National Lottery Community Fund pledges at least £3bn of funding in England by 2030
Melanie May | 6 November 2024 | News
The National Lottery Community Fund has today announced a commitment of at least £3 billion of funds in England by 2030.
£275 million will be invested to support the ‘building blocks’ of community-led change, with an emphasis on those who feel least empowered. This includes:
- A £100 million, ten-year Community Power Fund to help people influence and change the places they live, the services they use, and decisions that affect their lives across England
- A new £50 million community leaders programme to support informal community leaders who are making a difference in their area
- A new You Decide funding stream, worth at least 5% of all funding in England, where communities will decide which good causes funding should support
More than £4 million will be available for civil society organisations and communities who would like to take part in the development phase of You Decide and the Community Power Fund.
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More grassroots funding
In recognition of the value of grassroots funding, The National Lottery Community Fund is also making at least £135 million available per year through its National Lottery Awards for All funding programme, up to 2030.
Full details of today’s announcement, including how to get involved, can be found here.
Phil Chamberlain, England Director at The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“There is great pride in communities, and the expertise to tackle local issues. Yet too often people lack the power or resources to take action. Despite this, they show up every day with a passion for doing good, with a relentless commitment to making a difference.
“We are ambitious about the power of communities and connection, and we’re focused on helping them where we see the biggest challenges – and the greatest potential to build a fairer, stronger society. By making communities more inclusive. Supporting children and young people. Taking on health inequalities. And tackling environmental injustice and access to nature.”
John Mothersole, England Chair at The National Lottery Community Fund, added:
“We’re rooted in communities and that’s key to our strategy. Last year, we listened far and wide to understand what the key issues are in areas, and the potential for positive change.
“Now, across our funding in England we’ll partner for bigger, long-term impact, as we recognise that not all communities start from the same place. We’ll give them more of a say in where our support goes, to build from their strengths and go where their aspirations take them.”
Support for community-led decisions
A survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of The National Lottery Community Fund found that 55% of UK adults feel proud to live in their local area, but that 45% think residents have too little say in making their local area better.
Of those surveyed, over half (56%) said that local people (residents’ associations and other people who live in the area) should help decide how funding in their area should be used. 42% said local charities / non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should help make these decisions, and 32% said the same for businesses operating in their area.
Last year (2023/24) the National Lottery Community Fund awarded over half a billion pounds (£686.3 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK, supporting over 13,700 projects to turn their great ideas into reality. This new funding announcement is the latest step in embedding the funder’s strategy to 2030, ‘It starts with community’.
The National Lottery is 30 this year. To date, players have raised more than £49 billion for good causes in this time.
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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.