It brings the total raised by the Dispossessed Fund to £6.2 million, far exceeding the original target of £1 million. Now hundreds more charities responsible for transforming lives across the capital will get grants to help fight poverty.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said “This is yet another great day in the history of the Evening Standard’s magnificent Dispossessed Fund,” he said. “The Government has done its bit but the real credit must go to the generosity of businesses and Standard readers in the capital. Their kindness and the Big Lottery Fund’s fantastic contribution helps this campaign to make a truly amazing difference in some of the parts of London that others cannot reach.”
The grant is part of BIG’s new People Powered Change initiative, launched today, to support grass-roots action in poor communities. BIG has set aside £6.86 million for five UK-wide projects but the Dispossessed Fund is the only one to receive funding focused on London.
Geordie Greig, Editor of the London Evening Standard, said: “This astonishingly generous grant of £1 million to the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund will have a dramatic effect to help us transform the lives of the most vulnerable people in our capital. It is immensely generous of the Big Lottery Fund to award us this money under People Powered Change, which shares our aim of acting as a catalyst to bring significant social change to the lives of the poorest and those in need.”
The Dispossessed Fund was launched last July after a series of harrowing articles exposed pockets of severe poverty. So far £1.1 million has been given out in small grants. The £1 million BIG grant will be used to fund hundreds of grants of up to £10,000 each — due to be made in May and again in the autumn, in addition to the regular grants from the Dispossessed Fund’s endowment.
Dharmendra Kanani, England Director of the Big Lottery Fund, said: “We are delighted to work with the Standard to enable people across London to make a difference locally. Both the Dispossessed Fund and People Powered Change share a fundamental belief in ordinary people to do good, whether it’s tackling gang warfare, the isolation of older people, or transforming the lives of hard-to-reach communities. I love the way the Standard billboards the local unsung heroes who do extraordinary things with very little money. Through People Powered Change I want to create a platform — a social movement if you like — to recognise, endorse and encourage what ordinary people do to transform their local communities. It will serve as our operating ethos for the next five years and will result in hundreds of millions of pounds of grants to poor communities.”
Sanjay Dighe, England Committee Chair of BIG, said: “We look forward to seeing the emergence of innovative and inspirational projects across London that will help communities achieve their goals and unlock hidden talent.”
