Written evidence submitted by the Big
Lottery Fund (arts 152)
BACKGROUND/SUMMARY
1. The Big Lottery Fund welcomes the opportunity
to respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into
funding of the arts and heritage.
2. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) was created
in 2004 by the merger of two previous Lottery Distributors, The
Community Fund and The New Opportunities Fund. BIG also has residual
responsibility for the Millennium Commission.
3. The Big Lottery Fund is currently responsible
for distributing 50% of funds raised for Good Causes from The
National Lottery and supports projects connected to health, education,
environment and charitable purposes.
4. Under our current programmes we fund
projects from as little as £300. Demand for our funding remains
high. In 2009-10 14,000 commitments were made to projects totalling
£440 million yet we received over 28,000 applications requesting
more than £1 billion.
5. Like other Lottery Distributors, we report
annually against the additionality principle, to ensure that Lottery
funding does not replace Government expenditure.
6. We have a target that at least 80% of
our funding, UK-wide, will go to the Voluntary and Community Sector
(VCS). In 2009-10 92% of BIG's funding went to the VCS. The remaining
8% went to other wider community projects and partnerships such
as individual veterans through our Heroes Return 2 programme,
after school clubs and extracurricular activities, partnerships
with Local Authorities and others through programmes such as Community
Libraries and Parks for People (delivered with the Heritage Lottery
Fund).
7. We are an outcomes funder, we are interested
in what works for people, communities and neighbourhoods rather
than just the specific type of organisation delivering the project.
This means that our funding, while local community based, can
often be related to arts and heritage activities since these activities
can often be used to tackle social, community or personal concerns.
Fuller detail of such funding is contained within this response
from point 14.
8. Given that the arts and heritage sectors
are outside our area of immediate expertise we have focused our
response on factual matters relating to our funding of community
arts and heritage related projects and the impact of proposed
changes to the distribution of National Lottery funds.
OVERVIEW OF
BIG FUNDING OF
THE ARTS
AND HERITAGE
9. While we do not therefore explicitly
fund the arts and heritage sectors we have funded a significant
number of community projects related to arts and heritage.
10. Since 2004 we have funded:
— Over £4.2 million to heritage related
community projects.
— Over £72 million to arts related
community projects.
11. In addition, we have also funded:
— Over £51.9 million to veterans and
associated projects through our "Heroes Return," "Their
past Your Future" and "Home Front Recall" programmes—
an investment in Britain's living legacy.
— Up to £90 million towards the joint
"Parks for People" programme in partnership with Heritage
Lottery Fund.
— Up to £80 million through a "Community
Libraries" programme.
— Three major grants of around £70
million through our "Living Landmarks" programme. This
followed previous investments from the Millennium Commission and
BIG in transformational projects such as the Eden project.
CHANGES TO
THE DISTRIBUTION
OF NATIONAL
LOTTERY FUNDING
12. BIG currently distributes 50% of all
Lottery funding to Good Causes. DCMS is consulting on reducing
this share to 46% in 2011 and then to 40% in 2012. This percentage
of Lottery money will then be reallocated in equal measure from
BIG's Good Cause area to arts, sports and heritage. It is estimated,
subject to Lottery ticket sales, that this will equate to around
£150 million of BIG's income being reallocated to arts, sports
and heritage each year.
13. In addition, DCMS is also consulting
on a new Policy Direction for BIG. DCMS has stated that it is
their wish that BIG's funding remains flexible so that we can
continue to fund different partnerships that benefit local communities
but that they want to ensure that our funding is focussed on the
VCS. As part of that consultation we are seeking clarity on whether
this new policy direction would limit our ability to fund statutory
bodies (as in our Parks for People programme with Heritage Lottery
Fund) or individuals (for example veterans through our Heroes
Return 2 programme).
EXAMPLE BIG FUNDING
OF THE
ARTS AND
HERITAGE
14. The range and quality of the community
projects we fund, especially using arts and heritage projects
to achieve outcomes for those in need, is reflected in the National
Lottery Awards where BIG funded projects feature across a range
of categories. This year 13 of the 21 short listed projects are
BIG or Awards for All funded. Last year five out of the winning
seven projects were BIG funded, including Best Arts project. Some
examples of the kind of community projects related to arts and
heritage that we fund, and our different approaches to funding,
are outlined below.
15. Village SOS—The Caistor Arts &
Heritage Centre
— This year Caistor Arts & Heritage
Centre was awarded £433,840 through our Village SOS programme.
The funds will be used to refurbish a local disused building to
create the Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre that would encourage
tourism, provide employment opportunities and generate income.
The centre will provide workshop and exhibition space for local
artists and a number of other rooms and training areas such as
a training kitchen. As a historic place with many historical and
listed buildings Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre hopes to build
on Caistor's strengths and attract more visitors from the local
areas and from further afield. There are also plans for the centre
to also include a cinema and a small community library.
— The Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre
is one of six projects to win funding through Village SOS—a
scheme funded by Big Lottery Fund and supported by the BBC that
aims to inspire a rural revival across the UK. Village SOS is
responding to the plight of rural villages, and is supporting
new community-led business ventures that will breathe new life
into their areas, create new jobs and improve the quality of life
for local people.
— Helping the villagers through the journey
will be their "Village Champion" Charlotte Hastings,
who will move into Caistor for a year and use her experience to
support the villagers in getting their community initiative up
and running. Her business expertise lies in marketing and project
management having worked for the British Fashion Council to organise
London Fashion Week. The villagers chose to work with Charlotte
from a pool of experts found through a nationwide search by the
BBC and Enterprise UK. She has been working with the Caistor project
since November last year to develop their idea into a standout
business proposal. The BBC is following the stories of the new
rural enterprises from start up to trading for a major BBC One
series. A major learning campaign will be launched alongside the
series to enable other villages to use the learning and enthusiasm
from the programme to set up their own community enterprises.
16. Living Landmarks—Funding A World
Heritage Site
— Three projects were successful in their
bids to obtain grants of between £22 and £25 million
through the Living Landmarks programme in 2007. One was Heartlands,
a World Heritage Site.
— The Heartlands project is a community-led
vision to transform one of Cornwall's most derelict areas into
a truly inspirational cultural landscape by turning a former mining
site into a World Heritage Site and new parkland. The site will
include formal gardens, play space, performance space for events
and new cycle trails. This will be complemented by public art
including water features, sculptures and contemporary architecture,
complementing the Grade II Listed Robinson's Shaft mine complex
near to the village of Pool.
17. Parks for People
— The Parks for People programme is a joint
initiative between the Big Lottery Fund and the Heritage Lottery
Fund. BIG contributed up to £90million to this programme
that builds on the two Lottery Funds' shared commitment to bring
improvements to local environments by making a lasting impact
on the lives of local people and the places where they live. Parks
for People is an excellent example of Lottery Distributors working
together to achieve shared outcomes. Although a significant number
of applicants to this programme are Local Authorities the programme
is open to all not for profit organisations.
18. Community Arts Projects
— Venture Arts Ltd in Manchester was awarded
£157,000 in December 2005 though BIG's Reaching Communities
programme. Venture Arts provides a series of arts and crafts workshops
for adults with learning difficulties, enabling them to have a
more independent and stimulating life and build their confidence
and self esteem. The development of the project will improve the
basic skills and promote greater social interaction within the
community for adults with learning difficulties.
— The Artworks Creative Together project
in Bradford was awarded £255,001 over four years through
our Family Learning programme. Creative Together is a project
aimed at helping families enjoy learning together. Artworks brings
adults and children together through a fun programme of arts and
creative activities that works to bring together the family through
inspired learning activities. Traditional teaching can be off-putting
for many, but Creative Together's hands-on approach will break
down the barriers to being able to learn together, as a family—by
being fun, accessible and inclusive. Through a fun 10-week creative
programme children and adults will work together to learn new
skills, gain confidence in their abilities, and adopt new approach
to learning in family life. Artworks will work with 120 families
on a programme of creative activities lasting up to 10 weeks,
which forms the basis of the techniques the families will take
away with them. By the end of the programme each family will have
gained new technical skills and developed a range of techniques,
resources and contacts to continue using as a family. The project
will engage family groups who have a child excluded or at risk
of exclusion from school; are from specific ethnic minority groups;
families with a child or adult with a disability, and families
living in defined economically deprived areas.
— Churt Parish Council in Farnham received
£5,000 from our Awards for All programme. Churt Parish Council
held two exhibitions about the history of the parish. The exhibitions
included information and pictures about the history of local events,
buildings and life in the village from past to present. Local
groups including the WI, over 60's social group and school children
all contributed to the displays giving everyone in the village
a unique opportunity to learn about the history of Churt.
CONCLUSION
19. Whilst not being a core funder of the
arts or heritage, BIG has made a significant contribution to community
projects working in these areas, especially when arts and heritage
are a means of bringing communities together or engaging people
to help address local issues, needs or concerns.
20. Positive community outcomes from our
funding may include: opportunities for training, employment and
skills; reduced isolation; ownership and control of assets leading
to increased sustainability; greater sense of pride in local neighbourhoods
and increased civic participation.
21. Our distinction therefore from other
Lottery Distributors (Heritage Lottery Fund and the country Arts
Councils), is our focus on community and grass roots projects.
However, we have also funded a number of large capital projects
and national initiatives that will have a positive impact on the
artistic and heritage makeup of the UK for years to come.
22. Changes in Lottery policy will mean
BIG will see a reduction in the percentage of Lottery funding
received with a corresponding increase going to arts, sports and
heritage. However, as an outcomes funder, we plan to continue
to fund community arts and heritage projects that demonstrate
that they provide an effective means of helping, supporting and
enabling people and communities.
September 2010
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