£15m Big Lottery Fund money for Northern Ireland derelict areas

Grants of between £50,000 and £1m will be available to develop indoor and outdoor spaces

The Big Lottery Fund has announced a new programme to deliver more than £15m funding for communities in Northern Ireland to transform derelict areas.

The Space and Place programme will give grants of between £50,000 and £1m to communities to make better use of new and existing outdoor and indoor spaces.

It will particularly target areas that are not used enough, are overgrown and neglected.

Areas seen as only for use by certain groups will also be addressed.

"There is a demand in Northern Ireland to provide new spaces and places and use existing ones better, particularly those that are currently viewed as underused or difficult for a variety of reasons," said Frank Hewitt, Big Lottery Fund NI chair.

"Space and Place will connect people by helping to develop under-used and difficult and contested spaces, while improving the health and well-being of local people by encouraging them to take part in activities in their areas."