Concern over 'ghost hunting' grant as Lottery supports West Somerset toddler group

A WEST Somerset support group for parents with young children was celebrating today after being awarded a National Lottery grant of more than £3,000.
Stogumber Toddlers and Tiddlers will use the money to buy equipment which it can use to deliver activities for parents and children who attend the group.
The group, which meets weekly, has received £3,340 from the Lottery’s Awards for All initiative.
Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Lottery good cause funders Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, and Sport England.
The scheme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to grass-roots community groups and voluntary organisations.
Big Lottery Fund regional head Mark Cotton said: “Overall, 59 fantastic schemes secured funding across the South West region this month, including a remarkable festival of earth science, an important chance for veterans to remember brothers from the Second World War, and a determined group of volunteers taking the environment into their own hands.
“I am so pleased over £350,000 will be shared out among all the successful schemes in this round of Lottery awards.”
However, some concern has been expressed at the fund’s controversial decision to award more than £2,000 to a group of ‘ghost hunters’.
It was the second Lottery award in a year for the group, Paranormal Site Investigators, based in Wiltshire.
Awards for All justified the £2,133 grant to the physic investigators by saying it would be used to ‘promote the haunted heritage’ of the South West with material sent to schools and made available to the public, as well as five ‘heritage events’ being organised for school pupils, college students, and the public.