One East Midlands awarded £30,000 of Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund has £630,000 of Lottery funding to 36 organisations across England to raise awareness within the voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector of the opportunities available through the European Social Fund (ESF).

The funded projects will provide advice and guidance on the European funding that will be matched by the Big Lottery Fund in their Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas and will be available from 2015. One East Midlands has received its £30,000 to work in the D2N2 (Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire) LEP area.

One East Midlands will use the funding to take forward the social inclusion framework for D2N2 to:

  • Further engage with and gather wider opinion from organisations across the D2N2 area on the framework:
  • Raise awareness of the EU SIF opportunities available with the Big Lottery Fund opt-in;
  • Prepare VCSE organisations intending to bid for this opportunity;
  • Identify and support the initial foundations of partnership building; and
  • Develop a shared vision and approaches between the LEP and the VCSE sector to tackle social inclusion that enables inclusive economic development and growth.

For further information on this project contact Rachel Quinn, Chief Executive of One East Midlands, on 0115 934 8471 or at rachelquinn@one-em.org.uk.

The other organisations awarded funding in the LEP areas covering the East Midlands listed below. For further information on all of these LEPs visit www.oneeastmidlands.org.uk/leps.

LEP Area

Organisation

Grant

Greater Cambridge & Greater Peterborough

Big Society Funding Community Interest Company

£19,830

Greater Lincolnshire

Urban Challenge Limited

£10,000

Leicester and Leicestershire

LCCDA Management Co-Operative Limited

£29,949

Northamptonshire

Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire

£10,000

Sheffield City Region

Key Fund Investments Limited

£10,000

South East Midlands

The Learning Partnership – Bedfordshire and Luton Limited

£10,000

Over the next few years the Big Lottery Fund plans to put up £260million of National Lottery funding to match a similar figure from Europe, subject to sign off from the European Commission at the end of this year. Together, the matched funds will be used to tackle poverty and promote social inclusion.

The money from Europe comes from a new seven year cycle of European funding – the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) Growth programme, of which ESF is one part. It will support a wide range of projects including improving employability for the most disadvantaged, helping those with multiple and complex needs, improving financial literacy, and helping communities to overcome challenges in their lives.

For information about who has been awarded development funding in each LEP area visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/esf.