DSC campaigns for government to refund Olympic cash to Lottery

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 8 Apr 2011

The Directory of Social Change has launched a campaign to hold the government to its promise to repay to good causes the National Lottery money taken for the Olympics, as the government reviews its original agreement to do so.

In a 2007 memorandum of understanding between the then-government and the Mayor of London it was agreed that the £425m removed from the Big Lottery Fund to pay for the London Olympics would be repaid at a later date using funds from the sale of Olympics assets.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is now updating that memorandum, which has DSC worried that the government may renege on its promise. The DCMS, however, says there is no cause for concern.

Nevertheless, the DSC is upping the pressure on the government to stick to the agreement to return the money by yesterday launching a campaign called ‘Big Lottery Refund’. The campaign will hinge on a website, www.biglotteryrefund.org.uk, and features an Olympic countdown clock, ticking down to the Games’ closing ceremony.

The site will attempt to rally support for the return of Lottery money and increase the profile of the issue.

Ben Wittenberg, director of policy at DSC, described the arrangements as “murky and getting murkier”.

“Without a stark reminder of the promises made to return the money, there’s a growing concern that the good causes supported by the Big Lottery Fund will lose out when Olympics assets are sold off."

The DCMS, however, has flatly denied that its update of the MoU will have any impact on the return of Lottery money to good causes.

A statement from the Department read: “The government is fully committed to ensuring that the additional National Lottery funding contribution of £675m to the 2012 Games will be repaid to the Big Lottery Fund and the other distributors from the receipts of Olympic Park land sales after 2012.

"The Memorandum of Understanding between the DCMS and the Mayor is being updated, however this will have absolutely no effect on Lottery arrangements.”

Directory: Big Lottery Fund | Directory of Social Change (DSC)
Who's Who: Ben Wittenberg

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