Community First Endowment Match Challenge

Minister for Civil Society Rob Wilson has announced that the Community First Endowment Match Challenge, a charity funding scheme that is improving the lives of thousands of people across the UK has exceeded £110 million.

The funding pot, which is expected to grow to over £120 million by March next year, is being invested and the money generated is granted to thousands of small local charities. This form of funding, where the central pot is not touched, enables the fund to keep on giving to causes in the local communities for generations to come.

The fund is the Community First Endowment Match Challenge, a national programme where a central funding pot is grown from individual and corporate donations. So far £70 million has been donated by members of the public and businesses and matched with £40 million from government.

The money that is donated is invested ethically by specialist investment managers CCLA. Returns on the investment are granted to local charities across the country chosen by the original donor, leaving his or her investment in the endowment pot in perpetuity.

The fund was started in 2010 and in the last financial year over £1.7 million has been granted to 762 charities across the country. Now that the fund has grown to over £110 million, it is expected that the number of grants will increase significantly over the next financial year. The money raised each year will continue to grow over the life of the programme to ensure a sustainable source of funding for communities.

For further information on the Community First Endowment Match Challenge visit www.gov.uk/government/get-involved/take-part/get-involved-with-community-first.