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Big Lottery Fund (BIG) is announcing today an investment of £6m that will develop the social investment market and further explore its potential to help tackle issues facing communities and individuals most in need.

The £6m ‘Next Steps: Supporting Social Investment in England’ initiative will see BIG awarding between £40,000 and £1m to social investment proposals that are already in development but are in need of some extra funding to realise their plans.

The proposals may need pilot funding to demonstrate to investors that they can deliver returns, or they may be closer to fruition and need funding to put them into practice.

The funding is available to organisations acting in the role of commissioner or intermediary as well as frontline organisations who will deliver the interventions to tackle social need.

The money could facilitate a wide range of activities to develop social investment proposals, from creating systems to collect data, covering the legal and technical costs of finalising social investment proposals, or funding the delivery of interventions to show how in practice they can produce cashable savings for other services.

BIG is open for expressions of interests from today (Wednesday 16 November) until Wednesday 14 December. Further guidance and application materials are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/nextsteps

Chair of BIG’s England Committee Nat Sloane said: “Now is an exciting time for social investment with the BIG-funded Peterborough Prison Social Impact Bond underway, and the Big Society Investment Fund (BSIF) beginning to make key investments in this area ahead of the launch of Big Society Capital next year.

“Clearly the current difficult financial climate presents a great many challenges for the Voluntary and Community Sector, with limited funding available and demand for services increasing. Social investment may hold a more financially sustainable answer to addressing some of the problems faced by society. It could also support projects that might otherwise look for Lottery funding, potentially freeing up cash for other good causes.

“This funding package we are announcing today has been developed based on our experience working with BSIF and liaison with social investment experts. It will help us to build some significant learning about social investment and how in practice it could be used for the benefit of communities and those most in need.”

Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to Editors

• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 46% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £26 billion has now been raised and more than 330,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.