Meet Our Funders

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes over £600m a year to communities across the UK, raised by players of The National Lottery. The National Lottery Community Fund is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for “good causes”. Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to more than 130,000 projects in the UK. The Community Fund aims to support projects which help communities and people it considers most in need. Over 80 per cent of its funds go to voluntary and community organisations, it also makes grants to statutory bodies, local authorities and social enterprises. The fund makes grants to projects working in health, education and the environment and the charitable sector. It funds projects in line with objectives set by the government but does not fund services which other parts of government have a statutory responsibility to deliver.

We are an independent local charity run by a board of trustees who are elected annually by our members. With the support of our fundholders we have made grants totalling more than £50m since inception in 1999. We provide a means by which people and organisations can make a difference to the most disadvantaged people in our community. Cumbria Community Foundation is part of a national and international network of community foundations. Together we seek to support people and organisations wishing to invest in the local community.

The Sir John Fisher Foundation is a charitable trust (UK registered charity number 277844), established in 1980 by Sir John and Lady Maria Fisher. The Foundation’s objective is to distribute its income to charitable causes, throughout the UK, but with special regard to those based in and working for the benefit of people living in Barrow-in-Furness and the Furness Peninsula. The Foundation supports charitable causes particularly in the six categories of Maritime, Medical, Education, Music, Arts and Community projects in Barrow-in-Furness and the Furness Peninsula.

The Francis C Scott Charitable Trust awards over £1 million in grants every year to charitable organisations operating in Cumbria and the very north of Lancashire. Their core purpose is to support charitable organisations who enable young people up to the age of 24 in Cumbria & North Lancashire experiencing challenging circumstances to thrive.