New Lottery fund for community buildings

A £75 million community buildings grants programme for voluntary organisations and parish and town councils in England has been announced by the Big Lottery Fund (BLF).
Not-for-profit groups will be able to apply for sums of between £100,000 and £500,000 from the BLF’s Reaching Communities programme from early December.
A BLF spokeswoman said funding would be available for "all types of multi-purpose buildings used by communities, including memorial halls, community centres and village halls".
Each project should have a total value of no more than £750,000.
She added: "The new funding stream has been designed with a view to transforming current buildings into community buildings that can offer a wide range of activities benefiting a broad group of citizens."
A BLF consultation carried out this year found widespread support for a dedicated stream of capital funding within the Reaching Communities programme, which supports people and projects most in need.
Applications will be assessed on a monthly rolling basis.
Organisations can register for further information by calling 0845 410 2030.
Reaching Communities has awarded 2,000 organisations a total of more than £455 million since 2006.

[from: Third Sector Online 26.10.10]