Birmingham charity, LoveBrum, has been awarded £250,000 of National Lottery funding in a new partnership with the Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. By sharing funding expertise, learning and networks, this new partnership will expand LoveBrum’s reach, and provide even more funding to projects in local communities.
Awarded to the charity at the end of another successful year, which has seen LoveBrum showcase over 120 projects and provide over £70,000 funding, this is a significant injection of cash into the charity.
Part of the National Lottery grant will enable LoveBrum to more than double its full-time workforce and recruit an experienced Executive Director and administrator in early 2018.
Focusing on the strategic direction of the charity and how to continue reaching the signature ‘hidden gem’ projects that LoveBrum is dedicated to unearthing and funding, this Executive Director will drive the direction of the charity working alongside the Board of Trustees who currently look after everything from charity and project engagement, events and fundraising, membership and voting, and marketing.
£50,000 of the National Lottery funding will also be added into the central LoveBrum funding pot for good causes. This will be awarded to small groups based in Birmingham who are not yet known beyond their community, shining a light on the great work they do.
A Funding Manager from the Big Lottery Fund will join LoveBrum’s causes committee as part of the new partnership, sharing their experience of working in a national funding organisation to help identify new projects which will be put to the LoveBrum public vote.
Together, LoveBrum and the Big Lottery Fund aim to profile around 40 causes per year, with 12 receiving £2,000 funding complemented by a year’s business support. These projects will be promoted as part of a monthly vote, where members find out about a cause every week and vote for their favourite.
Matt Poole, Senior Head of Funding in the Midlands at the Big Lottery Fund said:
“We’re proud to be working with LoveBrum to give National Lottery funding to more groups doing great work in their communities. Our new partnership will create opportunities for LoveBrum to share their local knowledge and expertise, helping us to reach those who may not have received funding before.”
Instrumental in securing the partnership, LoveBrum Trustee and CEO at Millennium Point, Judith Armstrong, said:
“The support from the Big Lottery Fund will have a monumental impact on LoveBrum, and in turn, the causes that we help each month. Until now, we’ve relied on just one full time member of staff and one part time member, who deliver amazing work alongside our volunteer Trustees and committees, but we really need a dedicated Executive Director who can help drive things forward. The creativity and goodwill behind LoveBrum will now be even more impactful when we welcome this new senior leader and new admin assistant to the charity. Thanks to National Lottery players, the £250,000 will help us build an infrastructure behind the charity that will make it sustainable, so it’s not just good news for LoveBrum but for Birmingham and all of the projects we will be able to keep funding!”
LoveBrum co-founder, PJ Ellis, added:
“The projects and causes that LoveBrum helps to showcase are considered the furthest from funding and wouldn’t otherwise be able to access National Lottery funding, so this new partnership with the Big Lottery Fund means that LoveBrum becomes a vehicle for helping these causes get the support that they need. For us, being able to bridge the gap between the causes and a huge organization like the Big Lottery Fund is a wonderful position to be in, and means that the impact of what we do will stretch even further across the city.”
Launched at the beginning of 2015, LoveBrum supports hidden gem projects across Birmingham that are often volunteer-led and that deliver real change. To find out more about how LoveBrum aims to make Birmingham better and communities stronger, visit: http://lovebrum.org.uk.