National Lottery Community Fund to distribute £45m to vulnerable communities through five partnerships

The National Lottery Community Fund is to support vulnerable communities at risk from the impact of the pandemic with almost £45 million in funding. The National Lottery Community Fund will work with five partnerships to distribute £44.85 million. The partnerships will focus on supporting organisations that work with those communities disproportionately impacted by Covid-19, such as BAME and other communities experiencing health inequalities and people experiencing homelessness. There will also be a focus on support for social enterprises. Grants to the sector partnerships range from £5 million up to almost £20 million. The COVID-19 Social Enterprise Support Fund Partnership will receive the most, using almost £20 million to provide grants to social enterprise organisations that are best-placed to support local, vulnerable communities in response to the-19 crisis.  The COVID-19 Community Recovery Scheme, which sees Power to Change working with Locality, The Ubele Initiative and Social Investment Business in a scheme to support community businesses and organisations in England, will receive £10m. Three partnerships will receive around £5 million each: The Barrow Cadbury Trust Covid-19 Support Fund for small and medium organisations supporting migrants and refugees, the Covid-19 Homelessness Response Fund Homeless Link, to support small and medium sized homelessness charities and help them adapt their service delivery to respond to the crisis, and the Community Justice Fund, which will support specialist social welfare advice organisations. Dawn Austwick, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “These partnerships will extend the reach of National Lottery funding at a time when communities need it most. They are each experts in their field, which is why we’re delighted to be working alongside them. Their local knowledge, dedication and network of contacts will be critical in supporting the distribution of much needed funding at a critical time for communities. We’re grateful to them for working with us so closely and of course to National Lottery players for making this emergency response possible.” Further details and signposting can be seen on The National Lottery Community Fund’s website. Applications and questions about funding through one of the partnerships must be made directly with the relevant partner. On its £5.15m funding, Sara Llewellin, Chief Executive, at Barrow Cadbury Trust, commented: “This is a very welcome boost to a part of the sector which is really struggling.  We will make sure every penny is used to support refugees and migrants at this very difficult time, when need is outstripping supply for these vulnerable communities. Ensuring a broad mix of user groups and a wide geographic spread will guide our decision-making, which will also be informed by people with personal experience on the ground. We are immensely grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund who have gone the extra mile to make this happen.” The National Lottery Community Fund has given out more than £200 million since the start of lockdown to help communities cope with the impact, while National Lottery distributors as a whole have distributed up to £600 million to support communities throughout the UK during the crisis. In addition to the funding announced today, the Fund also has other funding streams available with more information about this available on its site.  

from UK Fundraising https://ift.tt/2ZnXCsQ