A significant cash investment will be injected into helping young people and to combat the impact of climate change in Wales, thanks to a new funding pot announced today at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff.

Legislation currently being considered by the UK Parliament will allow money in dormant accounts, which customers have not accessed for at least 15 years, to be reinvested in communities across the UK, while preserving the rights of individual consumers to be repaid if they identify their assets. The Welsh Assembly Government has now identified two areas of investment for the money, which are:

• Supporting young people to achieve their full potential working through the third sector to promote social inclusion
• Tackling climate change and promoting wider sustainable development through focused community-based activity.

On Friday, August 8, the Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones, will be speaking at the Lottery Funding in Wales stand to launch a public consultation to ensure the money is invested appropriately and in those areas that can make the most difference. The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) will deliver the consultation in Wales and has been identified as the most suitable organisation to deliver these funds across the UK.

According to Alun Ffred Jones, the Dormant Accounts funding pot presents Wales with a golden opportunity to make a difference to both communities and the environment: “This fund will enable us to invest a significant sum of money in areas that we have prioritised, based on important evidence and commitments we have made as part of the One Wales manifesto,” he explained.

“BIG will now talk with and collate information from key stakeholders to help us decide how best to deliver this initiative. I would encourage all those with an interest in these areas of work to respond in the coming months.”

“It is unclear at present how much money is available from dormant accounts but over the life of the fund we expect a significant sum of money to be invested, and the public’s help is needed in deciding how and where it should be spent.”

The consultation period will run for 14 weeks until 14 November 2008 and the responses will be collated and analysed by BIG and presented to the Welsh Assembly Government by the spring of 2009. An announcement on the rollout of the Fund will be made in summer 2009.

These are certainly exciting times for BIG, as the Wales Director of Big Lottery Fund, Ceri Doyle, explains: “This will be our first opportunity to be involved in non-lottery work in Wales following recent legislation which enables us to use our grant making knowledge and expertise to deliver funds from a variety of sources. Our aim is to ensure this money has a significant long term impact and makes a BIG difference to the environment and the lives of people across Wales.”

For further information about the consultation and to download copies of the consultation documents, please log on to the Big Lottery Fund website on www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Further information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office – Oswyn Hughes: 02920 678 207
Out of hours contact: 07760 171 431
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102 030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Notes to Editors

• In Wales, the Big Lottery Fund is rolling out close to £1 million a week in Lottery good cause money, which together with other Lottery distributors means that across Wales most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £20 billion has now been raised and more than 300,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.