£9m loneliness fund opens to applications

£9m loneliness fund open to applications

The money forms part of the £11.5m Building Connections Fund, which was announced last month by the Prime Minister Theresa May and Tracey Crouch, the lead minister for tackling homelessness and also the minister for civil society.

Big Lottery Fund (BLF) is distributing almost £9m of the fund, with grants of between £30,000 and £100,000 available for projects which “reach out to people of all ages who feel lonely or isolated, and encourage them to take part in activities, helping them to feel more connected”.

Applications open today and will close on Friday 24 August. Guidance and criteria are available on the Big Lottery Fund website or https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/building-connections-fund

Funding for young people

A further £2m from the £11.5m Building Connections Fund will be distributed by the Co-op Foundation, with grants of up to £80,000 available for youth organisations already helping young people avoid long-term loneliness. 

Successful applicants to this part of the funding will “receive funding to explore youth loneliness in greater depth, test youth-led innovations within their current services, and share learning as part of the Co-op Foundation’s national Belong network of youth partners”. 

Applications to this youth-focused strand of the Building Connections Fund will open in August 2018, with guidance and criteria are available on the Co-op Foundation website or at https://blog.coopfoundation.org.uk/index.php/2018/07/16/building-connections-fund-is-your-project-eligible-for-our-2-million-youth-strand/

All grants will be announced in December 2018, with funding available to support projects until March 2021.