Big Lottery Fund launches £50 million programme for advice services

Howard Lake | 29 June 2006 | News

The Big Lottery Fund has launched Advice Plus, its latest funding programme, offering £50 million to support those organisations which provide advice in England to help people avoid or overcome disadvantage and better their quality of life.

Advice Plus’ £50 million will be distributed between 2006 and 2009, with the aim of creating expert, consistent and sustainable advice services that support a diverse range of people in England.

It will focus on voluntary and community sector organisations that support people in accessing the services and benefits they may be entitled to, such as housing, education and health services, or welfare benefits.

The programme will also strive to develop sustainable services by seeking to fund projects that link with or develop local, regional and national plans or partnerships.

It is the first Big Lottery Fund programme to focus exclusively on projects that raise awareness of, increase access to, or improve existing advice services.

Organisations can apply for up to £500,000 in total for capital and revenue projects lasting up to five years. Full eligibility criteria and application packs are available to download from the Big Lottery Fund website.

There will be three rounds of Advice Plus. The deadline for the first round is noon on 30 October 2006. The deadline for the following two rounds will be October 2007 and October 2008.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.