Big Lottery Fund opens doors to European funding for voluntary sector

21 Jul 2014 04:27 PM

The Big Lottery Fund will be making £630,000 available in programme development funding for voluntary organisations across England to raise awareness of the funding opportunities available through the European Social Fund (ESF).

Over the next few years, the Fund expects to put up to £260 million of National Lottery funding which will leverage a similar figure from Europe, subject to sign off from the EU Commission later this year. This element of the ESF is designed to tackle poverty and promote social inclusion. It comes from a new seven year cycle of European funding – the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) Growth programme.

Historically voluntary organisations have often found it difficult to access European funding. The Lottery funded £630,000 programme development fund, announced yesterday, will be available to one lead voluntary organisation in each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area. The role of the lead organisation is to ensure there is widespread awareness of the opportunities available through the ESF, to act as a main contact for queries and to bring the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector together to discuss local need already identified by LEP’s and how best to tackle these priorities.

The amount of programme development funding allocated to each LEP area ranges from £10,000 to £50,000. The application window for the development funding is open from and the deadline for applications is 2pm, Thursday 4 September 2014.

Dawn Austwick, Chief Executive Officer of the Big Lottery Fund said: “This development funding will help to prepare potential applicants for the main ESF funding opportunity which will open in 2015. By matching and delivering the ESF, the Big Lottery Fund is giving the VCSE sector as easy access as possible to the money by using our expertise from the last ten years of supporting communities and people most in need.

“With 36 LEP areas looking to work with us, the main funding could support a wide range of projects from improving employability for the most disadvantaged, helping those with multiple and complex needs, or improving financial literacy, helping them to overcome challenges in their lives.”

Further information about who can apply and what we are looking for can be found on our website – www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500572
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @biglotteryfund #biglf
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to editors

• The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
• In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was awarded to projects. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.
• ESF is the European Social Fund. See http://ec.europa.eu/esf/home.jsp?langId=en
• ESIF is the European Structural & Investment Funds, which brings together 5 funds, including ESF. See http://ec.europa.eu/contracts_grants/funds_en.htm
• LEPs determine local spending priorities in accordance with national guidance from BIS, which was issued last year: http://www.ncvo.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/345-ncvo-european-funds-guidance-is-good-news-for-charity-sector
• The funding is subject to approval by the European Commission and Big Lottery Fund’s formal appointment as an opt-in organisation.
• Arrangements for distribution of the UK’s European Structural and Investment Funds have been negotiated for England by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Within ESIF, the European Social Fund (ESF) and European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) are currently managed separately. ESF is managed in the UK by the Department for Work and Pensions, with ERDF managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government. NCVO, the Cabinet Office, BIS, DWP and DCLG have worked together, along with Big Lottery Fund, to significantly improve access to social inclusion funding from these programmes for voluntary organisations.