FST at Liberal Democrat Conference, 16th September 2008
Posted on Wed 24 September 2008
At a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat's conference in September 2008, Big Lottery Fund hosted a panel session - The F word...Funding - designed to publicise their forthcoming consultation on their strategic plan. The audience was invited to help the panel decide on the direction of BIG's future funding. by taking part in informal votes on questions such as 'Should BIG fund lots of small projects or fewer, bigger projects' and 'should BIG put all its money into the grants themselves or should it invest money/ resources into helping organisations who have received grants to make their projects work better.' Most people voted for smaller projects, to be focused on the needy, and more risk-taking. The majority were also in favour of BIG using its resources to help organisations who have received grants already.
The discussion was chaired by Anthony Rowlands, Director of the think-tank Centreforum. Speakers were:
- Sir Clive Booth, Chair, Big Lottery Fund
- Don Foster MP, Lib Dem Shadow Secretary, Culture, Media & Sport
- Liz Atkins, Director of Public Policy, NCVO
-
Dr Sarabajaya Kumar, Senior Research Fellow from Oxford University
The Fair Share Trust was first mentioned by Sir Clive Booth in his speech. He referred to FST when describing BIG's work with socially disadvantaged groups, and said it was an example of how longer term solutions win out over 'quick fixes' when it comes to these groups. He also talked about BIG moving towards being more of an 'intelligent funder' in this context.
A questions about how BIG's consultation would help get to the hard to reach was answered by Sir Clive, who said that FST was a "shining example" of reaching such groups.
Sir Clive also noted that BIG is looking to streamline applications where possible and improve feedback given to unsuccessful applicants.
Dr Kumar picked up on the intelligent funding theme and described her work assessing BIG's funding model. She recommended various possible approaches BIG could take in the future, including capitalising on non-financial resources; focusing on those most in need, and concentrating on outcomes, developing unconventional partnerships, e.g. with for profits.