Over 23,000 voluntary organisations, teams and associations have received corona support. The scheme was introduced during the Solberg government. Early in the pandemic, approximately NOK 600 million was set aside for volunteering and sports. The background for the scheme was the number of events that had to be closed and canceled due to the infection pressure. While some have received several millions, others have only received small change. Just look here: The Defense Seniors’ Association Department Vesterålen: NOK 5 Lødingen Hunters and Fishermen’s Association: NOK 24 Sortland Unge Strykere: NOK 38 The Svolvær Ensemble: NOK 54 Gunn Elin Alsos Kind is head of Mental Health Andøy. The low-threshold offer for young people and the elderly is located at Andenes in Vesterålen, and was established in 2019. They were awarded a total of NOK 11 in corona support. – I feel that it is a joke. Then they could rather distribute the 11 kroner to the others who have received money, says Kind to news. – Half a sausage Mental Health Andøy offers services for everything from young people at upper secondary school to the elderly. – Before the corona came, there were 10-15 of us, but after the corona we have struggled to get people to come, says Kind. – When we have had barbecues, adults with children have often come. And then we want it to be free, so that people don’t refrain from coming because they have to pay. Kind tells Bladet Vesterålen that they were hit hard by the lockdown in society. So hard that Mental Health Andøy has already been put on hiatus for the rest of the year. Mental Health Norway, like many other parent organisations, had applied for support on behalf of their local teams. – What do you get for 11 kroner? – It will be half a sausage, says the manager to news. In February this year, Narvik Hockey became league champions in the first division in ice hockey. Without corona support, the club would have faced an uncertain future. Photo: Mikael Karlholm Some got more In recent days, several media outlets have mentioned corona support for volunteers, teams and organisations. In Ofoten, Narvik and surrounding garden groups were awarded NOK 58. For Narvik Hockey, the corona support was to be or not to be. The ice hockey team received NOK 2.6 million. – It is clear that it means a lot. We have been almost fully compensated for lost income and additional expenses. It has been a valuable contribution, and we probably wouldn’t have survived without it, says Jon Harr, chairman of the club. Narvik Hockey applied for support based on the guidelines that have come from the Swedish Sports Confederation. Harr says that the club has a high income with a large audience and large turnover. – So the loss when everything shuts down is correspondingly large. We have 25 people on the payroll. 26,700 applications According to the Norwegian Lotteries and Foundations Authority, 80 per cent of the recipients have received an amount of 100,000 or less. The inspectorate received a total of 26,700 applications. Most recipients of corona support can be found in sports and art and culture. – This is one of several trust-based schemes in the state. In the crisis packages, it has been an additional challenge that the payments should take place so quickly, and that the control should initially take place afterwards. That’s what Marianne Skjeldestad Hove, department director for voluntary support at the Norwegian Lotteries and Foundations Authority says. The inspectorate has checked all applications for support by machine, and applications that have been stopped during the check have been assessed by case managers. Some of the 26,700 applications have been processed manually, based on an assessment of risk and materiality. – All these payments are linked to the same regulations, says Marianne Skjeldestad Hove in the Swedish Lottery Authority. Photo: Dagrun Reiakvam / The Lottery and Foundation Authority Passing the money on to local teams news has shown the authority the payments to, among others, Mental Health Andøy. – Some organizations have been paid relatively small sums. We have carried out random checks and it turns out that this applies to central units that have applied on behalf of many sub-organisations. This means that main organizations that have applied on behalf of sub-organisations will be paid funds for the whole organisation. According to the supervisory authority, a limit of NOK 255 million had been set aside for the scheme. All the organizations were awarded 13.44% of the approved application amount. It is the applicant’s job to forward the money to the local team within three weeks. – If the amount is less than NOK 300, the central link can choose not to pass on the amount, says Hove to news. Want a limit on corona grants The corona support is distributed to volunteers from Nordkapp in the north to Lindesnes in the south. – I think there should have been a limit of NOK 1,000. Because with NOK 1,000 you can do something. Then you get a barbecue trip or something more. Mental Helse Andøy does not struggle with finances, because they are good at saving. They have not yet received their corona kroner in their account. – I would like to believe that the accounts for processing the application to pay out NOK 11 are in the red, says the manager. Deputy head of Mental Health’s response services, Sigrid Øyen Mull, says the money is distributed according to activity. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news – We take with us the input Mental Health Central has received a total of NOK 559,795, and distributed the money to local teams based on activity. – This was distributed according to the activity based on the rules relating to peer work, says Sigrid Øyen Mull, deputy head of Mental Health Response Services. – Would it make sense to set a lower limit for how much money can be allocated within Mental Health, as the manager of Mental Health Andøy suggests? – We have not had any discussion about this internally in Mental Health, but we will take the input on board, says Mull. This is how you secure your finances after the interest rate jump
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