The Futurebuilders England fund, which came under the management of the Adventure Capital Fund on 1st April, has announced that the eligibility criteria for organisations applying for funding has widened.

Funding had previously only been available to organisations working within the areas of crime, community cohesion, children and young people, education and learning and health and social care. However, the fund now has an additional £62 million to invest and the criteria has been widened to cover new areas, including sport, environmental projects and the arts. This, said Futurebuilders, is expected to lead to an increase in third sector organisations delivering public services.

Jonathan Lewis, Futurebuilders’ new chief executive said: “As a result of our extended remit, we’re looking forward to receiving applications from new areas of the sector that have previously been ineligible to apply. This is a great opportunity for ambitious and enterprising third sector organisations to receive the financial backing and business support that will help them to win contracts and deliver top quality public services.”

Futurebuilders’ has also pledged to dramatically increase the speed at which applications are processed.