Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd has announced a new community grant programme, which he says, will build on the work of the former Labour government’s £130m grassroots grant programme.

Hurd, who was speaking at the launch of Nesta’s Neighbouroood Challenge today, said the coalition’s community grant programme would distribute small, sensible amounts of money to neighbourhood groups to fund local plans.

He added that there would be match funding for local endowments to encourage philanthropist to give more locally.

Commenting on the launch of Nesta’s Neighbourhood Challenge, Hurd said the coalition was very committed to the Big Society and needed partners to innovate:

“We are grateful to NESTA for stepping up to find out what works and what doesn’t work.

“No-one should under-estimate how serious we are about the Big Society or how radical we intend to be.”