Trade union Unite has joined charities in a last minute call for the UK Government not to cut funding for the Big Lottery Fund

The services that UK charities provide to thousands of the country’s most vulnerable people could be decimated if reports the government wants to cut £320 million from the Big Lottery Fund are correct.

Unite, the country’s largest union with 60,000 members in the not for profit sector, has made a last minute plea for the Chancellor to reconsider, branding such a move "the big robbery at the Big Lottery".

Unite said that ministers need to come clean about their sleight of hand intentions on the eve of the government’s spending review announcement tomorrow.

“This is Robin Hood in reverse, masked highwayman George Osborne robbing from the poor to give tax breaks to the wealthy - Sally Kosky

Projects that could be in the financial firing line include young people's mental health interventions, women's refuge projects and food banks, which currently attract more than a million visits a year.

It is understood that the money will go to the heritage, arts and sports distributers to make up for austerity cuts by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport – contrary to a founding principle of the lottery by John Major’s administration that lottery cash should not be used as a substitute for government spending.

Unite national officer for the not for profit sector Sally Kosky said: “This is Robin Hood in reverse, masked highwayman George Osborne robbing from the poor to give tax breaks to the wealthy.

“David Cameron has made much of his so-called Big Society vision, but here he is acting as an accomplice heaping on misery to those that have been knocked sideways by savage cuts to working tax credits, unemployment and homelessness – the very people who seek assistance from charities.

“Journalists need to look at the small print of the spending review documents to discover the scale of the big robbery being perpetuated by the chancellor on the charitable sector.

“Charities are often the last resort for the vulnerable and they won’t be able to withstand the tsunami of cuts to services that a £320 million loss of funding will entail.”

Meanwhile more Scottish charities have joined the call for the UK Government not to cut the Big Lottery Fund’s budget – a move that could see the Big Lottery Fund Scotland’s funds go down from £70m to £30m a year.

Cheryl Brown of Midlothian Sure Start said in a letter to the Chancellor: “Big funding is essential for organisations such as our which work at the grass-roots level in Midlothian tackling poverty, isolation, and disadvantage. Big funding has helped us develop and provide the services that our clients need. We use a co-production model. Without Big funding we would have not been able to respond to local need.

“We are aware that against a backdrop of austerity Local Authorities are cutting funding to the voluntary sector. If, the cuts identified in the press are made, they will be devastating for our local communities as local choice and accessible provision will be decimated.

“We strongly urge you not to proceed with any reduction to the BIG budget.”