NICVA welcomes BIG Lottery announcement

The announcement came today (Friday 29 January) at the launch of new state-of-the-art sports facilities developed with lottery cash at a west Belfast school.

Speaking at the launch of De La Salle College's new Sport Complex Big Lottery Fund NI Chair Frank Hewitt said he was delighted to be making the major announcement of additional funding: "This is fantastic news for communities across Northern Ireland and I am delighted to be able to make this announcement as part of my first public engagement as NI Chair."

Set amidst the backdrop of declining income within the sector, including falling public donations, this news is even more welcome to the voluntary and community sector, as many struggle to secure funding for the years ahead.

Seamus McAleavey, who also attended the event stated:

"NICVA is delighted to hear the announcement made today by Frank Hewitt of the BIG Lottery.  This is a very significant injection of funds in years that will be very difficult for voluntary and community organisations.  In fact we expect to see falls in almost every area of income generation so this announcement stands out against the general trend.”

Seamus continued: “Voluntary and community organisations have been hit by the recession at the same time as the demand for many of our services goes up.  Next year we expect heavy cuts in public expenditure which will affect public services in Northern Ireland.  That's added to a fall in public donations in the UK and an expect drop in income from charitable trusts.  Quite frankly, this is the silver lining in a sky of very dark clouds."

More information on the £150m investment announcement is on the CommunityNI website.