National Lottery Community Fund to double funding for grassroots charities
Melanie May | 8 June 2023 | News
The National Lottery Community Fund has pledged to double the amount of funding available to grassroots projects as part of its new 2030 strategy, announced yesterday (7 June).
The extra funding will be delivered through its small grants programme, National Lottery Awards for All, with the amount groups can apply for rising from £10,000 to £20,000 and doubling the term from 1 year to 2 years with these changes coming into effect from Autumn this year.
This will see its grassroots investment increase to more than £1 billion of new funding for communities over the next seven years.
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The National Lottery Community Fund has also earmarked £15 million for a new programme, set to open around August, that will connect communities; as well as an additional £9 million for its Climate Action Fund, taking the total investment in climate action to £35 million this year.
Under its new seven-year strategy, It starts with community, the funder is to focus on four key missions where it wants to make the biggest impact. These are to support communities to come together; to be environmentally sustainable; help children and young people thrive; and enable people to live healthier lives.
The new strategy will underpin efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030, and is the result of consultation and feedback over the last 15 months involving over 18,000 people and organisations across a spectrum of different stakeholders.
David Knott, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“This is about building on a 30-year UK success story – the next chapter starts here and it starts with community. Our new strategy will see us turbo charging our support for grassroots projects while also focusing our funding fire power on four of the big social issues facing the UK and its communities today.
“Why? Because the money we plough into grassroots reaches the most people and mobilises the most volunteers out of all our funding, and because we’ve listened carefully to different communities and stakeholders to understand where our grants can make the biggest impact.
“We want to thank the 18,000 people and organisations who have helped shape our direction of travel until 2030 – your passion, innovation and generosity have inspired us and set us on a great path for supporting communities across the UK for the years to come.”
More announcements are expected to follow about new funding opportunities and programmes as The National Lottery Community Fund works through the strategy’s delivery.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.