Charity that put lottery director on board given £1.25m fund

show the charity had an income of £440,000 last year. The two grants will provide a huge boost to its coffers.

The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for distributing about £650 million a year – about 40 per cent of all the funds raised for good causes through the National Lottery. It makes 12,000 grants a year, meaning the average grant size is about £50,000.

The Big Lottery Fund website describes Miss Cole’s role as leading “a directorate that looks after £450 million worth of funding commitments per year and is at the frontline of Big Lottery Fund’s vision of putting people in the lead to solve local social challenges”.

Her LinkedIn page shows she joined the Angelou Centre board in December. The only other charity she is involved with is EY Foundation, a young people’s charity linked to the professional services firm, which she joined as a trustee in April.

A Big Lottery Fund spokesman said Miss Cole played no part in the grant awards. It said Miss Cole declared her role when she joined the Angelou Centre board. It also said she is currently off work for “personal” reasons that are “unrelated to work”.

The spokesman said: “We have two active grants totalling £1.24 million with the Angelou Centre in Newcastle. One is for a project supporting women and young people from black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee communities who have experienced domestic violence, abuse and exploitation. Another is to open a specialist refuge for women survivors of domestic violence and abuse.”

The spokesman added: “We can confirm that Lyn Cole had no role in the awarding of these grants and was not a member of the decision-making groups that agreed the awards.

“We have strict guidelines in place which have been adhered to, ensuring that all funding is impartial and fair. Members of staff are required to declare essential information about their interests and those of their immediate family.

“Lyn is not involved in individual grant funding decisions – she oversees policy and strategy related to grant-making.”

The Angelou Centre said Miss Cole was invited to sit on its board after applications for the grants had already been made. Executive director Umme Imam said: “It is coincidence the grants were both awarded at the same time. They are two different, distinct projects. We prepared the grants before Lyn came on board.”