| Warnings
that National Lottery funding could be used to meet the rising
costs of staging the 2012 Olympic Games have been met with
anger by the NCVO.
The umbrella organisation, which has proposed a reform
of the tax on the weekly game to raise funds for the Olympics,
fears that vital resources will be lost to voluntary organisations
if lottery cash is hoovered up in the run up to 2012.
“The 2012 Olympics are an exciting opportunity for
the UK and present a huge range of volunteering opportunities.
But the news that further lottery funding for good causes
could be diverted to the Olympics will worry voluntary and
community organisations across the country,” said
NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington.
A total of £1.5 billion of National Lottery funding
is already being diverted to the Olympics. “A further
raid will therefore leave a significant shortfall in funding
to good causes,” Etherington added. “It is vital
that good causes do not bear the burden of Olympic funding.”
The NCVO has proposed a review of the 12% tax on the National
Lottery. It has suggested that a temporary reduction of
the tax to just 9% could raise more than £140 million
a year to help plug the funding gap created by the cost
of the Olympics.
|
