New BIG Lottery Fund – Village SOS

The BIG Lottery Fund will be launching a new programme called Village SOS in association with the BBC. The aim of the programme is to inspire people in villages across the UK to get involved and make a difference in their communities.

What is on offer?Together, BBC and the BIG Lottery Fund will be offering rural villages a chance to access Lottery funding to support enterprise that will benefit their community to thrive and create opportunities for local people. They will also be offering communities a chance to showcase what their village is doing on BBC Television.

Under the programme, they are likely to fund three villages in England and one each in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is due to launch via BBC's ONE Show at the start of June when full details of the programme will be announced.

The competition will offer villages the chance to be chosen for Village SOS and the successful village will receive professional business guidance over one year and financial support to make their ideas a reality.

Who is the programme for?Community based organisations representing the interests of rural villages Rural villages in the programme will be defined as having a population of up to 3,000 people (Audlem has under 2,000)

Villages in urban areas will not be eligible for this programme
Informal groups can start the process but need to be constituted for the development part of the grant and need to a be a village trust by the the time of the full award.

What kind of projects?

• Projects that benefit the entire community
• Are an enterprise
• Could involve the development of an asset owned by the community
• Provide opportunities for local community members
• Between £100,000 – £400,000 available
• Can be used for capital and/or revenue

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