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Big Lottery Fund boosts funding to civil society organisations

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 7 Jul 2009

The Big Lottery Fund will allocate a greater proportion of its grants to the voluntary sector and release an extra £43m worth of recession funding, as part of its new funding strategy.

BIG, which released its strategic framework for up until 2015 today, has pledged to distribute at least 80 per cent of its funding to the voluntary and community sector. The commitment marks a step-change for the funder which is currently required to give between 60 to 70 per cent of its grants to the sector – a requirement which ends in 2012.

The decision appears to be in response to overwhelming public demand for the minimum funding to voluntary and community organisations to continue; in the public consultation on its funding strategy which ended in March, 84 per cent of respondents said that BIG should extend its funding commitment to the sector.

Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the NCVO said that the funder is on the right track, but that it can do more for charities. “We welcome the commitment to 80 per cent however we still believe that 100 per cent of BIG’s funding should go directly to the voluntary and community sector and will continue to campaign for this,” he said.

More money

BIG also announced an extra £43m in funding which will go to projects and organisations dealing with the long-term effects of the recession. 

Gerald Oppenheim, director of policy and partnerships at BIG, told PF that the £43m is new money which is likely to become available in 2010, dependent on discussions with stakeholders as to how and where it is distributed.

It is not yet certain whether the money will go towards a specific area, or released into general, existing funding programmes. 

In addition to offering £43m in new money, BIG has pledged an increase of £45m in the budgets of specific portfolios – such as a £20m increase for the Reaching Communities programme and a £7.2m boost for the capacity-building BASIS funding stream.

BIG chief executive Peter Wanless said the organisation did not want to create a new funding scheme specifically for recession survival at the present time. “The last thing the sector needs from us is another targeted fund with its own eligibility criteria, rules and procedures,” he said.

The increase to these funds was budgeted for in the 2009/2010 BIG budget.

As part of its new strategic framework, BIG funding will now focus on three major themes: community learning and creating opportunity; promoting cohesion and safety; and promoting well-being.

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