The National Lottery Community Fund will work alongside five expert partnerships to ensure that almost £45m of National Lottery funding reaches communities most vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19.
The partnerships comprise Covid-19 Homelessness Response Fund; COVID-19 Community Led Organisations Recovery Scheme; Community Justice Fund; The COVID-19 Social Enterprise Support Fund Partnership; and Barrow Cadbury Trust Covid-19 Support Fund
The move is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s COVID-19 emergency response, and will utilise the partnerships’ collective expertise and networks, to ensure funding is distributed to even more communities.
The partnerships will focus on supporting organisations that work with those communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This includes BAME and other communities experiencing health inequalities and people experiencing homelessness. There will also be a focus on getting support to social enterprises.
Grants to the sector partnerships range from £5m up to almost £20m. The COVID-19 Social Enterprise Support Fund Partnership will use almost £20m to provide grants to social enterprise organisations that are best-placed to support local, vulnerable communities in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Partnerships receiving £5m include The Barrow Cadbury Trust Covid-19 Support Fund for small and medium organisations supporting migrants and refugees, and Homeless Link, to support small and medium sized homelessness charities and help them adapt their service delivery to respond to the crisis.*
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.”
Speaking on behalf of the Covid-19 Community-led Organisations Recovery Scheme, CEO of Power to Change Vidhya Alakeson, said: “The coronavirus pandemic revealed just how vital community-led organisations are in delivering support to local people. They stepped up during the lockdown, but now many face impending financial crisis. Thanks to National Lottery funding, this new recovery scheme is there to help them transition through this challenging period and ensure they can survive and continue their vital work.”
The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, has given out more than £200m since the start of lockdown to help communities cope with the impact. National Lottery distributors as a whole have distributed up to £600m to support communities throughout the UK during the Coronavirus crisis, playing a critical role in supporting people, projects and communities during these challenging times.
