- Futurebuilders England
Futurebuilders England is a £215m government-backed fund that invests in
third sector organisations in England to improve their ability to deliver public services.Background
Government responsibility for Futurebuilders lies within Office of the
Third Sector withPhil Hope , Minister for the Third Sector, as lead minister. At the heart of the Futurebuilders programme is the £125 million Futurebuilders (England) Fund.Purpose
The fund aims to strengthen the third sector's role in public service delivery through investing in schemes that will demonstrate the added value that the sector can contribute to improving public services. Emphasis is put on loan finance, evaluation and knowledge management and sharing.
The Government's aims for Futurebuilders programme are to:
* overcome obstacles to efficient service delivery
* modernise the third sector for the long term
* increase both the scope and scale of voluntary and community sector service deliveryHistory
2002
Futurebuilders was one of the recommendations in the Treasury’s Cross Cutting Review into the role of the voluntary and community sector in public service delivery, September 2008
2003 - 2007
In the autumn of 2003 the Government ran a tendering process, managed by the Treasury, to find an organisation to run the Futurebuilders Fund.
This was won in December 2003 by a consortium made up of Charity Bank, Unity Trust Bank,
National Council for Voluntary Organisations andNorthern Rock Foundation.The consortium then set up a non-profit company, Futurebuilders England Ltd, to manage the fund.
2007
In 2007, the
Cabinet Office opened the tender to manage the contract of the second phase of the Futurebuilders fund (2008-11). [cite web | title=Government invites rival bids to run Futurebuilders Fund | work=ThirdSector.co.uk | url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Channels/Finance/login/648688/ | accessmonthday=August 06 | accessyear=2008]2008
This tender was won by the Adventure Capital Fund (ACF) and since 1 April 2008 the Futurebuilders England fund has been under the management of ACF. [cite web | title=ACF wins Futurebuilders contract | work=ThirdSector.co.uk | url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Channels/Finance/login/779679/ | accessmonthday=August 06 | accessyear=2008]
Futurebuilders investments
Futurebuilders offers investment packages, starting at £50,000, to
third sector organisations that want to improvepublic services in England. So far, it has offered over £130million to almost 300 third sector organisations.Every investment is tailored to each organisations' needs and no two investments are the same. Part of the investment is always a loan, but parts may also be a grant and professional support.
Notes
External links
[http://www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk Official website]
[http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/funding_finance_support/futurebuilders.aspx Information about Futurebuilders on the Cabinet Office website]
[http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/index.asp?id=2201 Information about Futurebuilders on the NCVO website]
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