Joint working 2: signals from HLF

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Cooperation between NOF and CF in the Fair Share scheme could be extended to the Heritage Lottery Fund, following senior-level discussions between the distributors. Gerald Oppenheim, the CF’s Director of Policy and Communications, told July’s Lottery Monitor conference that HLF executives had indicated they wanted to work with the other distributors where there was overlap between the HLF’s priority areas, due to be announced in the autumn, and the Fair Share areas. Oppenheim said: ‘It’s something we would very much welcome. It won’t happen to the degree that some people think, but I think things are moving on that front.’ A spokeswoman for the HLF confirmed that informal discussions on joint working had taken place at the regular meetings held between the boards’ chief executives. But, she said, cooperation would emerge where regional teams decided it was appropriate: ‘It depends on the structure and relationships within each region.’ A pilot being conducted by the Joint Regional Committee of Lottery Distributors in the North West may provide a taste of what’s to come. A partnership in the St Helen’s area of Liverpool involving St Helen’s Metropolitan Council and the local Community Service Volunteers has run a six-week campaign to make potential applicants more aware of the Lottery funding available to them. Under the ‘Spotlight on St Helen’s’ scheme (see Lottery Monitor April 2002), the partnership has been running surgeries explaining the work of the distributors and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust. According to the committee chair Tony Jones, 150 groups have attended sessions.