Big Lottery Fund Seeks Views on New Programme

The Big Lottery Fund wants to know what the voluntary and community sector thinks about its new programme Building Capabilities for Impact and Legacy.

The Government is providing a one-off £30 million investment in local infrastructure in England. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has indicated that it will add £20 million.

Following the publication of its discussion paper on the new programme last month, voluntary sector and social enterprise managers, working in frontline or support capacity, now have an opportunity to voice their views on how they think the new funding should be used to develop support for their sector.

One of BIG’s main objectives is to help support the voluntary and community sector become more effective. It is also keen to help social enterprises develop so that they can help deliver BIG objectives. In an effort to meet these objectives, BIG has spent more than £200 million in the last decade on capacity building.

To further develop its approach, BIG is making the discussion national through an online survey and discussion events to be held throughout the year. According to BIG, the discussion paper is intended “to stimulate debate and thinking to shape, influence and inform our future thinking and investment.”

The discussion paper and the online survey can be found on BIG’s website (opens new window). The survey must be completed by 15 March 2012. A revised paper will then be published which will set out further details on BIG’s plans for funding.