Local Trust releases further funds to Big Local areas

Local Trust has announced additional funding for the 150 areas taking part in the Big Local programme. Big Local areas will each be receiving an extra £50,000 on top of the £1.1 million already committed to allow them to further support their communities.

The money, which has recently become available as a result of the growth in the Big Local Trust endowment, was planned for release early in 2020-21.  Its release now will enable areas to plan with greater certainty and increase their scope to allocate funds flexibly during the coronavirus pandemic. We know areas are already finding new ways to help their communities during the pandemic and we want to make sure they feel able to do so without concern about the impact of spending on longer term plans.

Big Local is the biggest place-based funding programme currently distributing funds across England. Established in 2012 by the National Lottery Community Fund to target funding to 150 communities who had missed out on benefiting from previous funding programmes, Big Local is administered by place-based funder Local Trust.

In 2017 Local Trust announced that areas would receive an additional £105k from the returns generated from the original investment of £150m, this was added to the balance of each area’s £1m. This additional £50,000 will be the final allocation of the investment to Big Local areas.

Big Local areas can access the funding in the same way they do now, by submitting a plan or request to Local Trust.  New arrangements have been put in place to allow areas to change and vary plans quickly and flexibly in response to current challenges.