National Lottery funder to announce strategy overhaul details this week

The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) is to unveil its new strategy this week, outlining how it intends to hand out funding to UK communities in the future.

The announcement will take place at 8:30pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 7 June). This follows a consultation over plans to renew its strategy launched last year.

The government had said it wanted to see an overhaul of how funding is allocated. This was in its response to a review of civil society carried out by Conservative MP Danny Kruger that called for more local and community led distribution of funding.

Ahead of the announcement the NLCF has announced it has bolstered its England committee with three new appointments.

The committee plays “a key role in ensuring the funder delivers against its strategic ambitions and continued commitment to ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of its decision-making”.

The new committee members are Halima Khan, Kamran Rashid and Karin Woodley.

Khan is a former deputy director of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit in the Cabinet Office and has also been an executive director of health, people and impact at innovation body Nesta.

Rashid is founder and chief executive of community interest company Impact Hub Bradford and Woodley is chief executive of London based poverty, social inequality and injustice focused charity Cambridge house.

They have been appointed until 1 April 2027.

In addition, the NLCF has reappointed executive director of community charity Oxford Hub Ray Coyle to the committee. Coyle also chairs the Small Charity Advisory Panel at the NCVO.

"We are delighted to welcome Karin, Kamran and Halima and grateful for Ray’s continued interest and support,” said NLCF chair John Mothersole.

“Their expertise in social policy, working with and for communities, and equity, diversity and inclusion is invaluable to our work and never more so as we bring our new strategy and commitment to communities to life.”

Two years ago a government report found that one in three NLCF staff had “either witnessed or personally experienced, harassment or discriminatory behaviour” amid allegations of a “culture of bullying” at the funder.

Action pledged last year included setting up a whistleblowing hotline.