BIG THINKING - PLEASE RESPOND
22 December 2008
Could I draw your attention to a vitally important consultation which is running until the end of February 2009, about the Big Lottery Fund's future programmes in 2009 to 2015. It is important that a large number of local organisations and community groups take part in the process in order to protect the interests of our sector.
The Big Lottery Fund consultation asks some probing questions and raises issues of great importance to the local third sector, particularly around the proportion of funding ring-fenced for the vcs. Let me quote question 4 from the UK list of questions:
'After 2012, when our 60 to 70% undertaking ends, should we continue to guarantee a percentage of our funding goes to the voluntary and community sector?'
The responses available to you are as follows:
Option A - Funding should go to the organisation in the best position to deliver the project outcomes, whichever sector they are from.
Option B - BIG should extend its undertaking to the voluntary and community sector beyond 2012.
If the majority of respondents choose the first answer it will open the door to Big Lottery Fund grants being awarded to schools, local authority sports centres, hospital equipment campaigns and so on. It is vital that thousands of local organisations and groups support the extension of BIG's undertaking to the voluntary and community sector into the future; in other words, that the current undertaking to award between 60 and 70% of BIG funding to our sector should continue beyond 2012. Unfortunately the consultation does not allow you to say that all BIG funding should go to the sector.
Please complete this important consultation and urge local organisations and groups to do so as well. Millions of pounds of funding for local organisations are at stake.
You will find the consultation at
www.big-thinking.org.uk
