Government offers £118m fund for voluntary organisations

The Department for Education (DfE) is offering voluntary and community organisations £118m of transitional funding to help them adjust to new funding arrangements in the wake of government cuts over the next two years.

Organisations have until 31 January to bid for some of the funding. If successful, they will be informed on 25 February and funding will commence from April.

“We are investing £59m each year over the next two years to fund the voluntary and community sector to help deliver key national priorities for children, young people and families,” said a DfE spokesman. “This is a significant investment in a tough financial climate. However, the voluntary and community sector cannot be immune from reductions in public expenditure because the scale of the challenge to reduce the national debt is so great.”

The DfE has so far received 553 applications for funding, 196 of which have been approved for the second stage of screening. The spokesman said the overall standard of bids received was high.

The DfE is unable to reveal which organisations have made bids.

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