Led by Lloyds Bank Foundation and co-developed with The AVOCADO Foundation, CAST, Groundwork, IVAR, NCVO, School for Social Entrepreneurs, Voice4Change England, and an advisor (Access Foundation) - the IIPCS pilot is a collaborative initiative, grounded in our collective experience of providing development support to small and local charities.
09 December 2025
Lloyds Bank Foundation has joined forces with The AVOCADO Foundation, CAST, Groundwork, IVAR, NCVO, School for Social Entrepreneurs, Voice4Change England, and an advisor (Access Foundation) to launch a pioneering £2.1 million initiative, set to boost charities across Yorkshire and the Humber, the South-West and the North-West of England.
The pilot - ‘Investing in the Power of Civil Society’ (IIPCS) - is one of two that The National Lottery Community Fund is funding as part of its commitment in its strategy, It Starts With Community, to provide communities with the resources they need and to increase the knowledge, skills and resilience of civil society organisations. It follows a highly rigorous and robust process to work with The National Lottery Community Fund on its Grant Holder Support programme.
Up to 640 charities, either holding, newly receiving, or seeking National Lottery Community Fund grants, will receive tailored capacity-building support, putting the right help in their hands at the right time, so they can build resilience, adapt to change, and thrive.
Lloyds Bank Foundation is the lead for this partnership and will coordinate efforts across the consortium, as well as donate in-kind support. Further details on the pilot will be published in the new year.
The partnership brings together organisations with a proven track record, that know what it takes to help charities thrive. With tailored support, charities will gain access to knowledge, tools and support in areas such as:
Running over a 12-month period from April 2026, the pilot will break new ground as a collaborative model for delivering additional support to charities. It has a strong emphasis on ‘test and learn’, trying out new ways of supporting charities, learning from what works and what doesn’t, and using those insights to improve future programmes.
Alongside strengthening the charities accessing the pilot’s help, it is hoped that it will help shape how The National Lottery Community Fund supports its grant holders and grant seekers in the future.
André Clarke, Director of Charity Development and Funding at Lloyds Bank Foundation, said: “In a challenging environment, we know charities are looking for help to become more sustainable, to reach new audiences, to upskill staff, and more - all to have greater impact. We’ve spent the last decade providing capacity-building support to charities that we hear time and time again helps them transform. It’s helped them raise new funds, build new homes, open new services - to enable more people be in a good place.
We’ve not done that ourselves; we’ve done that in large part through our network of amazing development partners, who are experts in what charities need. And we’re not the only ones. The trusted organisations that make up this partnership bring decades of experience and deep understanding of the sector.
I’m so pleased that we’ll be working with these partners to ensure that targeted support evolves to address the most common challenges that charities face.”
