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£150m Community First endowment launches 1

Finance | Niki May Young | 9 Jan 2012

A £150m endowment fund for local community projects, which will include up to £50m of government match funding, has launched.

The Community First endowment aims to raise £150m of investment to deliver around £12m in returns annually which will be used to provide grants to local community and social action projects from 2015 onwards.

The fund, which launched on Saturday, has already seen its first contribution from a private investor. Arthur Green, who currently runs the Arthur & Doreen Green Fund providing support to local communities in Sussex, donated what a spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office advised was a "significant contribution" to the fund.

She advised that on top of the donations which will be made, if each donor was a basic rate taxpayer and chose to add gift aid to the donation, an additional £25m could be added to the fund.

Stephen Hammersley, chief executive of the Community Foundation Network which is partnering with the Community Development Foundation to generate investment in the fund, said: "Now more than ever local communities, causes and charities need support they can depend on for the longer term – the kind of support that endowed funds can provide.

"Community foundations also understand how supporting and sustaining long-term change can be rewarding to philanthropists and companies who have an interest and stake in the development of local communities. The match challenge will help more people discover how rewarding this can be and we are pleased to be part of delivering Community First.”

Nick Hurd, minister for civil society, said the fund represents a positive investment for the sector and society: "It’s time we invested in our future rather than borrowing on it. The Community First endowment will be a lasting source of money to help local community groups achieve what they want, whether that’s turning wasteland into parks, holding social events for older people or starting sports clubs for the young. This is money on the ground for the Big Society and the 5,000 community organisers we are training will encourage people to get together and use it.

“Some of the oldest charities in the country are founded on endowments invested many hundreds of years ago which still pay out for good causes today. This is a chance for people like Arthur Green and businesses to be part of something really special, an endowment for the nation.”

'Too little too late' - Opposition criticism

But shadow minister for civil society, Gareth Thomas, criticised the fund, saying its benefits will be felt too late for many organisations:

"Ministers are clearly out of touch with the reality facing charities and voluntary groups who are struggling to keep going. The benefits of this scheme, which represents a small amount of government money, won't be felt until 2015, by which time, as charity leaders have warned, many groups will have already closed. Once again there is a gap between David Cameron's Big Society rhetoric and the reality of his government's policies." 

The Community Development Foundation is also delivering a £30m small grants scheme through the government's Community First programme. The scheme encourages in-kind investment, such as expertise or time dedicated to a cause, in return for funding of up to £30,000. CDF was chosen to deliver the Community First programme after successfully delivering the government's four-year £130m Grassroots Grants programme which closed in March last year. It has also been chosen to deliver the £200m Big Local Trust endowment.

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Directory: Community Foundation Network
Who's Who: Nick Hurd | Stephen Hammersley