Big Lottery Fund

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The Big Lottery Fund is a grant-making organisation in the UK. It gives out half the money for good causes raised by the National Lottery, giving it a budget of about £630 million a year (as of February 2007). The Big Lottery Fund was created in June 2004 by an administrative merger of the former UK lottery distributors Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund.

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The Big Lottery Fund aims to support projects which bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need. To do this, it operates a number of types of funding programmes:

· Demand-led programmes, which provide funding for voluntary and community organisations for work they have identified as needed (similar to the previous Community Fund programmes). Reaching Communities is the currently open programme. · Strategic programmes on specific needs and activities, based on needs described by communities across the UK and linking to the work of Government. (similar to the previous New Opportunities Fund programmes). · Transformational programmes, which provide funding for major projects of national significance.

As with previous National Lottery schemes, the Big Lottery Fund, through predecessor funders has funded both publicly popular and not so popular projects, though all have met identified needs and priorities.

It has been praised for supporting schemes across the UK to get school pupils involved in sporting activities, and has also made high-profile donations to projects supporting disabled people, young people, war veterans and children with learning difficulties. It has launched a whole range of programmes across the four countries it covers. This includes broad programmes supporting skills, communities and enterprise as well as targeted work on advice provision, community building and research.

The Fund has offices in England (divided into 9 regions), Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its current Chief Executive is Stephen Dunmore.