Coronavirus: National Lottery pledges £300m to tackle impact

The National Lottery Community Fund said it will speed up grant allocations for the coming six-month period, worth £300m, prioritising support for community organisations struggling financially as a result of the pandemic, as well as those providing activities "specifically geared to supporting communities through this crisis".

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The organisation has warned that the approach means that some groups will not be able to access funding over the coming months, adding that it will endeavour to return to broader support as soon as it can.

"At this extraordinarily difficult time, we are all being challenged and moved in ways that seemed unimaginable just weeks ago," said Dawn Austwick, chief executive of The National Lottery Community Fund.

"Here at The National Lottery Community Fund, our first priority is to support people and communities through our funding in the best way we can, recognising that we cannot help everyone.

"So far, we have of course honoured our existing commitments to grant holders and offered them flexibility so that they can focus on supporting their communities.

"We have now made two additional decisions. Firstly, all the funding decisions we make for the next six months (up to £300m of National Lottery funding) will be devoted to addressing the current crisis.

"In addition, we will accelerate the cash part of this funding as much as we can, so that we can get money to where it needs to be. This is not new money, but it will be faster money and we know that we must act quickly and with confidence.

"In deciding how to implement this approach we have to make some tough choices about how we get that money out quickly to those communities and organisations that need it most. We will do our best to be fair and true to our principles and to you."

While the announcement means that many organisations working with children and young people will be able to apply for support, it will also mean that others will not have access to a funding stream they were previously eligible for.

"Should we get through this initial tranche of support with some funding left or circumstances change, we will move to set new priorities," Austwick said.

"We know that this means some groups will not be able to access our funding over the coming months and we will endeavour to return to our broader support as soon as we can.

"Things are moving at pace and we will keep our approach under constant review. We are also going to continue our exploration of how this crisis is changing how we live as communities and how civil society itself is changed."

In January, three youth organisations were among 20 groups to share £8.6m in National Lottery Community Fund money to improve their online and digital support for young people.

A grant was given to the Children’s Society to develop a digital tool to help measure and address a lack of online access among vulnerable young people, the Children’s Law Centre in Northern Ireland received money to develop technology to help it respond to children’s rights concerns earlier and make better use of data, while Grandparents Plus received money for a kinship care project to help tailor support services to changing family circumstances.

Last week a survey by think-tank New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) found that charities to support vulnerable children and families are under threat due to a massive drop in fundraising income caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Charity leaders, including the National Council of Voluntary Organisations, have called for urgent government support and funding for the voluntary sector. They have warned that the charity sector is set to lose £4.3bn in the next 12 weeks due to the pandemic.