Our partners
The National Lottery Community Fund
The largest community funder in the UK, distributing money raised by National Lottery players to the projects that hold local places together. Cornerstone is proud to be among them.
Who they are
Lottery money, put back into local places
Every time somebody plays The National Lottery, a share of what they spend goes to good causes. The National Lottery Community Fund is the body that decides where a large part of that money lands, and it is the biggest funder of community activity in the country.
It does not run services itself. It backs the organisations already doing the work in their own towns, from small volunteer groups to established charities, on the grounds that the people closest to a problem usually understand it best.
- Funds across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Money raised by National Lottery players, given back to communities
- Grants from a few hundred pounds to multi-year programmes
What they do
Where the funding goes
The Fund looks for work that strengthens the place it happens in. Three themes run through almost everything it supports.
Communities that thrive
Backing the groups, clubs and charities that give a place its character and keep people connected to one another.
People in the lead
Funding that follows the judgement of the people living with an issue, rather than deciding for them from a distance.
Support that lasts
Longer-term awards that let an organisation plan beyond the next few months and stay open for the people who rely on it.
How they help Cornerstone
Funding that lets us plan, not just react
Homelessness work is hard to do well in short bursts. Someone coming through the door tonight may need a bed within the hour, then a support worker for months afterwards, and a tenancy that holds for years. That only works if the money behind it is steady.
Support from The National Lottery Community Fund is what makes that kind of commitment possible. It means we can keep the doors open, hold on to the staff who know our residents by name, and say yes to someone without first working out whether we can still afford to help them in six months.
It is money raised by ordinary people buying a ticket, and it ends up as a warm room in County Durham. We are grateful for every pound of it.
- Keeps immediate access beds open through the winter
- Pays for the support workers who sit alongside people
- Lets us commit to someone for as long as it takes
Every supporter makes the next bed possible
Funders get us part of the way. The rest comes from people like you.