Over £1.3m awarded from Dormant Accounts Fund NI

In the latest round of funding from Dormant Accounts Fund NI, over £1.3 million has been awarded in grants by The National Lottery Community Fund to 16 organisations from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, to help ensure their long-term sustainability. See full details of all those awarded from Dormant Accounts Fund NI today.

The Dormant Accounts Fund NI, delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund in conjunction with the Department of Finance, is supporting the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector to be more resilient and prepared for the long-term future.

Belfast Tool Library in east Belfast has been awarded a £99,843 grant to increase their capacity, recruit more volunteers and generate more income through workshops and memberships.

Neal Campbell, Chair of Belfast Tool Library said: “Belfast Tool Library gives people affordable access to more than 900 tools, so they can build, repair, learn and make more for themselves without the cost or impact on the planet of owning their own tools, helping our community become more sustainable and resilient.

“We’re thrilled to be awarded a Dormant Accounts grant, which will allow us to grow what we do, open our community workshop space and overall benefit more people. This extra capacity will allow us to generate more of our own income, become financially sustainable and secure our future.

“At the moment, we’re run by a fantastic but over-stretched group of volunteers. By investing in our volunteer team, we’ll be able to offer more training and support, recruit new volunteers and help our team grow in skills and be able to put more back into the project.

“There has never been a more important time for communities to work together, share resources and offer people practical ways to live better and more sustainably. We’re excited to grow our impact and secure our future and know this will be a valuable model that others can learn from.”

Since the Dormant Accounts Fund NI opened in January 2021, over £8 million has been awarded to 89 organisations including arts, sports, charities and community-based organisations, helping secure the long-term future of the VCSE sector.

Netball players representing Northern Ireland Netball

Another group funded is Northern Ireland Netball, who received a £100,000 grant, to make improvements to their systems and boost their profile to maximise income generation through digital education courses, enhanced sponsorship packages and memberships.

Karen Rollo, Executive Manager, Netball NI, said: “We reduced our reliance on public funding in recent years, however the pandemic impacted on our ability to generate our own funds, so the support from the Dormant Accounts Fund NI has come at an ideal time.

“We will grow our income streams so we can continue to provide enough coaches and officials to be able to cater for everyone who wants to play our sport. Being able to improve our digital systems and online training courses, thanks to this money, will help with this while supporting us to generate more income.

“We will also be able to invest in creating great content and build our brand, to boost our profile and develop more partnerships including making sure female sport is represented more in the media.”

Paul Sweeney, The National Lottery Community Fund’s NI Chair, said: “I’m pleased to announce these grants from the Dormant Accounts Fund NI which is helping a wide range of organisations to plan their long-term future and sustainability.

“Dormant Accounts money continues to make a significant difference in building resilience in non-for-profit organisations addressing social and economic need in our local communities.”

Dormant accounts are UK bank and building society accounts that have been untouched for 15 or more years, where customers who own the accounts cannot be traced. As part of this first phase of Dormant Accounts Fund NI support, organisations can apply for up to £100,000 as part of a flexible and responsive grant programme.

For more information on Dormant Accounts Fund NI visit: www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/dormant-accounts-ni.

View details of the 16 projects awarded from Dormant Accounts Fund NI

Grants awarded from Dormant Accounts Fund NI March 2022 (DOCX 140 KB)

Date published: 14 March, 2022
Region: Northern Ireland

Notes to Editors

Dormant accounts are defined in the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 as those which have seen no customer-initiated activity for at least 15 years.
Under the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, the Reclaim Fund releases funds from dormant bank accounts to the National Lottery Community Fund for distribution to good causes across the UK.
The Reclaim Fund Ltd. (RFL), which was established in March 2011 to receive and invest dormant account balances across the UK, transferred the first tranche of monies from dormant bank and building society accounts to the National Lottery Community Fund on 2 August 2011.

The National Lottery Community Fund received policy directions regarding the Dormant Accounts Fund NI from the Department of Finance in September 2019.
The National Lottery Community Fund are the largest community funder in the UK awarding money, raised by National Lottery players, to local communities.
Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes. National Lottery funding has been used to support over 635,000 projects - 255 projects per postcode area.
We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive.

Dormant Accounts NI

Dormant Accounts Fund NI supports the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Northern Ireland to be more resilient and prepared for the future by funding activity that increases capacity and sustainability.