NEGLECTED rural communities are set to benefit from a £200m charitable trust, it has emerged.

The Big Lottery Fund in England is investing the money in up to 150 urban and rural neighbourhoods.

In particular, it is targeting people in communities previously overlooked for funding.

Fund bosses are looking for an organisation to set up an independent charitable trust that will support local schemes in target areas.

The money will be given out through initiatives in each of the Big Local Trust targeted neighbourhoods.

Each neighbourhood will roll out the funding over ten years. A list of the first 50 areas can be seen here.

They are all places that have a history of difficulty in obtaining resources, including funding from the Big Lottery Fund.

Targeted rural areas include Ramsey (Huntingdonshire), the rural villages of East Cleveland, and St Blazey and Par (Cornwall).

Each targeted neighbourhood was selected following extensive analysis and discussion with local partners.

Organisations interested in running the trust can find out more details here.

Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund chief executive, said the money would help local people start changing their community for the better.

“The trust will involve people in each of the selected 50 areas to decide on the best way to use the funding,” he said.

This would give people more say in how Lottery money was spent.

“We aimed to select communities from across the country, both in urban and rural areas that had been overlooked by funders in the past.

“The selected areas have been discussed with key local partners to ensure that we took into account local issues and views on priorities.”

Lottery funding would bring lasting positive changes to communities across England that may not have had the best chances so far, said Mr Wanless.

The Big Lottery Fund would be working with a wide range of local organisations in each of the first 50 neighbourhoods.

A further 50 areas across England to benefit from the programme will be selected over the next 12 to 18 months.

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