Last chance to vote to help Rochdale win

Lottery millions up for grabs if local people vote Connect 2.

There's only one week to go to vote for a big slice of lottery funding for the borough. Local people are being encouraged to pick up their phones and vote from Friday 7 December when the phone lines open to help secure part of a £50 million Big Lottery Fund grant. It's already possible to cast an online vote at:

• www.thepeoples50million.org.uk

All voting closes at 12 noon on Monday 10 December.

If we won, Rochdale and Oldham's project would create a high quality network of walking and cycling friendly routes, connecting the townships of Middleton, Pennines, Rochdale and Heywood, and providing links to Oldham and Manchester. By improving the canal towpath and forming links from it to surrounding communities, this exciting project will remove barriers to walking and cycling posed by the M62.

A vote for Sustrans' Connect2, will help make it easier for people both locally and across the UK to walk and cycle for everyday journeys. The number to call will be available from 7 December at:

• www.thepeoples50million.org.uk

Calls will cost no more than 10p from a BT landline, calls from other landlines and mobiles may be higher.

Each of the bids will be highlighted in programmes on ITV1 this week. To find out more about Sustrans' Connect2 tune into ITV1 at 11pm on Tuesday 4 and Friday 7 December, to see Lorraine Kelly's run down of how the £50 million would change the lives of 79 communities across the UK. The winner will be announced on 12 December.