Following the Prime Minister's wider endorsement of the Jo Cox Commission recommendations on Loneliness in January 2018, the £11.5 million Building Connections Fund has been set up to support projects that are able to prevent or reduce loneliness. 
The £11.5 million Building Connections Fund is a partnership between Government, Big Lottery Fund and the Co-op Foundation which was set up in response to the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness to support projects that prevent or reduce loneliness.
The fund aims to:
• increase social connections, helping people form strong and meaningful relationships and creating a sense of community and belonging, and helping people feel more connected
• support organisations to build on their existing work, eg by reaching more people, or working in a new area or with a different method or group of people
• encourage organisations to join up with others locally
• improve the evidence base and use learning to inform longer term policy and funding decisions
The fund is split into two strands
All grants will be made by December 2018 and can run until March 2021, by which time all money must be spent. You can apply to both strands, however you cannot receive funding for the same project.
Main fund strand
The main fund is made up of close to £9 million, which will be distributed by the Big Lottery Fund, making grants of between £30,000 and £100,000.
The Big Lottery Fund are offering funding to organisations with existing projects that are already helping to build connections to prevent or reduce loneliness and want to do more to build on this work. The Big Lottery Fund are interested in funding projects that could reach more people and / or join up with others and include ways of utilising existing expertise in the sector, increasing geographical reach and improving impact.
Youth Strand
The Youth Strand is made up of £2 million, which will be distributed by the Co-op Foundation, making grants of up to £80,000. It will open for applications in August 2018 – find out more on the Co-op Foundation blog.
For further information and to apply, visit: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/building-connections-fund
Application deadline Main fund: Friday 24 August 2018, 12noon