Big Lottery Fund
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Sir Clive goes live as Big thinking continues

Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, Sir Clive Booth, will be going live online on Tuesday 3 February to tackle a range of questions about the Fund’s ongoing Big thinking consultation.

Anyone logging onto the www.big-thinking.org.uk website between 3-5pm will have the opportunity to directly ask Sir Clive a range of questions about the consultation and the Fund’s priorities for distributing billions of pounds of Lottery money.

The live webchat will fuel discussion about what the Fund’s priorities should be and people are being urged to log on and join in. It is hoped a wide range of organisations will join in the discussion and share their opinions on the future of BIG’s funding.

Sir Clive Booth, UK Chair of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “As we work to shape our funding framework for the next six-years, I’m inviting people to join the webchat and ask me questions surrounding our ongoing Big thinking consultation. We are striving to make the most of the money we have available to us, ensuring the Fund can continue its mission to improve lives and communities in the best possible way – so it’s vital that all those who have benefited or hope to benefit from Lottery good cause funding give us their view.”

Big thinking (www.big-thinking.org.uk), the Fund’s public consultation is running until the end of February 2009, and is open to all individuals and organisations across the UK. The Fund is responsible for distributing half of the UK’s Lottery good causes cash.

The Big Lottery Fund is urging people across the UK to engage in the debate on how BIG’s funding should be allocated through its grant programmes between 2009 and 2015. BIG is expecting to distribute over £2 billion over the coming years.

Further Information

Out of hours contact: 07867 500 572
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659

Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

  • Full details on Big-thinking including the consultation document, online feedback plus national and regional events is available at www.big-thinking.org.uk.
  • In 2007, it was announced that £638 million of BIG’s funding between 2009-2012 will be transferred to the Olympic Lottery Distributor to support the London 2012 games. The Olympic diversion means that BIG will have less funding available to distribute between 2009-2015 than we would otherwise have. It is expected that BIG’s funding will be restored to near normal rates in the years after 2012.
  • The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has made it clear that there will be no further transfers of Lottery funding to the London 2012 Olympics.
  • Many of BIG’s current programmes will still be spending and committing a considerable amount over the next few years. As at 31 March 2008, BIG had made more than £1.3 billion commitments for project that will be funded from 2009.
  • The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out half the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
  • BIG 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 June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
  • Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £22 billion has now been raised and more than 300,500 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
  • About 70 per cent of the UK’s adult population regularly play the Lottery.

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