The Benefits Of The Millennium

The Millennium Commission today released the findings of a poll commissioned from MORI on the benefits of the Millennium.

The poll showed that a majority of people (57%) believe that the country will benefit from the work of the Millennium Commission. However most people see the benefit as national rather than regional or personal. 34% of people believe their region will benefit and 14% of people believe they will benefit personally. There was little difference in opinions across the UK when it came to national or personal benefit but in terms of regional impact, people in the south and north of England saw the greatest benefit while those in Scotland were most pessimistic.

The study revealed a high degree of awareness of the Millennium Commission (77%). Younger people were more aware of the benefits of millennium projects.

Mike O'Connor, Director of the Millennium Commission said, We welcome the study as it provides vital information on how the Millennium Commission should be targeting its communication efforts. There is a mistaken perception that the Commission is funding only large projects but in fact there will be millennium projects on 3,000 sites across the country. Many of these are small and local, including 500 new village and community halls, and they will bring real benefits to small communities. There are many large projects, including eight new bridges, art galleries and sports stadia, and together they will make a real difference to all our lives. The Commission is also supporting a 163100 Millennium Festival, along with other lottery distributors, and this will enable communities all over the country to celebrate the Millennium. The Commission is also running a 163200 million Millennium Awards scheme which gives small grants to individuals who wish to achieve a personal aspiration while delivering a wider community benefit. It is hoped that 40,000 such awards will have been identified by the year 2000.

We launched the Millennium Voyager to tell people what is on offer for the Millennium and how they can apply for grants. The Voyager is a 40-foot mobile information unit which will provide the general public with the opportunity to learn more about the Millennium Commission activities in there area and around the rest of the country. It can be seen in the forecourt of the British Museum in London until 3 December when it leaves for a eight month tour of 22 British cities (schedule attached). We have a good spread of capital projects, and contrary to popular perceptions the south east of England has not done better than others. In fact Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has done best.

It is entirely understandable that the Dome grabs the lion's share of publicity but I believe people also want to know about what is on offer locally. We are spending just over 20% of our income from the Lottery on the Dome and it will be a magnificent project of which the nation can be proud. However this is not the limit of the nations aspirations for the millennium. People all over the country showered the Commission with ideas for other projects and the myriad of capital projects (188 on 3000 sites), Millennium Festival applications (1,000 received so far) and the 40,000 people will receive Millennium Awards is a testimony to that."

• The Millennium Commission was established under the National Lottery etc Act 1993. It receives 20% of the net proceeds of the Lottery.
• The Millennium Awards are small Lottery grants of around 1632,000 which enable individual's to put their own bright ideas into action, fulfilling a personal goal and, in doing so, benefiting their communities.
• Millennium Awards are made to individuals through existing grant making organisations that will work in partnership with the Commission by running an Award schemes under the headline theme of you and Your Community.
• So far, around 17,500 individuals will benefit from the current 45 schemes. By 2004, there will be 100 schemes benefiting 40,000.
• The Millennium Commission will provide up to 16320 million per year up to the year 2000 for the Millennium Awards scheme and intends to reserve at least 163100 million by 2001 to provide a permanent interest earning fund so that Millennium Awards can continue to be made well into the twenty first century.
• On completion of their Award, each Award winner will become a member of the Millennium Awards Fellowship.
• The Millennium Commission has so far supported 189 capital projects on over 3000 sites to a total of 1631.2 billion.
• The Commission is also supporting a Millennium Festival of events
• Throughout the UK in he year 2000 and the New Millennium Experience at Greenwich. Local community groups are invited to apply for funds for the Millennium Festival on 0870 600 2000

Technical details

The survey was conducted by MORI on behalf of the Millennium Commission among a sample of 1874 adults aged 18+ throughout the UK. Interviewing was conducted face-to-face from 16-29 October 1998. The data were weighted to the known profile of the population.