Futurebuilders’ £8 million funding announcement focuses on the regions (26/05/2005)
27.04.2006
A Birmingham-based deaf charity, Liverpool-based vocational training centre and a national childcare initiative are among the latest voluntary and community organisations to receive finance from Futurebuilders England.
Futurebuilders today announced its second group of investments in the voluntary and community sector. 23 organisations across the country are to share £8.1m of investments, mainly in the form of loans, to help them deliver local or national public services.
The latest group of investments demonstrates a strong commitment to the English regions. Nearly £5.2 million has been offered to organisations operating outside of London, with a further £2.6 million pledged to national projects.
The largest investment offer was made to BID Services with Deaf People. Futurebuilders offered £2.5 million to support the creation of a Cultural Centre for Deaf People, which will act as a focal point for the local deaf community. BID provides services to Deaf people in conjunction with local authorities, from youth services to sign language interpretation, and the Centre will help it expand and enhance its operations in the West Midlands.
Croxteth Community Centre in Liverpool will receive an investment of just over £1 million to allow it to buy and refurbish a former church, creating a skills centre offering courses to local 14-19 year olds in everything from horticulture to hairdressing.
Catz Club, a national provider of before and after-school clubs for 4-16 year olds, will receive £2 million to help it become the leading provider of ‘educare’ in the country. The clubs operate on school sites and are helping make the government’s extended schools concept a reality.
Richard Gutch, Chief Executive of Futurebuilders England, said: “Futurebuilders’ latest investments support the groundbreaking work being done by voluntary and community groups across England. There is a great well of talent working within the voluntary sector and we’re increasingly seeing what a difference it can make to the delivery of our public services.
“Futurebuilders is able to tailor its support to the needs of individual voluntary groups. While the million-pound investments are eye-catching, we hope that our development grants to smaller organisations will pay dividends in the long run, as we help voluntary groups of all sizes to deliver well-crafted, local services to their communities.”
Paul Goggins, Minister for Charities, added: "These investments range widely across the country and support a diverse range of projects. Working with Government, voluntary and community organisations of all sizes are increasingly involved in delivering first rate public services, often based on local knowledge and expertise. Through its unique provision of funding and support, Futurebuilders is making this possible, and I am delighted to see such progress being made."
Bryan Sheppard, of BID Services with Deaf People said: “Many Deaf people in Birmingham and surrounding areas have been helped by BID. By working with the Deaf community and local authorities over the last 106 years, BID has grown the services that it provides. With the construction of the Deaf Cultural Centre we will be able to expand and enhance our services further, enabling even more Deaf and Hard of Hearing adults and children across the West Midlands to receive the benefits of an improved quality of life.”
ENDS
For further information contact Mark Leech on 07968 225968 or Peter Deans on 0191 269 2850 or visit www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk
Notes to editors
- Futurebuilders is a Home Office-backed investment fund for the voluntary and community sector. The fund totals £125million; a further £90million was announced for the fund by the Home Secretary in March 2005, which will enable it to continue to make investments until at least 2008.
- This latest programme follows an initial investment of £4.2 million in 15 organisations announced in February, taking the total Futurebuilders investment in England’s voluntary sector to £12.3 million, with more investments to follow over the summer.
- Further investments from the first funding window (2004) will continue to be made throughout the summer. The second window for applications opens on June 1st and closes on September 30th this year.