Penrith Lottery offers grants from £100 – £2500 to support the work of local good causes, charities and not-for-profit organisations with projects that would benefit the town and wider community within a five-mile radius.
We’ve helped a wide range of organisations with local sports clubs, festivals, development associations and charities all having benefited from our grants, including the Winter Droving, Penrith Swimming Club, Penrith Beekeepers Association, Sunbeams Music Trust, Hospice at Home and Eden Runners to name a few.
To date, we have donated a grand total of £173863 in and around Penrith!
We welcome grant applications all year round, from organisations and projects working to benefit our community. Our volunteer committee meet monthly to assess and approve grant applications. For your application to be assessed, submit it at least seven working days before that month’s meeting date. Grants can start from as little as £100 but are usually capped at £2500.
If you’d like to apply for a grant, please check that your project meets our criteria, and then complete and submit an application form. If you need any guidance or further information, please do not hesitate to contact our administrator.
If you are successful, in return, we ask that you support Penrith Lottery by acknowledging our grant funding, and encouraging others to become members, so that we can help even more organisations like yours. We’ve created some Grant Acknowledgement Guidelines to give you some ideas!
If you are looking for match funding opportunities, you might be able to apply to Penrith Town Council, or Cumbria Community Foundation. Additional information is also available from Cumbria CVS.
We can help
- Voluntary/non-profit making organisations
- Community initiatives, or
- Individuals with projects that benefit the town and the residents of Penrith.
We're afraid that we are unable to award grants for running costs and general maintenance and applications will not be considered from party political organisations. For a full guide to our Grant Criteria, see below.
For full details of our criteria, click here
This includes Penrith Town, and the following villages: Clifton, Stainton, Langwathby, Plumpton, Greystoke, Great Salkeld, Little Salkeld, Bowscar, Catterlen, Blencow, Flusco, Dacre, Tirrel, Pooley Bridge, Askham, Helton, Lowther, Hackthorpe, Melkinthorpe. The core aim of Penrith Lottery is to help local initiatives develop, thrive and continue to improve the town. If you think you know of a project who may benefit, please share this page with them.
We supported Penrith Lions to facilitate the annual May Day celebrations.
£2,500 supported Upfront to create a new museum.
Funding has been agreen in principle to support the renovation of Langwathby Village Hall.
£3,000 has been agreed in principle towards play equipment at Pategill MUGA.
In August, the committee approved a £3,500 grant in support of the Winter Droving.
We approved a grant of £1,500 to purchase some musical instruments.
We were happy to give a grant of £1,000 towards Wetheriggs new kitchen project.
We've supported the Parish Rooms with a grant towards their new curtains.
We helped fund the replacement artificial pitch at Penrith Cricket Club
We were delighted to be able to continue our support of Eden Arts' Winter Droving
We were happy to fund a new front door at Wetheriggs Football Club.
4Eden were successful with their application for £300 to pay for a consultant to develop a funding strategy.
Our volunteer committee agreed to part-fund a storage facility for Eden Runners.
We have funded life skills courses at nearly all of the primary schools within a five maile radius of Penrith!
We've helped to fund a fabulous new playground in Plumpton led by Plumpton Children's Treat Committee.
We're delighted to help with a grant for 2020's alternative Winter Droving.
We were delighted to support Penrith BID's virtual Christmas light switch on!
We granted £100 to replace Hospice at Home's tumble dryer.
We put £1,500 toward's Penrith BID's project to light up Penrith Town Centre this Christmas!
We are delighted to support Greystoke & District Sports Association to the tune of £3,000 towards their ambitious redevelopment project to modernise the changing rooms and cafe at Greystoke Outdoor Pool.
Assisted towards the Winter Droving
We part-funded new helmets for Penrith Canoe Club.
We've assisted Penrith Cricket Club by funding a grant officer to help them find and apply for more finance, which makes even better use of our funding!
We donated £2,380 to the Penrith Mountain Rescue Team
Pride in Penrith Lottery is delighted to sponsor the 7th Winter Droving in Penrith. This fantastic event brings Penrith alive with fire, light, music and animal masks to celebrate Penrith's agricultural heritage in a carnival atmosphere.
In August 2018, we granted £750 to Penrith Cricket Club towards their much needed replacement boiler. Their old boiler was unreliable, inefficient, leaky and was requiring regular expensive repairs. The grant will go towards a new, state of the art combi boiler that will be more economical and energy efficient. The new control system wiill mean that the temperatures in the building can be controlled remotely, further reducing energy costs. In addition to being used by members of the cricket club, the building is also used for Sunday lunches, slimming groups, and NHS and Unison meetings. It is also host to dominoes, darts and quiz teams, and provides a venue for birthday and retirement parties, weddings and christenings..
Penrith's local community lottery is delighted to support Penrith Amateur Football Club with an award of £2000 towards building their new stand.
The Lottery is supporting the production and printing costs of producing a book about the part local Penrith people played in the First World War, both at home and overseas in advance of the remembrance of the centenerary of the Armastice in 2018
Penrith on a Plate returns on the 21st July 2018 and once again, Pride in Penrith Lottery are delighted to support the event with a grant of £2,000.
Householders in and around Penrith will be able to get inspiration and knowledge to make their homes more energy efficient, thanks to this green grant. Our support for this year's Cumbria Green Build Festival means the organisers, the Penrith-based charity Cumbria Action for Sustainability, will be able to offer a series of events here in our area. The festival runs from 18th to 24th September. Keep an eye on the CAfS website for details.
Winter Droving needs no introduction in Penrith! This full-day festival draws thousands of people from near and far, with its unique vibe and personality. Blending artistic creativity and innovative entertainment, it's the epic highlight of our social calendar. Our grant helps make it possible for the organisers, Eden Arts, to keep it free for everyone to enjoy.
This newly formed organisation offers older people from our area the chance to take part in music ensembles and learn how to play, bringing people together through music and promoting social inclusion. Our grant enabled the group to buy sheet music for their beginners and novice musicians, both current and future.
This choir, formed in 1979, brings choral music to local people through their concerts in Penrith, as well as offering social and musical benefits for their 80 members, including a bursary programme for young singers. Our grant made it possible for the choir to buy a new section of staging, making it easier for them to put on larger concerts with extra singers and an orchestra.
The Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland is the proud owner of a new washing machine and a tumble dryer, thanks to this grant. The appliances mean the charity can service their clinical and fundraising clothing and equipment.
Pride in Penrith Lottery is pleased to continue the work of Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce in promoting Penrith as a winter destination. This year £750 is awarded towards the costs of printing and distributing a "Christmas in Penrith" brochure.
Pride in Penrith Lottery is delighted to again support this festival of all things Orange in and around Penrith. The 2018 festival will be working closely with The Penrith Chamber of Trade and Totally Locally to encourage Penrith business to join in the fun alongside the 13th annual worldwide Marmalade Festival at Dalemain House.
The tastiest event in Penrith returns again on 15 July 2017. It's led this year by Penrith Chamber of Trade with Totally Locally Penrith. Our funding helps ensure it remains a free event for local people to enjoy, while attracting visitors from further afield, supporting our local economy and celebrating all the quality food and drinks produced in our area.
Pride in Penrith Lottery are delighted to award Fairhill Community Group £2,500 towards their appeal to create an exciting, safe and attractive play area at Fairhill Playing Field, Penrith
Our contribution will help the club to buy an extra-large polo kayak and associated equipment, so that they can offer more people the chance to try kayaking and ultimately retain more people as members of the now thriving club.
Our grant was the final slice of funding that the club needed for new mobile wicket covers. We were glad to have been able to help them to the finishing line after all their fundraising efforts.
In March 2017, Penrith will once again go decidedly orange, with an extra-sticky festival day in the town centre, as part of the World's Original Marmalade Awards. The lottery is happy to support the event for a second year.
The nursery's grant meant they've been able to buy an interactive touchscreen whiteboard, to enhance their Early Years Foundation Stage provision and equip the children with essential IT life skills.
The Penrith Winter Festival, organised by the Chamber of Trade, adds festival sparkle to the town every year, with events and activities in the run-up to Christmas.
Pride in Penrith Lottery have awarded Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce £2,500 towards their Ambassadors "Pots of Money" scheme to allow Penrith Businesses to access small amounts of funding through local "Ambassadors" to improve the areas immediately beside their businesses. These may include: signage, street furmiture, planters, weeding or cleaning or bins as needed.
We were really glad to have been able to help Eden Arts make sure this signature event on Penrith's social calendar went ahead again in 2016.
Eden Mencap used this grant for equipment for their sensory room, including a static fibre-optic waterfall, and sensory equipment kits to take out into the community to support people in isolated areas. These 'Mary Poppins' bags contain items that are multi sensory, tactile and make sounds that encourage participation, interaction and communication. It's enabled them to add to and enhance the support they can offer to some of the most vulnerable people in our community, which is fantastic!
The cricket club has been able to buy new projection equipment as a result of our grant, for use during presentations and events. The equipment improves the marketability of venue for room hire, helping them to bring in more funds to support the club's teams.
Our grant enabled the hall committee to buy new hand dryers for their three toilets as part of a wider project to improve the facilities at this busy community venue.
We were really happy to support a very dedicated team of parents from Calthwaite, who've been working for two years to create a new play area in the village. Our grant will pay for one of the pieces of play equipment. Work should start on the site in late summer 2016.
This free annual festival includes Penrith on a Plate, a fantastic food festival and family fun day that draws visitors and shows off all the delicious artisan food produced in our area.
Cheering up some of the alleyways in Penrith has been a focus for Penrith Partnership as part of the Penrith Community Plan, and were glad to be able to help with a grant.
Residents in the Carlton Park area of Penrith have been working hard to improve the play equipment on offer for young people in the area. Our grant enabled them to buy a new piece of equipment.
Marmalade Awards Festival Day in Penrith We're beary pleased to give a grant of £1,750 towards a sticky day of family fun in Penrith town centre, as part of the 2016 Dalemain Marmalade Awards. As well as activities for bears and humans of all ages, there'll be an artisan market in town.
Children's play area in Hunsonby Parish Our grant to Hunsonby Parish Council's 'Family Fun 4 All' committee will improve the play area for local children and their families to enjoy. With our help, they'll be able to install a new log swing complete with birds' nest. Sounds like great fun to us!
Our grant will provide new coaching equipment and better facilities for the club's junior players, including a new artificial surface for their practice wicket.
Winter Droving by Eden Arts is quite simply famous! It draws people to Penrith from miles away to enjoy the magical lantern parade, street entertainment, market and stalls.
This selection box of festive events puts the sparkle into Penrith in the run-up to Christmas, led by Penrith Chamber of Trade.
The Lowther Parish Hall Committee are creating a play area for children and young people in the grounds of the parish hall, to serve the community in the parish and surrounding area. The lottery grant has helped with the cost of buying and installing play equipment.
Maulds Meaburn Village Institute This popular local venue needed a grant from the lottery to improve their facilities for families. They now have new baby-changing equipment, high chairs and games gear.
Penrith Cricket Club needed new equipment for their younger players, which they can now obtain thanks to their lottery grant.
This week-long festival showcases Eden's quality food and beverages, providing free events for the local community and visitors, and raising awareness about food production - one of the district's most important economies.
The lottery contributed to Great North Air Ambulance's fundraising campaign to raise money for new ultrasound machines on their helicopters.
Penrith Partnership are refurbishing and improving the street lighting around the popular St Andrew's Churchyard area of Penrith.
Thanks to our grant, Eden Rural Foyer and Leonard Cheshire Disability have been able to install and cultivate large raised beds in the yard at the front of Abbots Bank in Penrith, where Impact Housing provides accommodation for young homeless people.
Our grant to Penrith Beekeepers enabled them to buy a new honey extractor, to help them train new beekeepers and demonstrate this important aspect of beekeeping - obtaining all the delicious honey from the hives!
The lottery's grant towards developing this play area in Penrith will benefit many local children.
We're proud to support the Eden Arts Winter Droving event in Penrith again this year. The event has quickly become a highlight of the area's social calendar for both local people and visitors. It involves children and groups in our community in the arts as well as proving to be a spectacular prelude to the area's winter festivities.
Castle Park Bowling Club needed specialist mowing equipment to help them nurture their bowling green back to top condition, so that they can host teams from across the UK and attract new members to the club. Our grant will allow them to buy a verticutter extension for their mower, which cuts the grass in a way that helps it grow straighter and stronger.
Pride in Penrith Lottery has added some extra sparkle to the town’s Christmas merriments, with a grant towards the Winter Festival. The festival, organised by the Penrith Chamber of Trade, is a jam-packed selection box of entertainment, events and activities, which begins on 29 November and runs up until Christmas Eve.
Our grant of £228 will provide the Langwathby May Day Committee with a gazebo. This equipment will allow the event to continue whatever the weather, covering the stalls that enable the event to generate a small income for future years.
This grant for £1,000 will enable Friends of Skelton School to improve their existing playground, so that it can be used throughout the year as a community facility. Skelton does not have a community green nor a play area within the village boundary, and the improvements will provide a sheltered seating area for all to enjoy.
Our grant of £1,334 will provide the Scout group with a new mess tent and dining shelter. The equipment will enable the group to offer more activities, including camps, supporting their work with young people in the community.
A lottery grant of £1000 will help this nursery in Calthwaite to provide better outdoor facilities for the 64 children who attend. The development of the garden will help stimulate the children's interest in the farming and agricultural background of the area, as well as giving them more opportunities for exercise and to develop their physical wellbeing.
A lottery grant of £1,500 helped serve up this year's Eden Food & Farming Festival. The lottery was one of the three main funders for the event, enabling the community-run festival to offer an extensive selection of free events that will add to the area's social calendar, boost the local economy and increase tourism, as well as showcasing Eden's food and farming sectors.
The annual children’s sports day in Penruddock was able to expand in 2014, thanks to a grant from Pride in Penrith Lottery. The grant enabled the sports day committee to buy equipment to cater for more people attending the event. A new gazebo meant the event can go ahead rain or shine, and new sports and games equipment will attract more children and offer different and interesting events for them.
Pride in Penrith Lottery’s second grant of 2014 proved to be a blockbuster for a community hall in Eden. Thanks to the grant of £1,100, Tirril Reading Rooms now has a new digital projector, giving the community’s audio-visual events a cinematic boost. The projector has made a difference to film nights and slide shows at the Reading Rooms, with the modern equipment making presentations more professional and easier to manage.
The first grant of 2014, for £1,500, went to the Penrith Remembers 1914-1918 committee, who are coordinating an ambitious programme of events to commemorate the First World War. The committee represents a wide range of organisations and businesses who have come together to offer activities such as exhibitions, talks, plays, concerts, special church services and a town-centre parade, running from Easter until the end of the year, as well as leaving a lasting legacy.
The latest grant of £558 from the Pride in Penrith Lottery has been awarded to Shap Bowling Club, who are looking to expand their already thriving junior club. The Pride in Penrith Lottery awarded the club a grant to enable them to purchase new sets of bowls suitable for their younger members. The club wish to see more children participating in their junior sessions, potentially leading to them progressing on to join the senior team. Through their junior sessions, the club are also helping to provide children aged 8-13 in the local area with an additional activity in their rural community.
The headline event of Penrith's Winter Festival will once again be The Winter Droving, produced by Eden Arts, which will take place on the 30th November. This event has also secured funding from BID, the Pride in Penrith Lottery and also Eden District Council. Eden Arts are once again encouraging artists, musicians, community groups and schools to come together to join in with the event.
Penrith Chamber of Trade and Commerce is able to host the Penrith Winter Festival once again in 2013 after securing vital funding from the Penrith Business Improvement District and the Pride in Penrith Lottery. The Chamber’s aim is to encourage people to come to Penrith to do their Christmas shopping instead of heading to larger towns and cities, but to also come back time and time again throughout the year.
Penrith Beekeepers Association have recently been awarded a grant of £960 from the Pride in Penrith Lottery to enable them to set up an association apiary (also known as a Bee yard) just outside of Penrith to provide shelter for beehives and allow groups of beekeepers to keep an eye on them. Bee colonies are currently in decline and the association hope to combat this with their new apiary, which will help them to promote the support of bee colonies, raise people’s awareness of how the community can help and encourage more people to take up the craft of beekeeping. It will allow them to link in with different organisations and colleges such as Newton Rigg, in order to provide training and support for those interested in beekeeping.
The grant from the Lottery went towards funding for the festival’s key components, from facilities and infrastructure to the day’s entertainment. The Food and Farming Festival was designed to be a fun day out for all the family, whilst showcasing the best in local food and produce. Music, street entertainment and activities all provided a backdrop to a large number of local food stalls and related educational activities. It was the hope of the organisers that the whole community would benefit from the event and that a significant number of people would be attracted into the town for the benefit of all traders.
St Catherine’s Project Development Fund are currently building a small community centre at St Catherine’s church in Drover’s Lane, Penrith. The grant was put towards new equipment for the centre, which will provide space for activities for the benefit of both the Parish and the local Community.
The grant went to help the cricket club fund essential coaching equipment for their newly structured Junior and Players section. This will enable local junior players to benefit from a structured coaching programme which the club are certain will develop with strength season after season.
The first grant of 2013 went to Lowther Endowed Pre-School, which will enable them to provide a permanent access ramp at the entrance of the school, which is often difficult for children to manage and is impossible for families with pushchairs and wheelchair users.
The Winter Droving event was created, designed and facilitated by local organisations. The event encompassed hundreds of fire torches carried by local people and ended with a great line up of musicians who got the whole town singing, dancing and celebrating Penrith.
The organisers wanted to offer the people of Penrith their own Music Festival, putting Penrith on the map for showcasing local talent. With the help from the Pride in Penrith Lottery, organisers are passionate that the festival is here to stay and will continue to grow.
The grant was used for essential equipment for the club, particularly for buoyancy aids which are vital for the safety of club members. The club hopes to develop the sport of canoe polo in Cumbria, encouraging more participation from people of all ages.
Wetheriggs United Football Club applied for a grant for football equipment, replacing old and worn out equipment the club has had for many years. This went to benefit at least 200 girls and boys up to open age football in Penrith and the Eden Valley.
The club were in need of some funding to help support their growth and was used for essential equipment required for galas, training and water polo safety, hats and nets. The Club gives opportunities for young people to develop their swimming skills and take part in competitions.
After the devastating arson attack on the Club the grant went to help fund the replacement of essential equipment that was lost in the fire to enable them to function as a club once more.
Newbiggin and Penruddock Playgroup The grant went to help them develop their outdoor play area at Newbiggin village hall. The group has grown rapidly over the years and therefore they wished to buy more equipment to help support this growth and give the children valued access to the outdoors.
Parochial Church Council of the Parish of St Andrew The grant helped to fund the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the town, including a screening of the Jubilee Pageant concert. Church services and Big Lunch were also part of the celebrations, as well as the lighting of a beacon on top of the church, included in a network of over 3,000 lit across the country.
The grant was used towards a range of training equipment - a Portanet, coaching bats, skyer bat, training bibs, and pop up nets, reaction balls and vortex balls to be used by the junior teams. Money was also awarded for sweaters for the women’s team, which is the only one in the county.
The money was used to set up reminiscence boxes at the centre to help stimulate memories for people with Dementia. Boxes cover the 1940’s to 80’s and include memorabilia such as a wartime cookery book, newspapers, fashions, vehicles of the decades etc.
Tirral and Sockbridge have been working together to create a much needed community area to be used by all members of the community for social events, meetings and a children’s play area. The grant was used to buy play equipment, in particular a mixed toddler/junior swing.
The grant was to help with start up costs for the Eden FM Radio station, launching with a trail transmission and refurbishing their studio.
A grant was donated to local charity Hospice at Home for new equipment.
The Pride in Penrith lottery was pleased to support residents in Penrith who got together with the aim to develop the open land on High Carleton to provide facilities for young people and residents of the area.
Money was donated to create a ‘vintage’ event in Penrith. A traditional market and old-style parade took to the streets as part of a week-long vintage festival. Shops in the town centre displayed items from 100 years ago as part of the Vintage Penrith event.
Local cycling club the Beacon Wheelers benefited from a grant from the Lottery for new equipment and new kit when the group first started.
The Pride in Penrith Lottery supported the annual Penrith Halloween Festival
The Penrith in Bloom initiative received funding from the Pride in Penrith Lottery to help make the town more welcoming to residents and visitors, which included placing flower boxes, planters and hanging baskets around the town. Organisers also encouraged traders and community groups to get involved.
Real people winning real prizes. Check your numbers and see who has won in the present and past Penrith Lottery draws.
Find the results and winnersAre you a person or business who would like to help people in and around Penrith with the chance to win money each week?
Find out how you can joinPenrith Lottery is run by a volunteer committee of people passionate about Penrith. Discover more about those that have helped create it.
Find out more about us