SUPPORT for victims of sexual abuse, sessions to get youngsters into basketball and almost £6m to keep a masterpiece at an Oxford museum are among county good causes which got £11.1m in Lotto cash last year.

The National Lottery has revealed where the cash went in Oxfordshire last year – 114 county projects in all.

Among those which benefited was Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre, which got £10,000 for a group sessions project.

Service manager Natalie Brook said the centre would probably not have been able to get funds elsewhere.

She said: “For many survivors they will have never had an opportunity to talk or share their experience with anybody else.

“It makes them realise that they are not alone.”

Oxford Hoops Basketball Club got £6,160 to employ coaches and buy kit for school sessions to introduce youngsters to the sport.

Schools the group has visited include secondaries Cherwell, Cheney and Spires, in Oxford, and Kidlington’s Gosford Hill and East Oxford and Larkrise primaries.

Head coach Franky Marulanda said: “It is the introduction of a new sport for them that will help them with head, eye and feet co-ordination. It also introduces an element of discipline.

“They have been responding really well, the heads and teachers love it. The kids seem to be having a great time.”

Barracks Lane Community Garden Project got £9,610 for a herb growing project to begin when the East Oxford garden re-opens on March 16.

The cash paid for new herb beds and funded six events, said garden trustee Fiona Mullins.

She added: “The previous herb beds were falling apart and rotting.”

The money has also helped the project set up a link with TimeBank, a scheme that helps volunteers swap their time for projects, such as an hour’s help for an hour in return.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) gave £6m to the Ashmolean Museum to help keep Edouard Manet’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus in the UK.

It had been bought by a foreign buyer for £28.35m but an export ban stopped it going abroad, and it was offered instead to the Ashmolean for £7.83m.

Museum head of development Tess McCormick said the cash was “critical” to the success of the museum’s bid to save the picture for the nation.

She said: “Following the announcement of the HLF’s lead support, the public response to the fundraising campaign was overwhelming.”

All projects which got cash can now enter the National Lottery Awards 2013.

Actor John Barrowman, who presented last year’s awards, said: “National Lottery players in Oxford should be proud of the difference they are making to people in the area.”

To enter for the 2013 awards by Tuesday, March 19, visit nationallotteryawards.org.uk or call 0207 293 3599. For the full list of funded projects, see http://ow.ly/hxzkY

The Top Totals

 

YWCA England & Wales: project to help black and minority ethnic women develop confidence and communication skills – £299,991.
Oxfordshire Chinese Community And Advice Centre: education programme – £208,784.
Refugee Resource: project to empower refugees and asylum seekers – £265,975. Modern Art Oxford: capacity building and match funding – £210,000.
Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network: three pilot schemes to help older people in emergencies – £191,848.
Oxford Playhouse: capacity building and match funding – £218,793.
Pegasus Theatre: capacity building and match funding – £120,000.
Oxfordshire Chinese Community And Advice Centre: support for Chinese people with physical and mental health needs – £299,850.
Ethex Investment Club Ltd: project to help people make “ethical” investments – £153,176.
Oxfam: community groups engagements project – £842,775.
Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology: Edouard Manet’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus – £5,999,300.
Oxfam: project to help 500 women seeking sanctuary in Wales – £499,855.
Oxford City Council: Oxfordshire Sports Partnership – £797,874.
Startuponline: supporting women ex-offenders into self-employment – £272,000.
Headway Oxfordshire: support for people with acquired brain injury – £292,524.