Birmingham projects on National Lottery award shortlist
Three Birmingham-based projects have been shortlisted in a competition to find the UK's favourite National Lottery-funded projects.
History Detectives in Highgate, Weoley Castle Ruins and mac Birmingham have been named as semi-finalists.
The awards recognise the difference that Lottery-funded projects make to their local communities.
After a public vote, 21 projects will go through to the finals with another round of voting to decide the winners.
Heritage and art
There are seven categories in the National Lottery Awards 2011.
The mac (Midlands Arts Centre) is a semi-finalist in the Best Arts Project category after the centre in Cannon Hill Park was renovated and extended to include new facilities for the arts.
History Detectives and Weoley Castle Ruins have both been shortlisted for Best Heritage Project.
With its grant, History Detectives recruited and trained local people to research the story of black working-class life in the Midlands from the 1650s to 1918. The results were published in a book and a series of materials was produced.
Lottery funding was used to repair the fragile stone ruins of a medieval manor house in Weoley Castle. The project also improved access for schools, community groups and visitors with a new community education centre.
Voting for the semi-finals begin on Tuesday and ends at 1200 BST on 20 June.
The three projects in each category with the highest number of votes will go through to the final round of public voting later in the year.
You can find out more about the projects and how to vote at the National Lottery Awards website.