Two Lottery Awards go to arts projects

The National Lottery Award for Best Arts Project has gone to Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre for their new purpose-built headquarters in central Leeds. The award comes as the companies celebrate their first anniversary in their new home, which received £4m of National Lottery Funding through Arts Council England. A public vote decided the winners of the award and two dance companies made it through to the finals from a shortlist of ten arts projects. The winner in the Best Heritage Project category was also an arts project. ‘We Were Brothers: WW1 A Shared History’ comprises 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 alongside the British army in WW1, as members of the Ulster Battalions or the Irish Volunteers. Created by Handful Productions, the youth version of the project continues to tour Ireland, the UK and beyond raising debate on issues including reconciliation, flags and emblems and the ethics of international warfare. The winners were announced during the National Lottery show, broadcast live on BBC One. They each receive a further £2,000 cash prize.