Funding Central, a free website highlighting thousands of funding and finance opportunities for third sector organisations, has generated £1.5m in grants and contract funding in its first six months.

Thousands of voluntary organisations and social enterprises have benefited from the new website, which also provides valuable advice and information on developing skills to draft winning tenders and successfully apply for grants or loan finance.

So far, 100 charities have received funds of between £800 and £85,000 with many more applications pending.

A survey of site users shows more than 70 per cent rate the "search" options as good or very good and 63 per cent think the advice section is good or very good.

A total of 73 per cent of survey respondents rated a weekly personalised funding newsletter, supplied by Funding Central, as good or very good.

Graham Collins, sustainable funding programme manager at NCVO, which runs the site, said: "It's great to see so many organisations using - and successfully securing income - through the website and valuing the advice posted there too.

"Funding Central is a vital resource for all third sector organisations because it brings together the broadest range of funding and finance opportunities in one place enabling organisations to explore all income options and make informed choices."

The website is funded by the Office of the Third Sector.

Angela Smith, minister for the Third Sector, commented: "OTS is delighted to be funding this great initiative. Funding Central makes it much easier for all voluntary and community organisations to find out about the funding and finance options available to them.

"The site allows comprehensive information to be found in one place and this is especially valuable during the economic downturn as third sector organisations will be able to spend more time on their core functions and less time searching and researching numerous sources of funding.

"It's very promising that so many organisations are using the site and making the most of the opportunities available to them."

For example, the Reader Organisation secured an 18-month contract worth £135,000 through the website to run 'Get Into Reading', their innovative social outreach project, in libraries, community centres and GP surgeries in Wigan.

This was the first time the charity won a tender outside Liverpool. Get Into Reading runs weekly read-aloud groups, which improve public mental health and wellbeing.

Funding Central is free for all voluntary and community organisations to use, including social enterprises, and provides access to more than 4,000 funding and finance opportunities, such as grants, contracts and loans.

This is supported by practical advice, information and easy-to-follow tips to submitting successful applications.

Visit www.fundingcentral.org.uk and register to receive personalised, weekly email alerts and access a wide range of tools and support.

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