- Area:
- Scotland
- Release date:
- 5 10 2012
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has today taken a major step forward in the creation of a fully independent £50 million trust. Over the next ten years the Life Changes Trust will look to transform the lives of young people leaving care and the lives of people with dementia & their carers in Scotland.
Today BIG announced the work, to establish an independent board of trustees to direct this landmark investment, has begun. Over the next six months the creation of a fully independent charitable trust will be guided by a Set up Board chaired by Dugald Mackie.
Maureen McGinn, Chair of the Big Lottery Fund Scotland Committee, said: “Today’s news means we are now a huge step closer to seeing the Life Changes Trust open for business. This new independent charitable trust will be able to offer targeted and specific help to young people leaving care and people newly diagnosed with dementia and their carers. Over the next decade, we believe the Life Changes Trust has the potential to deliver long-term transformational change for these people facing the greatest need.
“The first step is the appointment of Mr Dugald Mackie as chair of the Set up Board. Over the next six months he will oversee the process of legally creating the Life Changes Trust and ensuring the right people are in place to take forward the Trust's work as soon as it is established.”
Dugald Mackie said: “The Life Changes Trust has the scope to offer a step change for many people living in Scotland. As an independent charitable trust financed by the Big Lottery Fund it will be able to work in an innovative manner to ensure that those in greatest need get the help they require. My role will allow the work establishing the Trust to move forward so the full Trust board can be appointed in a timely manner.”
BIG has been working with a partnership headed by the The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland* (The Alliance) and comprising of Scottish Community Foundation, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector and Who Cares? Scotland on the structure, set-up and governance of the Trust as well as its delivery plans. The partnership has received significant development funds from BIG to undertake this vital work.
Ian Welsh, Chief Executive of The Alliance, welcomed today’s news. He said: “Our consortium is delighted to move forward with the creation of the Life Changes Trust. The substantial business and investment planning we have done so far is to ensure that the Trust has substantial and lasting impact for young care leavers and people with dementia and their carers. Now, through co-operation, co-production, and working in partnership with a range of stakeholders, we are determined, through effective and inclusive delivery plans, to achieve long-term transformational change which will enable these groups to live well through their life changes.”
John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, said: "It is encouraging to see further developments being made in the creation of the Life Changes Trust and I am very much looking forward to seeing the positive impact that it will have on some of the most vulnerable in our society.
"The £50 million planned investment will have the power to transform the lives of people across the country by providing new opportunities for those leaving care and those living with, or caring for, older people with dementia."
It is anticipated that the establishment of the Life Changes Trust will take six months and that the Trust will be open for business in Spring 2013.
*The Health and Social Care Alliance is the new name for the organisation formally known as the Long Term Conditions Alliance
Further Information
Emma Whitfield, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Communications Manager
0141 242 1415 / 07880 737157/ emma.whitfield@biglotteryfund.org.uk
For more information about the Big Lottery Fund Scotland our programmes and grant awards go to www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland
For Public enquiries call 0300 1237110
You can follow us on Twitter @BIGSCOTLAND or like us on Facebook we are Big Lottery Fund Scotland.
Notes to Editors
- The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
- BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally 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 £25 billion over £28 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
- The Scotland Committee has been making Big Lottery Fund decisions on Scottish projects since March 2007. As well as taking devolved decisions on Lottery spending, the Committee, led by Chair, Maureen McGinn, has and will continue to play a strategic role in the future direction of BIG in Scotland.
- The Big Lottery Fund is investing in Scotland’s communities through its Investing in Communities portfolio, as well as the small grants schemes Awards for All, Investing in Ideas, Communities and Families and 2014 Communities.
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