Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive, Peter Wanless addressed
NAVCA's 2008 Conference on 16 September and thanked NAVCA for
helping him keep in touch with local groups. He told the conference
that the future for the Big Lottery Fund may involve a mix of the
old and the new. The old would be repeating tried and tested
popular schemes such as 'Awards for All'. The new may include
distributing non-lottery funds and providing loans and endowments
as well as grants.
He said that Big Lottery Fund are a relatively small funder
compared to other institutions. This means that deserving projects
are not always successful as requests for funding will always
outweigh the amount Big Lottery Fund can give. He acknowledged that
the London Olympics will mean less funding in the run up to
2012.
Peter said that the 2006 Lottery Act, which gives Big Lottery
Fund the power to distribute non-lottery money, may mean that the
fund changes in the future. Parliament is currently looking at how
to use dormant bank accounts and the Big Lottery Fund may be
involved in distributing these funds. Peter also raised the
prospect of the Big Lottery Fund using loans and endowments
alongside grant funding in the future.
Following the speech, Kevin Curley Chief Executive of NAVCA,
said
"It was interesting to hear Peter's ideas and I appreciate the
offer he made to visit local groups. I was pleased to hear Peter
say that they are prepared to keep supporting existing schemes.
Hopefully, this can mean an increase for their Reaching Communities
fund, so it can better meet the huge demand there is for it.
"I think local infrastructure groups need to work with the Big
Lottery Fund, so together we can try and get the right funding
schemes in place to support future need. NAVCA supports the changes
Peter suggested today with the exception of the idea of introducing
loans. The money for loans would reduce the amount available for
grants. We are already seeing a reduction in grants across the
board and this would make the situation worse. Grant funding is
what local groups need".
See also
Podcast
interview with Peter Wanless
NAVCA conference
blog