20 June 1996

NATIONAL LOTTERY CHARITIES BOARD LAUNCHES SMALL GRANTS SCHEME FOR SMALL GROUPS IN WALES

The National Lottery Charities Board today launched its small grants scheme for small charities and voluntary groups in Wales. The scheme is being piloted in Wales over the next three months. £500,000 will be available for small grants during that time.

Small grants will be given for between £500 and £5,000. The scheme will be open to groups with annual incomes of less than £10,000. During the pilot only groups based in Wales will be able to apply.

The small grants scheme differs from the Board’s main grant programmes in that it will be open all the time, there are no priority themes, the application form is shorter and the applicants will hear the outcome sooner.

David Sieff, Chairman of the Board, said: 'The Board announced at an early stage that one of our main aims is to give grants to small, locally based community groups who might not find it easy to raise funds. The small grants scheme will help such groups and meet the needs of small organisations seeking relatively modest sums of money.'

Launching the scheme today, Tom Jones, Chair of the Board’s Wales Committee said: 'The need for a programme to meet the needs of small groups and charities which are run on a tight budget emerged following our consultation with the voluntary sector in 1995. Last September we said we would run a small grants scheme and today we are fulfilling that promise.

'Many small community groups and charities are run on a shoestring budget. Very often there are no spare funds available for extras or for when they want to do that little bit more. This is when a small grant can help.'

A leaflet giving more information about the small grants scheme is available from Libraries, Citizen Advice Bureaux, and Councils for Voluntary Service in Wales, or by calling 01686 622253. Groups wanting to apply for a small grant must complete a tear-off slip at the back of the leaflet and return it to the Wales office by Freepost. They will then be sent an application form.