The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects and celebrate the difference that these organisations make to local communities.  The public are being urged to show their support by casting a vote to help choose a winner in seven categories, including Heritage.

The three finalists in the Best Heritage Project category are:

• Unfolding the Quilts, York
  The Quilt Museum and Gallery in York opened in 2008, displaying the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles’ collection of more than 800 historic and contemporary quilts. The Lottery-funded Unfolding the Quilts project enables the museum and gallery to work with volunteers and with the wider community.  Lottery funding has also enabled it to recruit and train up to 80 volunteers who support the museum and gallery through stewarding, education workshops and conservation and also to teach sewing and quilting skills to over 7,000 children, young people and others in the wider community. To register your vote for Unfolding the Quilts call 0844 836 9716 or log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards.
• We Were Brothers: WW1 A Shared Heritage, Northern Ireland
  We Were Brothers: WW1 A Shared Heritage is a play, a DVD, a book, an interactive website and a youth project remembering the heritage of soldiers from both the Unionist and the Nationalist traditions who served side by side with the British army in WW1, as members of the Ulster Battalions or the Irish Volunteers. To register your vote for We Were Brothers call 0844 836 9717 or log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards.
• Wentworth Castle (Trust) and Stainborough Park, Stainborough, near Barnsley
  Wentworth Castle Trust was created in 2002 to rescue the historic Wentworth Castle Estate from dereliction through a phased programme of restoration, and to provide extensive public access to this 18th-century estate for the first time. More than 200 volunteers regularly give up their time to maintain the estate and the 26 listed buildings within it. Phase one of the Lottery-funded project included protection works to the conservatory to save it from collapse, the restoration of parkland and the planting of 21,000 trees. To register your vote for Wentworth Castle call 0844 836 9718 or log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards.

This year’s National Lottery Awards are supported by Lottery draw show host Myleene Klass, she says: “The National Lottery Awards recognise the immense impact that Lottery-funded projects have on people and communities across the UK. Lottery players raise a massive £28million a week for Good Causes, that’s almost £3,000 every minute. This funds something for everyone from big projects like museums and art galleries to helping local sport, heritage and community groups.
 
“These finalists showcase the selfless volunteers and unsung heroes who are using Lottery funding to improve the lives of others.  This is your final chance to pay tribute to them by voting for your favourite project.  Please get behind your favourite project and secure them national recognition - every vote counts!”

The seven categories in the awards reflect the main areas of Lottery funding: arts, sport, heritage, voluntary/charity, environment, health (in association with iVillage.co.uk) and education (in association with Best magazine). There will be one winner in each category which will receive national recognition at a star-studded event later this year, broadcast on BBC One, as well as a £2,000 cash prize to spend on their project.

Public voting for the final starts today and ends at midday on 26 September. The public can vote for their favourite project by simply go to the National Lottery Good Causes website.

Notes to editors

• Unfolding the Quilts received £193,700 of Lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund
• We Were Brothers: WWI A Shared Heritage received £30,590 of Lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund
• Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park received £10.5million of Lottery funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund
• All voting is independently adjudicated and verified by Electoral Reform Services
• Calls cost no more than 5p from a BT landline. Calls from other networks may vary, calls from mobiles could cost considerably more. Callers are advised to check with their telephone network provider to be certain of the cost. No profit will be made from the cost of the phone vote by The National Lottery. Please do not call before lines open as your vote will not be counted but you will be charged for the call
• Best magazine is sponsoring this year’s Best Education Project category. Best is the number one title for celebrity gossip, fashion and beauty news, home and cookery inspiration. Every week it's filled with heart-warming real life stories and practical help and advice for you and your family
• iVillage.co.uk is sponsoring the Best Health Project category. ivillage.co.uk is the UK’s leading content-driven online community for women with more than 2.5million unique visitors (comScore, 2011). iVillage.co.uk is the first and most established media company dedicated exclusively to connecting women at every stage of their lives
• There were a total of 70 projects in the semi-final stage of The National Lottery Awards 2011 - 10 in each of the seven categories – which ran from 31 May and closed on 20 June
• There are a total of 22 projects in this final stage of The National Lottery Awards 2011 - three in each of the categories, with the exception of the Arts category which, due to a tie for third place in the semi-final round, has four projects instead of three in the final public voting round

Further information

Please contact Vicci Moyles at The National Lottery Promotions Unit on 020 7211 3991 / vicci.moyles@lotterygoodcauses.org.uk