A support body in Wales is looking for further investment to build a new fund that will provide grants to local charities.
WCVA said on Monday that its Dyfodol Fund, a working title, has had its business plan approved and the next step was to establish its governance.
Matthew Brown, WCVA deputy chief executive, told Civil Society today that the fund would primarily go towards providing charities long-term, unrestricted grants.
He said that the fund, announced in November last year with £4m seeded from WCVA’s reserves, was now looking to raise more than £10m.
“Dyfodol is all about taking a long-term decision now that can strengthen Wales’s voluntary sector for decades,” he said.
“WCVA is putting £4m on the table to start that journey, and we now want to work with others who share the ambition to build a new national asset.”
Brown added that the money would go towards helping charities build strength and resilience, to innovate and respond to community need.
“If we are serious about improving the financial conditions in which the voluntary sector operates, we need to start building now,” he said.
Outside help sought
WCVA said that it was looking for trustees, investors, consultants, agencies and sector leaders to help develop the fund.
The membership body has partnered with private hiring firm Nurole to recruit board members.
It said that the fund is being developed as a “sustainable national asset” designed to grow through investment returns and contributions.
Brown said that “too many” England, Wales and UK funders “consistently underfund” the Welsh voluntary sector, and WCVA’s initiative was a response to that.
“Wales has an extraordinary voluntary sector, but we know it too often operates in a funding system dominated by short term, project focused funding,” he said.
“We do not have as many long-term, independent sources of funding at meaningful scale as we should.”
WCVA’s expenditure on grants has increased by nearly £6m to £29.3m in 2024-25, while it received £32.6m in government funding.
