A £20 million fund to provide grants to around 250 organisations working in the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector has been launched by the government.

The Local Sustainability Fund, which will be administered by the Big Lottery Fund, will provide chosen organisations with money to implement organisational change and access professional advice and services.

The fund also hopes to give VCSE organisations the ability to utilise a wider range of skills and support by building relationships with local businesses. There will also be support offered when it comes to potentially bidding for public service contracts.

The scheme will use £20 million to provide funds to around 250 medium-sized VCSE organisations. A medium-sized organisation is 1 that has an annual income of between £100,000 and £1.5 million.

Organisations that meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria can apply on the Big Lottery Fund’s website.
Eligible organisations can apply by:

• completing a free diagnostic tool which will automatically generate a sustainability report
• this report must then be submitted to the Big Lottery Fund.

Rob Wilson, minister of civil society, said he hoped the fund will “establish cross-sector partnerships and build skills crucial to delivering sustainability in the sector.”

Dawn Austwick, chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund, said:

“We are committed to help build a stronger and more vibrant civil society and this funding will help put such organisations on a firmer and more sustainable footing to achieve this.”