Members of the public are being urged to celebrate their favourite Lottery-funded project as voting for the 2011 National Lottery Awards final got underway on 2 September.

Schemes across a number of categories - including Best Arts Project, Best Heritage Project and Best Sport Project - are vying to win national recognition and a £2,000 cash prize. The Smiling Sessions, London; Razed Roof: Inclusion Through Practice, Harlow; Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre, Leeds; and mac Birmingham are competing for Best Arts Project.

Unfolding the Quilts, York; We Were Brothers: WWI A Shared Heritage, Northern Ireland; and Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park, near Barnsley, are up for the Heritage award. Meanwhile, the Best Sport Project is being contested by Bluebird Care Hampshire Disability Cricket Programme; Active Newcastle; and Chase Trails Cycle Project, West Midlands.

Other categories include Voluntary/Charity; Environment; Education; and Health. Voting will close at midday on 26 Septembers, with winners announced live on BBC1 later this year. Details: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk

Image: Bluebird Care Hampshire Disability Cricket Programme is a finalist in the Best Sport Project category