Tony Lloyd welcomes funding for local voluntary and community organisations

Tony Lloyd MP

Voluntary and community organisations in Rochdale will be eligible for funding from the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund, a £29 million pot of money to be shared out amongst 27 local authorities in England.

The Know Your Neighbourhood Fund is designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas.

Nine named local authority areas will share £14 million of the initial £19 million, whilst the National Lottery Community Fund is also investing up to £10 million to support their existing projects working across the same target areas.

The remaining £5 million will be invested in supporting people to participate in volunteering and connect with others through expanding the existing offer of arts, culture and heritage activities across the 27 KYN target areas.

This funding will be delivered by Arts Council England (ACE) and the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), in partnership with Historic England.

The KYN Fund will run until March 2025 and aims to generate and share learning which will help to support sustained action beyond the lifetime of the fund. 

Funding will largely be awarded on an individual project basis. 

Rochdale MP, Tony Lloyd, has encouraged groups to apply for the funding.

He said: "Whilst £30 million shared amongst 27 different councils doesn't seem like an awful lot, it is worth organisations across Rochdale applying for this funding. 

"Some of the most disadvantaged areas in Rochdale and across the piece are missing out and people in these areas are less likely to volunteer regularly and are more likely to experience loneliness. 

"I welcome the aims of this fund to tackle this and to widen participation in volunteering. I would encourage organisations to apply for this fund." 

To keep up to date on the fund and how to apply, visit the gov.uk website here.