Office for Civil Society
The OCS has announced £297,000 of funding for four organisations that were overlooked for strategic partners status in April
The Office for Civil Society has awarded £297,000 to four representative organisations for advice over the current financial year.
Community Matters, which represents community organisations, has received £100,000, black and minority ethnic policy group Voice4Change England has been given £80,000, Urban Forum, which lobbies on behalf of community groups, has been awarded £60,000 and the Women’s Resource Centre has been granted £57,000.
All four were overlooked in April when the OCS opened its Strategic Partners Transitional Programme, which pledged £8.2m to 17 other organisations.
The quartet had all been partners in the previous strategic partners programme, which ended in March. Community Matters had received £262,000 a year, Voice4Change England £276,000, Urban Forum £96,000 and the Women’s Resource Centre £197,000.
The OCS announced in June it had given contracts to some former strategic partners to continue advising the department on policy. But it had not confirmed the details until now.
An OCS spokesman said the four organisations would "draw on some of their insights over the short term" to "help the government understand the opportunities and impacts of big society for the groups they represent".
The funding is for one year.
