SIF to distribute lottery proceeds to third sector

Tuesday 27 October 2020

The Social Investment Fund is taking over responsibility for charitable distribution of the proceeds of the Christmas Lottery, which was previously handled by the Association of Guernsey Charities.

It hopes to bring a "welcome injection" of funding to the Bailiwick’s charitable sector.

The SIF was established early this year to donate public and privately donated funds into the third sector, and to improve working relations between charitable organisations and the government.

“The board of the Social Investment Fund is excited to have the opportunity to distribute all of the net proceeds from the lottery,” said Jurat Stephen Jones OBE, Chair of the SIF. “We thank the Association of Guernsey Charities for having done a fantastic job over many years, and we will continue to work in partnership with them to support the sector.

“We look forward to providing even more lottery funding for the benefit of local charities.”

Immediately after its launch, the SIF created an appeal for donations to support local charities during lockdown. So far, £415,000 has been distributed to organisations which have been affected by the ongoing crisis.

Pictured: The Social Investment Fund was created to strengthen the working relationship between the third sector and the government

It also intends to launch two new grant programmes to benefit the third sector; one will provide smaller grants, while the other will offer ‘major’ grants to support the financial sustainability of the sector.

Malcolm Woodhams, Chairman of the Association of Guernsey Charities, said his organisations has been working with the SIF to ensure a smooth handover of the responsibility:

“Proceeds from the Christmas Lottery have been given to Bailiwick Charities since 1986. Over the past 33 years, the Association has distributed nearly £4.4 million to local projects and good causes,” he said.

“We are very pleased that the SIF will receive more funding from the Channel Islands Lottery to enable them to further help local charities, especially given the increasing reliance on third sector organisations to provide a wide range of local projects and services.

“This change will mean that the Association can provide increased focus on the needs of the charitable and voluntary sector, and assist organisations to maximise their potential.”