Business

Dormant bank funds will be used to support Northern Ireland charities

Announcing the new Dormant Bank Account Fund, where £16m has initially been made available in Northern Ireland, are (from left) Sue Gray, Department of Finance permanent secretary; Seamus McAleavey chief executive of NICVA; Kate Beggs, National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland director; and Colin Jess, director of Social Enterprise NI. Photo: Aaron McCracken
Announcing the new Dormant Bank Account Fund, where £16m has initially been made available in Northern Ireland, are (from left) Sue Gray, Department of Finance permanent secretary; Seamus McAleavey chief executive of NICVA; Kate Beggs, National Lott Announcing the new Dormant Bank Account Fund, where £16m has initially been made available in Northern Ireland, are (from left) Sue Gray, Department of Finance permanent secretary; Seamus McAleavey chief executive of NICVA; Kate Beggs, National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland director; and Colin Jess, director of Social Enterprise NI. Photo: Aaron McCracken

MILLIONS of pounds lying untouched for years in people's bank accounts are being allocated to charitable causes in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Finance is establishing a Dormant Account Fund to support projects in the third sector, with £16 million having initially been made available.

UK bank and building society accounts are deemed dormant if they have been untouched for 15 or more years, and where banks and building societies are unable to trace the customer who owns the account.

DoF permanent secretary Sue Gray said: “Northern Ireland has a really strong third sector which is doing fantastic work and making a positive and meaningful impact on so many people’s lives.

“A key principle of this £16 million fund is that it will be used to fund services that would not normally attract public money – providing a real opportunity for a range of organisations including community and voluntary groups and social enterprises to access funding.”

The National Lottery Community Fund will deliver the fund on behalf of the department, and will now engage with the third sector to develop a strategic action plan for the scheme, which will open this financial year.

Charity boss Seamus McAleavey, chief executive of NICVA, said: “It's great to see this significant extra injection of cash which will help community and voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland particularly looking at their own sustainability.”

It is envisaged the fund (more details at www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/dormant-accounts-fund) will be used to increase capacity, resilience and sustainability across the north's voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors.