A year of transition Annual Report 2000/2001 k Contents 4 A year of transition 12 Where the money went 16 Across the UK and round the regions 80 Making sure our grants work 86 Becoming more targeted 88 A more open organisation 96 The view from outside 100 Our grants programmes 102 National and local decision making 108 Where to find us 110 Looking after public money Who we are Community Fund – Lottery money making a difference Since we started making grants in In the last year we have made major 1995, we have established changes; one of which is the ourselves as an essential and change of our name and identity. effective funder of a huge range of Our new name – Community Fund – charitable, philanthropic and and strapline – Lottery money benevolent organisations. But no making a difference – show that we organisation can afford to stand still: give money from a fund raised by we are constantly trying to improve the Lottery and that we want to what we do. make a difference with our grant- making. The new name will support our aim of targeting charities and voluntary groups, big and small, national and local. We are an independent, decentralised and local organisation. We are open, accessible to all and transparent in our policies and practices. Though we cannot give grants to every group that applies to us, we do get vital funds to groups and people others might not reach. The Community Fund gets 4.7 pence from every £1 spent on the Lottery. That is 16.7 per cent of all the money that goes to the ‘good causes’. Marie Donaghy Chairperson for STEER 2/3 Diana Brittan Nigel Pittman k Chair Chief Executive (from March 2001)* Over the past year, our grants have Important steps have been taken supported cross-UK projects as varied towards achieving these goals as the Venture Trust’s scheme for during 2000/2001, which in many young people at risk of offending, and ways has been a year of transition. A year of Deafblind UK’s new National Centre for Outwardly, the most visible change Deafblindness. Altogether, in the has been the launch of our new financial year 2000/2001, we helped to operating name – the Community fund 9,724 projects large and small, Fund. This signals our aim to be local and national, with grants totalling more approachable and accessible transition £375m. This annual report gives a at community level. At the same time picture of just how much is being we have introduced a range of achieved country by country and initiatives, beginning to streamline At the Community Fund, it is our job to use region by region, and shows the range the application process as a whole Lottery money to make a real difference to the of inspiring work being carried out by and make applying for relatively the organisations we support. small amounts of money more lives of those at greatest disadvantage in society, straightforward. and to improve the quality of life in the community We recognise that the funds available as a whole. to us to make grants with are The biggest step in grant-making shrinking. This is due to our using up was the merging in April 2001 of our the reserves of money built up for us two main programmes – Community by the Lottery before we started involvement and Poverty and making grants, to falling sales of disadvantage – simplifying National Lottery tickets, and to our applications. Within the unified share of Lottery money being reduced programme we introduced more local to provide for the New Opportunities flexibility for our regional and country Fund in 1998. We face a fall from a committees to determine their own peak of £450m in 1999/2000 to funding priorities. In addition, our new around £215m by 2003/2004. So, our programme for grants for projects up top priority is to make the money go to £60,000 is designed to make the further and work harder. We particularly applications for smaller schemes less want to target it as effectively as complicated. Initially launched in two possible at a country and regional England regions and Scotland, it will level to tackle disadvantage among be available throughout the UK by those in greatest need. April 2002. 4/5 Two specialist programmes are Equality is a major consideration, extending the range of projects we both in our grant-making and the support in the UK and overseas. Our way we recruit and support our staff. new Research grants programme, We made progress over the past launched in June 2001, sets out to year, and integrating equal promote health and social well opportunities into our day-to-day being, with a yearly budget of three work is a key part of our long-term per cent of our grant income strategy. In November, the Chair of (currently some £8m). Under our the Scotland Committee, Kay International grants programme, we Hampton, and the Director for allocated £26.6m in 2000/2001 for Scotland, Adrienne Kelbie, signed up UK charities working in the to the Commission for Racial Equality developing world representing seven Leadership Challenge – and as per cent of our grant income. Chair and Chief Executive we shall do the same this year. This year Wales and Northern Ireland have joined in the highly Work is underway on developing our successful Awards for All scheme, strategic plan for 2002/2007, which the programme for small groups, must ensure that we can improve providing grants of between £500 our effectiveness against the and £5,000. At the other end of the background of declining funds. Our scale, in March we awarded one of approach will be to build on the our largest grants ever – a sum of successful foundations already £1.4m to the British Trust for established for regional targeting. In Conservation Volunteers. future, grant-making will be largely refocused so that a higher proportion We are constantly looking for ways of money goes to tackle to work more closely with other disadvantage within defined groups Lottery distributors, making it easier and geographic areas. A similar idea for organisations to apply for Lottery is being adopted in a joint £150m grants. In February, Chris Smith, initiative with the New Opportunities Secretary of State for Culture, Media Fund. Starting in April next year, this and Sport launched the joint Lottery will target around 50 areas of high distributors hotline (on 0845 275 disadvantage throughout the UK that 0000) and website gateway (at: have so far received relatively little www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk). funding from the National Lottery. We also continued to deliver the Out of School Hours Childcare As the process of change continues, programme for the New we will allocate resources to develop Opportunities Fund. new ways of working while making sure that as much money as possible is available for grants. There are equally important balances to be struck between working in partnership and maintaining our independence, and between covering the whole of the UK while encouraging decision making within the countries and regions. Diana Brittan Chair 6/7 We will continue to minimise In 2000/2001 there were major bureaucracy while safeguarding changes at senior management robust systems for accountability level. Stephen Bubb, Director of and effectiveness. Over the past Personnel and Administration, left to year, the improvement in our become Chief Executive of ACEVO methods of monitoring grants and (the Association of Chief Officers of ensuring that they are properly Voluntary Organisations), and Janet spent has been acknowledged by Paraskeva, Director of England, took the Public Accounts Committee of the post of Chief Executive of the the House of Commons. Their report Law Society. The new Director of issued in February followed Personnel is David Fielding, formerly publication of the National Audit Human Resources Director at the Office Report, which we were London Borough of Lewisham, and pleased to note contained no the new Director for England is severe criticisms. Richard Gutch, formerly Chief Executive of Arthritis Care. Timothy Hornsby, our first Chief Executive, retired in March after six We would like to take this opportunity years during which his energy and to thank all our staff for their commitment helped to establish a commitment, dedication and solid reputation for the Community enthusiasm during this year of Fund. We would also particularly like transition. We also gratefully to thank outgoing Board members acknowledge the role of the charities, Bill Osborne, Anne Clark, Barbara voluntary and community groups with Lowndes, Tessa Baring and Noel whom we work so closely. Stewart, all of whom have made a valuable contribution and brought a There is much still to be done, but distinctive and important dimension together we can make an to our work. increasingly effective contribution to the wellbeing of society, including We welcome seven new Board some of its most vulnerable members – our new Deputy Chair, members. We are determined to Valerie Strachan, formerly Chairman keep up the momentum of the of UK Customs and Excise, joined by important changes introduced this Rhiannon Bevan, Douglas Graham, year. When we launched our new 1. Deafblind UK Jimmy Kearney, Maggie Lee, Sheila name, we added a line that sums up £765,187 over one year Jane Malley and Ben Whitaker. what we are all about, and we shall continue to be guided by it: Lottery money making a difference. The new National Centre for Deafblindness will be a state-of-the-art, fully accessible building which is needed to cope with the increasing demand for services. As well as being the charity’s head office, it will also house a major research and information facility.