UnLtd was formed in 2000 by our seven partner organisations representatives of who form the Board of Trustees. Their vision was to create UnLtd as the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs to promote and develop the major contribution social entrepreneurs can make to society.
UnLtd's Millennium Awards are funded by the income generated from an investment of £100 million given to UnLtd by the Millennium Commission, one of the National Lottery distributors. This legacy has to be carefully invested as a permanent endowment so that it generates sufficient income to fund UnLtd Millennium Awards in perpetuity.
The Millennium Commission, which is one of a number of organisations giving out money from the proceeds of the National Lottery to 'good causes', governed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, was the first distributor of lottery funds to provide grants directly to individuals to enable them to do something to make a difference in their UK community.
The Commission has already distributed over 25,000 Millennium Awards through its own Millennium Award Scheme which it launched in 1996. It has decided, as its Scheme has been so successful to date, to invest in the beginning of the third millennium by creating a legacy of £100 million. The Commission has done this by making a grant of this £100 million to UnLtd to enable us to distribute thousands more Millennium Awards to individuals across the UK over the coming years and hopefully, for generations to come.
UnLtd received the final approval for the Endowment in December 2002.
