WIRRAL residents with ideas on how to make a difference to their community are being offered the chance to receive £1,000 to make their dream a reality.

As part of The National Lottery's 25th Birthday, a £2m fund has launched to offer thousands of grants to anyone in Wirral with a great idea to bring their community together.

The National Lottery say that no individual or idea is too small to make a difference in their community.

Some local community projects have already benefitted from funding from the National Lottery including the Summer Strum Hoylake Ukulele Festival.

The annual music event received £1,500 from the National Lottery to ensure the festival as a success.

Emma Owen, project lead for Summer Strum Hoylake Ukulele Festival told the Globe: “The funding enabled us to properly extend what we could offer to the community - not just music and ukuleles.

"Our aim is to showcase clubs, groups and activities to the public so that people can feel empowered to join in and tackle problems of isolation and improve wellbeing.

"Lottery funding took the stress out of marketing, giving us the money we needed to produce materials and advertisements to get the word out about the festival and reach the people that will benefit most."

It is hoped that the fund will help boost community spirit across the country and appeal to those who may have not considered applying for National Lottery funding.

Head of funding for the North West region at The National Lottery Community Fund, Duncan Nicholson said: “For 25 years The National Lottery has been helping communities to thrive in every corner of the UK – from inner cities to rural villages, and everywhere in between.

"That’s why the fund, #CelebrateNationalLottery25, is to say happy birthday and to empower anyone and everyone to make their idea for their community a reality.”

Whether it's a wheelchair lift for a dial-a-ride minivan, a set of events at a local library or even a llama visit to a primary school, The National Lottery wants to hear from you.

All applications will go through a checking process to ensure that the idea being funded is eligible and that the money will be used as intended.

Applications for the fund are open now until 2pm on Friday, December 6, to apply visit www.CelebrateNationalLottery25.com