Charity and Voluntary Sector
BIG: BIG has awarded £25m to Natural England for its Access to Nature initiative, an England-wide scheme that will fund projects in urban, rural & coastal communities that will encourage more people to enjoy nature and the environment. It is particularly focused on helping people who currently have little or no contact with the natural environment to get back in touch with the natural world.
The award comes from BIG’s Changing Spaces programme, which improves rural and urban environments for communities across England. Natural England will open the Access to Nature grant scheme to applicants in early 2008 and will be awarding grants of between £50,000 and £500,000.
BIG: People living with disabilities will have greater access to information technology as part of a funding announcement from the Big Lottery Fund’s BASIS programme. A total of 21 organisations across England are sharing £8.3m in awards providing support and increasing the effectiveness of the third sector.
The largest grant, £699,644, has been awarded to AbilityNet, to support its ‘Sustaining Switched On Communities’ initiative. The project offers people with disabilities living across England assistance in using IT to increase independence and maximise their potential.
Through a cascade approach, knowledge, skills and materials will be provided to community partners, who train voluntary and community organisations (VCOs), and in turn provide improved facilities and services to individuals with disabling conditions.
Press release ~ BASIS programme ~ BIG’s BASIS programme - Awards (scroll down) ~ AbilityNet ~ Switched On Communities ~ Charities Evaluation Services (CES) ~ PQASSO (practical quality assurance system for small organisations) (scroll down)
Cabinet Office: Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, has launched the Innovation Exchange with the announcement of a new £200,000 fund to support the programme's work in 2008-09, drawing on investment provided by NESTA. The Exchange forms part of the Government's 'Partnership in Public Services Action Plan', which aims to remove barriers to greater third sector involvement in public services.
The Exchange will offer innovators access to online resources and provide a point of contact both with other innovators and with appropriate sources of investment. It will also offer tailored support, training & guidance to the most promising innovators, helping them to see the impact of their ideas on improving public services. The not-for-profit sector now employs the full-time equivalent of 1.5m staff, with a collective annual turnover of £46bn.
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