THE Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Christopher Lowson, launched a £1-million social justice fund on Monday, inviting local organisations to bid for a share of the pot to "transform lives" in the region.

"We want to help build fair, just, sharing communities for people living in greater Lincolnshire," he said. "Our aim is to make life more comfortable, and ease distress and isolation for those most in need."

Two-thirds of the fund has been provided by the diocese of Lincoln, and the remaining third by the Government. Grant awards will range between £5000 and £25,000, and will be awarded by a panel of seven independent trustees, who will sit four times a year.

On Tuesday, Bishop Lowson said that he was "anxious not to fill in funding gaps that were hitherto funded by the council because of government cuts", but hoped to fund "new work at the local level: low-scale, bottom-up projects . . .

"I hope we receive not just bids from the usual suspects, but try to encourage those parts of dioceses that have not thought about this to broaden their imagination and think about what they might do to serve their communities better."

The launch on Monday took place at the Holy Trinity Centre in Louth, home to the Be a Friend scheme, which matches lonely and vulnerable adults with befrienders, and is hoping to receive a grant.

"The fund recognises the need for growth and development of mission activities across the diocese," the Rector of St Mary's, Fotherby, the Revd Susan Allison, said. She is part of the management team for Be a Friend. "It will encourage com-munities to share good practice and facilitate growth across the diocese."

Also due to be launched is a transformation fund of £4 million, to "increase our capacity to do evangelism and mission".

The Bishop's fund covers the greater Lincolnshire area. The closing dates for applications are 14 September and 1 December 2015, and 1 March and 1 June 2016.