Another £44 million allocated to good causes through Dormant Assets Scheme
Melanie May | 9 February 2022 | News
Communities and good causes across England will receive the funding to tackle youth unemployment, expand access to investment for charities and social enterprises, and help improve the availability of fair, affordable loans to people in vulnerable circumstances.
The £44 million funding will be distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, as follows:
- £20 million will enable Youth Futures Foundation to test and evidence the best approaches to breaking down barriers and improving access to employment for disadvantaged young people
- £20 million will go to Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, to provide urgently-needed finance for up to 1,000 charities and social enterprises, particularly in more deprived areas
- £4 million will allow Fair4All Finance to accelerate their work on affordable consolidation loans for people in financially vulnerable circumstances
David Knott, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
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“The money unlocked through the Dormant Assets Scheme will be widely welcomed and comes at a challenging time for communities. We’re delighted to be distributing this £44 million on behalf of DCMS, to support charities and social enterprises working to help people in some of the most deprived areas of England. This vital funding will have an impact on people’s lives and support them towards a more prosperous and thriving future.”
More than £800 million has previously been unlocked by the Dormant Assets Scheme over the last decade, including £150 million to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
A further £880 million could be released over the coming years. Following a public consultation process, a new Bill is currently working its way through Parliament, which if approved, is set to deliver on the Government’s commitment to expand the Dormant Assets Scheme.
This could potentially unlock this money by enabling a wider range of dormant assets to be transferred into the Scheme from the insurance and pensions, investment and wealth management, and securities sectors.
Commenting on the latest allocation, Seb Elsworth, Chief Executive of Access – the Foundation for Social Investment, said:
“Communities need the support that charities and social enterprises can provide, creating vital jobs and addressing entrenched social problems. But too often, they can struggle to get the finance they need to innovate or grow. The additional £20 million from dormant assets will help us and our partners to deliver the small-scale loans that most charities and social enterprises need and further target investment into places and communities that have been previously overlooked.”
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.