The National Lottery Community Fund awards £30 million in funding to community groups tackling social isolation caused by COVID-19
The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £30 million in funding to approximately 1500 community groups in England tackling social isolation and loneliness caused by COVID-19.
The money was announced as part of Loneliness Awareness Week (15 – 19 June) and follows new research from the Office of National Statistics highlighting that more than 7 million people in Britain have suffered from ‘lockdown loneliness’. The Fund is seeking to prioritise getting funding to groups best placed to support their communities and towards those seeking to rebuild as the crisis abates.
The funding will go to groups such as Time to Talk Befriending who match volunteer befrienders with vulnerable older people who would otherwise have minimal social contact, and are currently supporting more than 100 older people.