An extra £1m of funding will be made available to local infrastructure bodies as part of a 12-month extension to the BIG Assist programme.
The funding will be provided by the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and distributed by the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).
The original three-year programme, which was run by the same organisations, provided £2m of funding a year to help local infrastructure bodies.
The programme provides vouchers of up to £15,000 which support charities can use to identify and address gaps in capacity, and offers learning and networking. The programme received 947 applications.
This joint announcement that funding would be extended came in the wake of Navca’s recently published report from the Independent Commission on the Future of Local Infrastructure.
The Navca report specifically called upon the Big Lottery Fund to use its: “influential position as a funder of social action” to bring about “the redesign of infrastructure bodies”.
The programme will now reportedly focus on continuing to evaluate how the BIG Assist programme is changing infrastructure, as well as consulting with funders and stakeholders in a bid to secure funding beyond the 12-month extension.
Lyn Cole, Deputy Director of the Big Lottery Fund and member of Navca’s Commission on the Future of Infrastructure, said: “This additional funding aims to give the people who have shown they can make change happen the opportunity to get expert support. We also aim to enable them to share their learning and use their networks and relationships to shape the future of a strong and resilient sector.”
Justin Davis Smith, executive director of volunteering and development at NCVO, said: “We must continue to invest in infrastructure organisations as they adapt to the changing landscape, reforming their services and moving on from simply being providers of services to become enablers and brokers.”
Neil Cleeveley, chief executive of Navca, also confirmed that his organisation and the NCVO would also be working closely together by “hosting a number of events” together in the future.
