Lloyds TSB Foundation Celebrates £20 Million Investment

The Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales has published its annual report revealing it has awarded £20.6 million to disadvantaged communities in 2009.

The Foundation is one of the UK’s largest grant makers and has supported over 900 charities tackling disadvantage in communities during 2009.

The funding has also created over 1,800 jobs and 6,900 volunteering opportunities.

The foundation will continue to receive annual funding from the Lloyds Banking Group of £25.2 million until 2013.

Chief executive Linda Kelly said:

“We’re delighted that we’ve been able to invest so much into helping disadvantaged people across England and Wales. Last year was very difficult for many charities and with the likely cuts in public spending, we are now more than ever committed to continuing our support for charities that carry out vital work in the community.

“Our ongoing relationship with Lloyds Banking Group means that we will be able to continue to provide consistent support to those disadvantaged in our communities in the challenging years ahead.”

Lloyds TSB Foundation, 07/05/2010

NAVCA annual survey launched

The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) is once again inviting its members to have their say.

 

The Evaluating NAVCA Survey 2008 is intended to let you tell NAVCA how you think they are doing and comment on how they can best meet the needs of the voluntary and community sector in 2009.

 

Previous surveys have revealed that many third sector groups required more help with commissioning and procurement.  In response, this year NAVCA opened their Local Commissioning and Procurement Unit after seeking funding.

 

The survey will take less than ten minutes to complete and could bring about tangible results, sooner rather than later!

 

Don’t delay – fill in yours today:

 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yU3KGQwbcjgg_2fhB0gKYBsA_3d_3d%3C?xml:namespace%20prefix%20=%20

 

The closing date is 31 December 2008.

 

Source: NAVCA

Government set to pull the plug on funding for BME regional networks…

Black and minority ethnic (BME) representative body Voice4Change has this week spoken out against government plans to pull the plug on funding for regional BME support networks in March 2009.

 

According to Voice4Change, government plans to withdraw funding worth £540,000 from BME networks in nine English regions could spell disaster for BME voluntary and community groups and the BME third sector as a whole.  Without BME regional networks, the government is likely to lose touch with up to 15,000 BME voluntary organisations.  Without network support, these already under-resourced organisations are unlikely to be unable to manage themselves at a strategic level or speak on matters such as policy and public opinion.  They are also unlikely to be able to access the best and most useful funding streams. 

 

Undoubtedly, this fatal blow to regional BME networks could kick-start a downward spiral: BME voluntary and community organisations will no longer be able to provide services to, or act as the voice of, BME communities throughout England and, if that is the case, the government, out of touch with this portion of the third sector, will be unable to develop coherent inclusion and equality policies.

 

Source: Third Sector

New sector skills body for the Third Sector

The Government this week announced news of £2.5 million worth of funding over three years for a dedicated Third Sector skills body. 

 

The body, jointly funded by the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), is intended to identify and address skills gaps in Third Sector organisations such as voluntary and community groups, charities and social enterprises.

 

The programme will provide a range of learning opportunities for both paid and unpaid voluntary sector staff, so they can build their skills and experience.  It is hoped these new steps will help to bridge the gap between the Third Sector and the national skills framework, aswell as improving sector skills support services generally.

 

Source: Cabinet Office

1.10.08 (2)

Campaigning left out in the cold…

 

Charities and voluntary organisations that have a commitment to campaigning are missing out on a large number of funding opportunities and a whole load of cash, according to a new report published by the Directory of Social Change and the NCVO.

 

According to the report, Funding for Sustainable Change, a whole range of grant-making bodies have available funds to support campaign activities and advocacy projects, but most don’t make this clear enough in their scheme criteria.  In addition, the report also noted that a number of organisations were unsure of the legalities behind funding campaigning and so tended to steer clear because of this. 

 

And the result of all this confusion? The voluntary sector is being consistently locked out of accessing relevant and available funding for campaign projects.

 

In an attempt to counteract such developments and open up a debate about the core role campaigning could play for charities and voluntary organisations, the DSC and the NCVO are working together on a campaigning effectiveness team.  It is hoped the team will encourage more funders to support campaigning projects and work towards the creation of a model policy for grant givers.

 

For further information visit:

 

NCVO: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/

DSC: http://www.dsc.org.uk/Home

 

And download a copy of the report here:

 

http://www.dsc.org.uk/filearchive/Conferences/Funding_for_Sustainable_Change.pdf

 

Source: Directory of Social Change

25.09.08 (1)

Three year funding the way forward…

 

A guidance document, published jointly by the Office of the Third Sector and the Treasury, hopes to send a clear message to government departments about how they should be funding the Third Sector.

 

The document, released this month, aims to encourage government funders from all departments to make three year funding packages for Third Sector organisations the norm from now on.

 

For charities, voluntary and community groups and social enterprises, these changes are good news.  Often hampered by short term funding and the need to spend time and money on fundraising year in year out, three year funding will allow organisations to become more sustainable, more creative and produce a better, value for money service.  According to Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, financial stability will mean Third Sector organisations can “reach their full potential”.

 

The guide is available to download for free at:

 

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/~/media/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/Three%20Year%20Funding%20Guidance%20pdf.ashx

 

Source: Office of the Third Sector

24.09.08 (2)

It takes two…

 

According to a new publication, A Practical Guide to Working with Partnerships, produced by the Nottingham Council for Voluntary Service and N2 Consulting, small and medium-sized voluntary organisations should join forces in order to improve their chances of securing more funding. 

 

The guide, which discusses exactly how to create successful working partnerships, suggests that grant-makers are often reluctant to give money to a range of smallish groups that seem to be working in the same vein, as they don’t wish to duplicate their funding causes.

 

The solution?  Team up with other groups that have similar aims and objectives and put on a united front no funder will be able to refuse!

 

Source: Third Sector