Edinburgh trio hailed as heroes and tipped for prestigious National Lottery Award

Three unsung heroes from Edinburgh have been nominated for a prestigious 2021 National Lottery Award.

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The trio - Chris Sellar, Thomas Lynch and Alan Brooks have all given their time to a range of different issues issues from raising awareness of mental health and suicide prevention to supporting fathers and improving the environment.

More than 1,500 people were nominated for work undertaken with the help of National Lottery funding. A shortlist will be drawn up next month with winners announced in the autumn. They will receive a £3,000 prize for their organisation as well as a coveted National Lottery Awards trophy.

Nominated: Chris Sellar

Mr Sellar, 30, head of delivery at Oriam, Scotland's national performance centre for sport based at Heriot-Watt University's Riccarton campus, whose mother took her own life in January 2020, marked the one-year anniversary of the tragedy by running 10kms over 28 days - the equivalent of six-and-a-half marathons.

He raised over £20,000 for the charity Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) and has been nominated in the Lottery's sports category.

He said: "It is a great honour to have been nominated for a National Lottery Award. It has been an incredibly tough time for me and my family.

"My mum had battled with poor mental health almost the full duration that my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer in2018. Since my mum's passing, we have processed our loss in many ways and I am grateful for my support from The National Lottery.

Nominated: Thomas Lynch

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Mr Lynch, 47, co-founder of the Edinburgh-based Dads Rock parenting charity has been nominated in the community category for work he has done encouraging men to understand the important role they play in their children's upbringing.

It also provides practical workshops and well-being courses for fathers.

Meanwhile, Mr Brooks, 85, has been nominated in the heritage category with his work with the Forth Rivers Trust.

He has helped conserve, maintain and improve the quality of water, land and freshwater habitats in the Lothians area. He recently helped plant 400 trees along the Killandean, a tributary of the River Almond near Livingston , West Lothian, providing support to the area's wildlife.

Jonathan Tuchner from the National Lottery said: "The National Lottery Awards honour those who have stepped up and stood out like these Edinburgh heroes who work tirelessly for their community. They deserve great praise and our thanks for their incredible work.

"Since 1994, The National Lottery has made a huge positive impact on life across the UK. Thanks to National Lottery players and the £36million raised each week for good causes, thousands of organisations are making an incredible impact and difference in their local areas.

Since the National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised more than £43 billion for projects and more than 625,000 grants have been awarded UK-wide.

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