The Big Lottery Fund has issued the first of its grants from the £50m Supporting Change & Impact fund, designed to prepare charities for future sustainability in the wake of a tough funding climate.
Some 93 grants of up to £10,000 have been awarded to projects already receiving BIG funding in England. The initiative, which was launched in October last year, will allow projects in the last 18 months of their funding time to develop and review their schemes for future sustainability.
Chair of BIG England, Nat Sloane, said of the awards on Friday: “The projects being funded today highlight the need for existing projects to be given the time and space to consider their future and how they need to adapt the way they are working to be more in tune with the fast changing environment.” Further funding in the sector will be awarded before the end of March.
Manchester Care and Repair has been awarded £10,000. The charity which helps old and vulnerable people with home improvement has lost vital funding recently and will use the money to develop a new strategic direction. The £10,000 received by the National Association for People Abused in Childhood will go towards data analysis contributing to their survivor’s manual.
As Big Lottery Fund Award Partners, MIND, RSWT, Natural England and Groundwork will be presented with a total of £6.5m. These organisations distribute grants on behalf of BIG.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) estimates that groups in the charity sector will lose £900m a year as a result of funding cutbacks by 2016, a total of £2.8bn over that period.
