowing champion, Matthew
Pinsent, hit back at charities which have accused the government of siphoning
off more than half of lottery money raised for good causes for its own pet
projects. She dismissed criticism from the National Trust, which said it was
increasingly anxious about being sidelined, as 'complete and utter nonsense'
and cited £3 billion of investment in heritage projects.
Jowell told The Observer : 'There will always be a debate on which side of the
line funding for anything in the health, education, environment areas falls.
Criticism may be made of the fact that lottery money has been used to fund
cancer equipment, but if you look at the number of fundraising appeals that are
run by the friends of hospitals and voluntary organisations to raise money to
buy state-of-the-art cancer equipment, you will see this is by no means an area
of investment that has always and exclusively been the responsibility of
government.' "
Cheers, helen s
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