Government boosts community wealth fund by nearly £740m
News marks the culmination of a successful campaign by the CWFA (Community Wealth Fund Alliance), supported by Local Trust
The Government has announced that the important cause of community wealth funds is set to benefit by nearly £740m from an expanded Dormant Assets Scheme. It’s the first new cause to be added since the scheme’s launch over a decade ago.
The move will see some of England’s most deprived areas given funding to support social or environmental causes.
Stuart Andrew MP, the Minister responsible for dormant assets, announced the development, saying: “The creation of a community wealth fund will give local residents in some of the more deprived areas of the country the power to improve where they live and invest in what’s important to them.”
Local Trust, a group of over 660 civil society, public and private sector organisations, and one of the founding members of the CWFA, welcomed the news. It is the result of a successful five-year campaign coordinated by the community wealth fund, which gained support from across all the main political parties, the local government sector, national charities and funders and community groups across the UK.
The trust was established in 2012 to deliver Big Local, a National Lottery Community funded programme which committed £1m each to 150 neighbourhoods across England. It champions the value of long-term, unconditional resident-led funding.
Many independent trusts and foundations supported and funded the campaign development, including the Tudor Trust, Lloyds Bank Foundation of England and Wales, the People’s Health Trust, Church Urban Fund, the Friends Provident Foundation, and City Bridge Trust.
Local Trust also thanked parliamentary supporters and the NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) for its financial and advocacy support at key stages of the campaign.
Matt Leach, Chief Executive of Local Trust, commented: “While it’s a massive decision by the Government to open up dormant assets to a big new purpose of community-led change in our most deprived neighbourhoods, we’re only halfway there. Now we’re entering a consultation about how these funds might be delivered.
“We hope that the creation of these new neighbourhood-based resident-led funds will signal a sea-change in how we support communities that for decades have missed out on investment and opportunities. We look forward to engaging with DCMS (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) on the consultation and supporting them in developing the detail of how these funds will be distributed.”
The Local Trust also said it will work with CWFA members over the coming months to ensure that the key principles it has established for community wealth funds – neighbourhood, community-led decision-making, long-term patient investment with appropriate support, and a focus on the most disadvantaged and ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods in the country – are at the heart of their implementation.