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Boost for voluntary and community groups as funding is extended

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark has confirmed that funding for vital community projects through the Communitybuilders scheme will continue…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark has confirmed that funding for vital community projects through the Communitybuilders scheme will continue into the next financial year, thanks to a £27 million endowment fund.

The endowment fund will ensure that groups can develop their proposals at their own speed to improve their financial futures through buying and developing assets and providing a range of valuable services for their communities. These include setting up multi-purpose community facilities, mother and toddler groups, adult education classes and family support services. The programme will be signed over from government to be administered and managed by the Adventure Capital Fund from 1 April 2011.

Mr Clark, said:

We need to make sure that every penny available goes to voluntary and community groups at the best time for them, and that they can access support from across the board. They shouldn’t be forced to distort their plans because of central red tape. The endowment fund for Communitybuilders is a victory for common sense as it means that projects will continue to operate and set up future investment opportunities.

It is a time of change for the sector but with this comes new freedoms, such as less time spent assessing, analysing and reporting back to Whitehall and more time spent on drawing up flexible plans with community leaders on locally led-projects.

Chair of the Adventure Capital Fund, Sir Stephen Bubb said:

This endowment is great news for a struggling sector. It is a real endorsement of Adventure Capital Fund’s pioneering model of social investment over the last decade.

I want to pay tribute in particular to the minister Greg Clark who recognised the value of making an endowment as a way of levering capital and gave it his crucial backing.

As a fund which will recycle loan repayments back into the sector, the endowment means we can support many more community organisations into the future.

So we can continue to provide loans to support people who want to take over the running of their local parks or libraries; to help community organisations who want to refurbish community centres to become financially sustainable; and to grow public service delivery by the third sector.

The £70 million Communitybuilders Fund, previously owned by the Department of Communites and Local Government, is now an endowed fund - owned and administered by the Adventure Capital Fund. It supports neighbourhood-based, community-led organisations to become more sustainable through a mixture of loans, grants and business support. The fund is currently closed to new applications but the organisation expects it to reopen within a few months.

The purpose of the endowment is to allow the Communitybuilders Fund to become fully established for the foreseeable future and to ensure stable and continued management. It will allow for greater efficiency and financial planning, increasing value for money all round. It also creates an evergreen fund where loan repayments are recycled back into the sector, as well as the prospect of growing the fund by topping up the original amount with money from other investors, foundations or even philanthropists.

The Government is supporting local groups by letting them take centre stage in the running of local services and moving away from the dependency on grant funding from taxpayers.

At the heart of the Localism Bill is a suite of measures designed to strengthen the hand of groups wanting to take on a bigger role by entrenching powerful new rights for community groups.

There is also the opportunity for groups to get involved early as councils set their budgets. Ministers have said that it is reasonable to expect that they give voluntary and community groups three months’ notice or more when they think they need to end or alter a grant, or other support. Rather than pulling up the drawbridge they should, as a matter of course, be open to suggestions from these groups on alternative ways of redesigning or reshaping the services so that they can continue to be provided even where budgets need to be reduced.

Ministers have urged more transparency about funding and that councils publish what they give in grants and payments to the voluntary and community sector.

Notes to editors

1. For further information, please contact The Social Investment Business (who currently administer the Communitybuilders fund) press office:

Liz Banks - 0207 842 7726/ 07809 504072 liz.banks@socialinvestmentbusiness.org
Nicola Jones - 0207 842 7755 nicola.jones@socialinvestmentbusiness.org

2. For further information on Communitybuilders, visit: www.communitybuildersfund.org.uk (external link).

3. The Adventure Capital Fund: As of 23 March 2011 the Adventure Capital Fund now owns and administers the Communitybuilders Fund. The Adventure Capital Fund is the parent charity of The Social Investment Business. The Adventure Capital Fund previously managed the Communitybuilders Fund on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Office for Civil Society in partnership with The Social Investment Business and Community Alliance (made up of the Development Trusts Association and bassac - now merged to become Locality) and Community Matters. The Adventure Capital Fund has been making investments in community enterprises since 2003 and offers a range of investment tools and support services to organisations looking to develop income streams that enable them to stand on their own two feet. For further information visit: www.adventurecapitalfund.org.uk (external link).

4. The remaining money from the Communitybuilders Fund (£27 million) has been used to create this endowment and can be spent after the 1 April 2011. The purpose of the endowment is to allow the Communitybuilders Fund to become fully established for the foreseeable future and to ensure its stable and continued management. It will allow for greater efficiency and financial planning, increasing value for money.

5. Up until 1 April 2011 the Adventure Capital Fund managed the Communitybuilders Fund in partnership with The Social Investment Business and Community Alliance (made up of bassac, Community Matters and the Development Trusts Association) on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Office for Civil Society.

6. After 1 April 2011, the Communitybuilders Fund will no longer be managed on behalf  of Department for Communities and Local Government and Office for Civil Society by Adventure Capital Fund. The Fund will now be owned and administered Adventure Capital Fund, and will continue to run to provide the same support as it does now. This will lead to more projects to help the transfer of assets to communities, support to develop enterprise activities that help them become sustainable, and resources for new community centres and spaces well into the future. Adventure Capital Fund will ensure transparency for Communitybuilders Fund by publishing details of the organisations it has helped and the way in which they were helped on the internet, to be updated at least quarterly.

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Published 30 March 2011