Former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle unveils new National Lottery artwork that calls to make change happen

Today, former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle has unveiled a striking new installation at Antrim Castle Gardens that has been commissioned by The National Lottery to inspire change and to encourage the public to think about how they might use some of the £30million raised for good causes each week in their own communities.

The installation in Northern Ireland is the second of four pieces of artwork that The National Lottery plans to unveil this week across the UK as part of its 27th birthday celebrations. The installation is an anamorphic piece of artwork that when viewed from a specific angle says the word ‘DREAMS’ and from another view forms a question mark. Once all four pieces have been unveiled, they will form the message ‘BUILD DREAMS, CREATE CHANGE’ to prompt the question what change could you make to improve your local community?

The installations have been created by leading arts collective Greyworld and inspired by National Lottery funded projects. Each installation has been made from more than 636 National Lottery balls, which represent the 636,000 and more organisations that benefit from the funding across the sports, art, heritage and community sectors.

Included in the artwork are four unique objects such as a bus wheel, sports equipment, a theatre mask and a LGBT+ flag that represent the following four beneficiaries from Northern Ireland that have been supported by National Lottery funding:

• The Troubles I’ve Seen is the first large-scale LGBT+ project of its kind in Northern Ireland, which aims to collect, share and conserve the hidden heritage of the LGBT+ community detailing their experiences of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland.
• Clanrye Group in Newry whose EveryBody Active 2020 programme reinvented the delivery of sport activity programmes to suit the public during lockdown by allowing people to exercise and have fun whilst on their doorstep or social distancing in a large outdoor area.
• AVA Belfast CIC is a live performance and workshop group with huge worldwide online audience engagement.
• Wheels to Wellbeing is a project, based in Coleraine, Londonderry, that has created fully adapted buses and vehicles to provide transport for older people and vulnerable adults living in rural areas across the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough – thanks to the National Lottery’s grant of £500,000 across four years.

Former Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle, said: “Performing at venues around the UK throughout my career, I was able to really experience the impactful changes The National Lottery funding can create for so many individuals and organisations in the music industry. The Arts have always had the ability to connect you with people, to give you confidence and to nurture your creativity. And so, celebrating this funding that identifies and supports local community projects to inspire and include future generations is something that is very close to my heart.”

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Chair of the National Lottery Forum, said: “For 27 years National Lottery funding has been transforming communities, turning dreams into reality and making life better for millions of people. As we emerge from what has been a desperately challenging time, we want to inject hope and encourage communities to imagine what they could achieve with a helping hand from The National Lottery. With £30million raised for good causes each week, we have grants available from £3,000 to £5million. By coming together as communities, and as a nation, we can build, dream and create to change our future for the better and for generations to come.”

The Northern Ireland installation will be available to view until Sunday 21st November, with other installations popping up in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and Trafalgar Square in London. For more information on National Lottery funding visit https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/funding