Big Lottery Fund

Summary of the programme

We want to provide long-term help that supports and joins up with the valuable work already being carried out by a wide range of organisations. We think the best way to do this is to set up a new independent trust and give it £50 million to invest and spend over the next 10 years. The organisations and experts we have worked with support our approach.

As we expect the Trust to take account of and complement relevant good practice, initiatives, local and national strategies, existing and emerging research, and carry out its own research and evaluation, it may be necessary to amend the above priorities during the lifetime of the Trust.

Transforming the life chances of young people leaving care and improving the lives of older people with dementia and their carers. In May 2011 a partnership headed by the Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland (LTCAS) and comprising of Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland, Scottish Community Foundation, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, Who Cares? Scotland, was selected as the preferred candidate to set up the corporate trustee to run the Life Changes Trust. BIG awarded LTCAS a development grant of £188,000 to develop a detailed application, business plan and manual of regulations. We hope the Life Changes Trust will be will be up and running by early summer 2012.

We expect that £25 million will be invested in young care leavers and £25 million will be invested in older people with dementia and their carers. This funding clearly demonstrates that both of the target groups should be of equal importance to the Trust and indicates that a balanced approach is required from the Corporate Trustee when establishing the Trust.

The Life Changes Trust will be set up to achieve the aim of our Life Changes programme:

• To have substantial and lasting impact, and achieve long-term transformational change for two groups of young and older people in greatest need. It will have the overall purpose of helping improve individual lives.

The Trust will have its own objects, which describe what it is set up to do. It will also have powers that set out the ways it can achieve its objects, for example, by giving grants, providing resources, or tendering for services. We expect the work that the Trust supports to achieve the following outcomes:

• Transform the life chances of young people leaving care
• Fundamentally improve the lives of older people with dementia
• Fundamentally improve the lives of the carers of older people with dementia.

We also expect the Trust to adopt the following principles:

• Use an approach that focuses on the physical, mental, social and emotional needs of the individual and provides unlimited, repeat access to flexible support and services by enabling people to access these as many times as is necessary, and for as long as is necessary
• Provision of both practical and emotional support
• Engagement with and help for services to identify and implement improvements and changes that will reduce the need experienced by the beneficiary groups and improve quality of life overall in the longer term.

Contact

If you are unsure of anything or would like further help, please call 0300 123 7110 or email our general enquiries line on enquiries.scotland@biglotteryfund.org.uk