[WiLT] Olympics funding diversion 'will hit smaller groups hardest'

[WiL Admin]

Olympics funding diversion 'will hit smaller groups hardest'

Small London-based voluntary groups are suffering more than larger
groups in the capital as a result of National Lottery funding being
diverted to pay for the 2012 Olympics, according to a new report.

The London Assembly study said that, of the £2.2bn of lottery good
cause money being diverted to the Olympics, £440m will be taken from
London, with the diversion "felt disproportionately by those
organisations that rely on smaller grants".

The report said that although London receives 24 per cent of all
lottery good cause money despite having a UK population share of only
14 per cent, its share of lottery grants worth £10,000 or less is only
10 per cent.

It added that voluntary organisations in receipt of grants of £10,000
or less already had a poor record of attracting lottery money, and
were less likely to have alternative sources of funding available.

"London's small voluntary and community organisations need to be
shielded from the harm that diverting lottery money to pay for them
can cause," the report said. "We therefore recommend that the
proportion of lottery good cause money spent on grants worth less than
£10,000 should be monitored and protected from the effects of the
diversion by lottery distributors."

The decline in funding for small organisations will also make it less
likely that the Olympic Games will fulfil some of its key objectives,
according to the report.

"We are also concerned about the effect that the diversion will have
on the 2012 games themselves," it said. "Two key promises made in
London's bid were that the 2012 games would include a participatory
cultural festival, the Cultural Olympiad, and would be used as a
catalyst to increase grass-roots sport participation. Small community
and voluntary organisations will be needed to deliver both of these
promises."

The report added that with such organisations short of funding, the
diversion of lottery money was jeopardising the prospect of fulfilling
these objectives.

Dee Doocey, chair of economic development, culture, sport and tourism
committee at the London Assembly, said: "Many of the promises London
made in its bid, for example about increasing participation in sports,
cannot be realised if the local organisations that support these goals
are no longer able to deliver - or are even forced to close down
completely."

http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/786110/Olympics-funding-diversion-will-hit-smaller-groups-hardest/DE4A97CCCA2B4827D4CD821B5851D7B3/


You can download the report in either pdf or rtf format from
http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/econsd.jsp