The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) opens its search for an organisation to set up and run a £200 million independent charitable trust that will help turn urban and rural neighbourhoods across England into better places to live.

Today the first 50 areas each to benefit from at least £1 million good cause Lottery funding through the BIG Local Trust have been announced.

BIG is calling for expressions of interest from organisations who wish to run the Trust by Thursday 12 August 2010.

The money will be given out through local funding schemes in each of the Big Local Trust target neighbourhoods.

Each neighbourhood will roll out the funding over ten years.

The targeted neighbourhoods were selected following extensive analysis and discussion with local partners.

They are all places that have a history of difficulty in obtaining resources, including funding from BIG.

Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund chief executive, said: “The Big Local Trust funding stream will help local people identify their pressing issues and develop the skills and confidence necessary to start changing things in their community for the better.

“The Trust will involve people in each of the selected 50 areas to decide on the best way to use the funding. This builds on BIG’s record of giving people a greater say in where Lottery money goes.

“We aimed to select communities from across the country, both in urban and rural areas that had been overlooked by funders in the past. The selected areas have been discussed with key local partners to ensure that we took into account local issues and views on priorities.

“I hope that by securing funding for the long-term and by offering a commitment to providing dedicated local support, the Big Local Trust will bring lasting positive changes to communities across England that may not have had the best chances so far.”

Meanwhile BIG will be working with a wide range of local organisations in each of the first 50 neighbourhoods announced today.

At least 50 more areas across England to benefit from the programme will be selected by BIG in the next 12 to 18 months.

The programme builds on BIG’s commitment to pioneering flexible, long-term and locally determined approaches such as the Fair Share Trust programme, which since 2002, has been investing £50 million in 77 neighbourhoods across the UK.

For a full list of areas please visit: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/biglocaltrust_areas.xls

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