Places Called Home: IKEA UK and The National Lottery Community Fund announce almost £1.5 million in grants to support more connected and resilient communities and places

The National Lottery Community Fund and IKEA UK are today [14 October] announcing almost £1.5million of funding to 330 community groups across the UK to inspire, enable and resource people to invest in their local community as an extension of their home.

The pilot partnership between the largest funder of community activity and world’s largest home furnishing retailer, is supporting local communities across the UK with grants of up to £5,000 to build back better and differently as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Places Called Home programme builds on the energy and creativity of communities coming together during the crisis to support each other and aims to inspire them to take action around healthy and sustainable living, while learning from each other and building meaningful connections.

Projects range from supporting bereaved families in Northumberland to environmental arts workshops in Bristol and boxing classes helping mental and physical health in Bolton, all supporting more connected and resilient communities and places.

Emma Ackerman, Funding Strategy Director at The National Lottery Community Fund said: “As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that we can build on the energy and creativity we’ve seen to make stronger communities and a better everyday life. We’re delighted that together with IKEA and National Lottery players we have been able to support this across the UK with our pilot partnership and funding announced today.”

Hege Saebjornsen, Partnership Advisor at Ingka Group said: “The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated how fragile the world is, reinforcing the need for collective resilience - for our neighbourhoods, our communities and our planet. Through this programme, we have an opportunity to make sustainable and healthy living accessible and affordable for everyone while also unleashing the skills, energy and enthusiasm of communities to take part in making a difference every day.”

In Northumberland, Nature's Living Room CIC will work with bereaved families in the area to support their grief through eco-therapy and peer support. The group are using almost £5,000 in funding to run the sessions at the Forest School, providing families with a safe space to talk and share memories of their loved ones and gain support for their mental wellbeing.

Deni Riach, Director of Nature’s Living Room CIC, said: “We’re so pleased with this new funding that will help us bring together bereaved families who have lost a family member or those who are coming to terms with family member who is terminally ill. Thanks to National Lottery players and IKEA we can give families the opportunity to meet people with similar experiences and support each other through their grief, while enjoying the positive effects of being in nature.”

The Lamplighters in Bristol will use £5,000 funding to revive and redesign the roundhouse garden - a much loved community asset. The project will bring people together through ecological based art events to support better social connections, deliver biodiversity education and improve mental and physical wellbeing.

Metro Community Boxing Gym, based in Bolton, will use a £5,000 grant to deliver more outreach boxing classes throughout the community. The sessions bring together people of all ages and help improve the mental and physical health of local residents.

Leigh Alexander, Secretary and director of Metro Community Boxing Gym, said: “We’re so pleased that National Lottery players and IKEA are supporting our new project to provide people across Bolton with access to boxing classes. This Places Called Home funding will help us increase the boxing sessions we deliver in the community, and ultimately help improve both the mental and physical health of more people.”

Alongside the funding, all community groups that applied – whether they received funding or not – have been invited to join a community of support. This virtual learning and support programme has been created by Participatory City Foundation. The community of support will mean participating communities are better able to develop capabilities and knowledge around community action, sustainable and healthy living, co-creation, and participation. Additionally, researchers from Middlesex University and the University of Surrey will support the partnership to understand how both grant funding and a community of support and knowledge sharing can help deliver meaningful and lasting impact.

The total £1.5 million funding available for Places Called Home is made up of £1 million thanks to National Lottery players and £500,000 from IKEA UK. Additionally, IKEA UK devolved £200,000 to the creation of the learning programme and to fund the research project.

Places Called Home is a pilot to test how a partnership between the largest funder of community activity in the UK works with the world’s largest home furnishing retailer.

To share initial learnings and insights from this pilot with interested parties, including other funders and businesses, IKEA UK and The National Lottery Community Fund are initiating a Learning Lab. If you want to get involved with the Learning Lab please contact – cassie.robinson@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

Date published: 14 October, 2021
Region: UK-wide

Notes to Editors

More information about the pilot partnership and it’s aims can be found in this blog.

About The National Lottery Community Fund:

We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Since June 2004, we have made over 200,000 grants and awarded over £9 billion to projects that have benefited millions of people.

We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

Website │Twitter │Facebook │Instagram

About IKEA UK:

IKEA Retail UK is part of Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities). Ingka Group is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. It is the world’s largest home furnishing retailer operating 367 IKEA stores in 30 markets. These IKEA stores had 706 million visits during FY20, and 3.6 billion people visited www.IKEA.com.

The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people, by offering a wide range of well-designed and functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many as possible will be able to afford them. This vision goes beyond home furnishing: we also want our business to have a positive impact on people and the planet.

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. As part of our People and Planet Positive strategy, we want to inspire and enable the many to live more healthy and sustainable lives by making it easy and affordable through our products, services and expertise; we’re transforming into a circular and climate positive business, reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than the IKEA value chain emits, while growing our business; and we aim to have a positive social impact wherever we are in the world. From our co-workers and suppliers, to the communities where we operate and source our materials, we always strive to promote equality, diversity and respect for human rights.