The Bristol Dinosaur Project is competing against six other projects for the title of Best Heritage Project. The winning project will be awarded £2,000 on top of its funding and will be invited to a star-studded Awards event to be broadcast on BBC One.

The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK's favourite Lottery-funded projects. Now in their tenth year, the Awards recognise the difference that Lottery-funded projects have made to people, places and communities across the UK. They also celebrate the talent, hard work and amazing dedication of the people involved in running them.

Ed Drewitt, Learning Officer for the Bristol Dinosaur Project, said: ‘This has been a huge opportunity for those living in the west to learn about their very own dinosaur in creative and imaginative ways that also enables the science behind it be fun and engaging.’

The Bristol Dinosaur Project works to help communities and young people to find out more about their local heritage and the natural world by exploring the life of Bristol’s very own dinosaur. Unearthed in a Bristol quarry in 1834, the Bristol Dinosaur or Thecodontosaurus, known as Theco, is an example of an early species of dinosaur that lived 210 million years ago. Thanks to National Lottery funding, the project has visited libraries, supported a dinosaur-themed production at Bristol Old Vic Theatre and worked with staff and volunteers at Bristol Zoo on their dinosaur exhibition. Enthusiastic volunteers have visited 150 schools and led 11,000 children in interactive workshops and fossil hunting trips.

If you’d like to support the Bristol Dinosaur Project, you can cast your vote at the National Lottery Good Causes website. Voting closes at the end of July.