Big Lottery Fund

Training and Development

Apart from the induction provided when Board and Committee Members join the Big Lottery Fund, training is available according to an individual’s requirements.  These might be identified through the annual appraisal process.  Briefing is offered to Board Members to support them in respect of any committees on which they sit.  Board Members are also given media training as are Committee Members where appropriate.

Events protocol

Board and Committee Members may be involved in launch events for programmes and projects and they are encouraged to do so. It is, however, important that key staff in the Big Lottery Fund are aware in advance, as far as possible, of attendance at events so that briefing and key messages can be provided.  It may also be desirable to arrange a photographer or write a story for a Big Lottery Fund publication.

The Board Secretariat deals with invitations to UK wide events and activities for those received for Board Members. The Country Secretariats will deal with country specific invitations to events and activities. Any invitations received directly by Board and Committee Members should be referred to the Board Secretariat or relevant Country Secretariat.

Attendance at such events will be part of approved duties and Members will be advised as such. There may be cases where it is not deemed appropriate for Members to attend an event. Members will be advised of the invitation and the reason for declining on their behalf.  

There may also be occasions when you are invited to an event in a “non-Fund” capacity, but where you feel it would also be appropriate to mention the Big Lottery Fund.  In such cases, you may wish to alert the Board Secretariat, in advance, who will again liaise with press/marketing to explore whether there are particular key messages we wish to convey.  

Relations with the media

In order to ensure accurate and consistent messages are given to the media, if Board and Committee Members are contacted, they should be referred to the press office who hold the most up to date information and lines to take.

The UK-wide media protocol 
- 43KB

Northern Ireland media protocol 
- 42KB

The Big Lottery Fund has developed a communications protocol with country offices.  This provides a framework for relations between the corporate office and the country offices.  Country plans should be developed within this framework to ensure consistency of communications across the UK.  It is intended to foster good two-way relations between the corporate office and the country offices, by enabling them to learn from each other, develop best practice and implement the Fund’s overall corporate communications strategy.  

Use Of Social Media

The Big Lottery Fund has a strategy and guidelines for how to use social media channels to promote the Big Lottery Fund in line with the Communications and Marketing Strategy. Members must always remember that anything said on social media channels could reflect on the Big Lottery Fund. It is very easy to become comfortable in one’s surroundings and post messages that are too personal for a corporate channel. If Members wish to update an online community about their personal life then they are advised to create a separate account that bears no relation to the Big Lottery Fund and that does not include Big Lottery Fund in the title or profile. For the majority of subjects the general rule of thumb is that if it would not be discussed face to face with one of the Big Lottery Fund’s target audiences then it should not be mentioned online either.