AUSTERITY has brought with it pincer-like pressures for charities. The simple sum for those working in deprived communities is that the numbers needing help has risen, while resources on offer from councils and other funders have been squeezed.

For the Big Lottery Fund (Big) – that has led to a renewed focus on getting the best out of the cash it disperses. One outcome is the £7.5m Early Action fund just launched by Big, which will be available solely to community-based projects that aim to intervene before problems escalate.

While this is widely recognised as a good idea – Big says government, charities and community groups all agree – it is problematic for various reasons.

It is founded on the idea that it costs less. If you can prevent someone going to jail, you potentially save the state tens of thousands of pounds, the same if you can prevent a child going into care. If you can avert the lifetime costs of a drug addiction, any initial costs are surely a bargain.

But, initially, it is often more expensive. Funding for programmes for those already facing problems needs to continue while the early intervention has time to work. It is also hard to prove a negative, in this case that something didn’t happen – the lone parent who does not have to go to a food bank, the domestic violence incident averted, a person redirected from a life of crime.

So how do you know a project is being effective? As a prudent funder, how do you know when it is no longer needed? More pressingly, as councils and others look hard at budgets, a scheme tackling problems today is harder to cut than one aiming to end them tomorrow. Big’s fund is an attempt to address that conundrum.

The £7.5m is expected to be shared between no more than 8-10 applicants, so collaborations in specific areas are being encouraged to a refocus on prevention rather than cures.

Keeping women out of the criminal justice system – in line with the Scottish Government’s similar goal, and promoting healthy weight and healthy lives are two areas highlighted so far.

Evidence and common sense both suggest early action makes sense. This fund is a bold bid to prove it.