A merger of the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund has been confirmed, despite concerns from within the voluntary sector that it could affect its income, writes Sally Gillen.
Announcing the move, culture secretary Tessa Jowell described it as an opportunity to "create a new Lottery good cause distributor which will build on the strengths of both organisations".
Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, chairperson of the New Opportunities Fund, said: "We regard the new merger as an exciting challenge. Increased benefits for the communities will be the acid test.
"Partnership, tackling disadvantage, improving community services and local priority setting must be the key themes of the new body."
Pitkeathley added that the NOF was "already a very substantial funder of the voluntary sector", and had committed around 40 per cent of its £1.62 billion to projects in the sector.
But there are fears that the merger will result in less money going to charities whose activities do not relate to government objectives, but who have in the past been given grants by the independent Community Fund.
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