As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, National Lottery Community Fund have been looking at how they can support communities across Wales. In response to the outbreak they will be looking to focus on projects which:

• Support people at high risk of COVID-19.

• Support communities most likely to face increasing demand and challenges as a direct result of COVID-19.

• Support communities with the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19. These are organisations that are deeply rooted in communities.

• We also know that many organisations have been affected financially by the crisis, so we will also consider applications from organisations experiencing current cash flow prob-lems caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Dawn Austwick, CEO, The National Lottery Community Fund said:
“So far, we have of course honoured our existing commitments to grant holders and offered them flexibility so that they can focus on supporting their communities.
We have now made two additional decisions. Firstly, all the funding decisions we make for the next six months (up to £300m of National Lottery funding) will be devoted to addressing the current crisis. In addition, we will accelerate the cash part of this funding as much as we can, so that we can get money to where it needs to be. This is not new money, but it will be faster money and we know that we must act quickly and with confidence.”

You can find out more in their statement and on the National Lottery Community Fund website. Powys-based groups considering applying for grants are encouraged to contact Guy Jones by e-mail: guy.jones(at)tnlcommunityfund.org.uk