Published: 01 March 2007
BASIS of Lottery Funding
The Big Lottery Fund has announced a shortlist of 204 projects, worth over £90million, to go through to the second stage of its BASIS (Building and Sustaining Infrastructure Services) programme.
The shortlisted organisations now have up to six months to develop their applications further and present them to BIG for a non competitive assessment.
BASIS is the first Big Lottery Fund programme to focus solely on developing voluntary & community sector infrastructure.
The scheme aims to build a more expert, consistently available and sustainable set of support services for front line voluntary and community organisations across England.
Across the round one portfolio, there is a strong focus on maintaining, expanding & improving locally based face-to-face support and networking opportunities available to organisations.
The projects, working across England, include schemes to:
· establish new infrastructure networks in poorly served areas such as Cornwall, Greenwich and rural Norfolk
· co-ordinated support packages in urban locations such as Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Birmingham, and
· partnership work to re-organise & improve currently available services in areas like Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, and Cumbria
The shortlisted projects also represent a significant investment in BME focused infrastructure in every English region.
To support the local & regional work, BIG has in addition invited to stage two a small number of England wide programmes.
These will hopefully significantly:
· boost knowledge, skills & information in local infrastructure
· support sectors not yet fully integrated into infrastructure planning, and
· pilot innovative approaches for organisations not attracted to traditional methods of training
Stephen Dunmore, Chief Executive of the Big Lottery Fund, said:
“The projects we have invited to stage two represent a backbone of sustainable and strategically integrated support for the voluntary and community sector across England.
They take forward and complement Change Up plans, pilots and partnership working, and will improve the quality, reach and scope of infrastructure in every region. “
BASIS has been devised following extensive public consultation & discussions with the voluntary and community sector.
As a result, it will be offering longer-term support for up to five years and substantial capital investment.
The programme aims to develop the provision of expert, consistent & sustainable services across the range of voluntary & community sector organisations, as well as established charities and voluntary groups.
Further information
BASIS (Building and Sustaining Infrastructure Services) programme
List of organisations invited to submit second stage applications
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Big Lottery Fund supports BASIS of Voluntary and Community Sector Infrastructure
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