The National Lottery Good Causes has revealed a list of 49 projects that will compete in this year's National Lottery Awards.
Over 900 lottery-funded programmes had entered this year's awards with a panel of judges coming up with a short-list of 49 split over seven categories reflecting the different areas that receive National Lottery Funding: arts, sport, heritage, health, environment, education and voluntary/charity.
The winners will now be decided by public vote with the most voted receiving an award trophy and £2,000 towards their project.
Some notable projects in the heritage category include The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Bristol Dinosaur Project, which is enabling paleontologists at the University of Bristol to tell people more about Bristol's very own dinosaur, which lived on tropical islands in the area 210 million years ago.
In the sport category, three Sport England projects are among the seven finalists to feature in the category.
The Active Villages project in Devon works with small communities across the region, giving people in rural areas the chance to participate in sport.
Us Girls is also nominated for its work creating sporting opportunities for ladies in disadvantaged communities. The programme has run more than 9,000 sessions, reaching 29,000 women and girls in the process.
The final Sport England project to be nominated is Ping! - an organisation bringing table tennis to communities across England in fun and unique ways. By putting tables in unusual locations such as cathedrals, zoos and train stations, Ping! Has helped to engage more than 600,000 people and create 600 volunteering opportunities since the programme began in 2010.
Voting, which closes at midnight on 24 July, is now open for the awards. For more information
click here.
