Tag: funding

£30million package to support Scots facing hardship

A £30 million package of funding is being made available to local authorities to support people facing financial hardship as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19), including money to provide free school meals over the school holidays.

Local authorities will be given flexibility to use £20 million, previously held in reserve for the Scottish Welfare Fund, to support people in their communities.

A further £10 million has been made available so councils can continue providing free school meals through the winter breaks with future funding confirmed to extend support over Easter.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “No one should be struggling to put food on the table, keep the lights on, or stay warm at home in the midst of this pandemic.

“With continuing uncertainty around Brexit and the furlough scheme being scaled back we are doing all we can to ensure the right support gets to people at the right time in the right way.

“We know a healthy meal during the school day helps children to learn – but right now it’s an essential to support families at such a difficult time. This money will offer nutritious free meals for children or allow families to get food they desperately need.

“Those experiencing financial hardship can currently apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund and seek advice on which benefits they can receive. However, this will not be suitable for everyone: some people are not eligible for crisis grants or already receive the full benefits they are entitled to, while others may need immediate support with food and essentials.

“We are giving local authorities greater flexibility over funding held in reserve for the Scottish Welfare Fund, to support local action and address people’s needs. This may include supplementing local budgets for the Scottish Welfare Fund to meet demand, providing financial support to tackle food insecurity or to meet fuel costs, or boosting local funding for Discretionary Housing Payments.

“Additionally we are making further resource available to continue the provision of Free School Meals over forthcoming holidays, including Easter.”

Chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission Bill Scott, said: “We welcome this much needed additional help for low income families and individuals. The funding for Free School Meals during the Christmas, February and Easter breaks will come as a great relief for many hard pressed parents.

“We would urge local authorities to use the flexibility given to them by Scottish Government to ensure that every penny of extra help available gets to those who need it most.”

COSLA’s spokesperson for Resources Councillor Gail Macgregor, and spokesperson for Community Wellbeing Councillor Kelly Parry said: “The impacts of the virus have not been felt equally across society and we welcome this funding which can be used flexibly by councils, enabling them to provide more support for those who need it most in our communities.

“Local authorities will deploy it in ways that best meets local circumstance, to provide the most effective support to those experiencing financial hardship, for example through grants, addressing food insecurity, or support for fuel costs.

“We know that as winter arrives and the furlough scheme draws to a close unfortunately more adults and children are likely to need assistance to ensure they are fed and warm. Local Government is the anchor in our communities and is able to provide advice, support and assistance to those that need it.”

Shared Lives Plus wins £50,000 Movement for Good award

Shared Lives Plus, which is launching its Homeshare scheme in Scotland, is one of ten charities to receive £50,000 as part of Ecclesiastical Insurance’s Movement for Good awards.

The awards, set up by specialist insurer Ecclesiastical, have seen a total of £1million given to charities across the UK this summer. 500 charities have already been awarded donations of £1,000 and now 10 charitable organisations will benefit from £50,000 grants.

Shared Lives Plus, which aims to build communities where everyone lives a full life by sharing lives and homes, was one of 10 charities1 selected from over 1,000 entries.

The fund will allow the charity to develop its Homeshare scheme in Scotland, a project that carefully matches someone in need of support to live independently with someone who has a housing need and can provide care. The project fosters mutually beneficial and enriching relationships across communities.

Each of the £50,000 awards are designed to support the advancement of education, skills, arts, culture and heritage, as well as citizenship or community development. Applications were assessed against four key areas; impact and effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, and care and compassion.

Mark Hews, Group CEO of Ecclesiastical, said: “Our Movement for Good awards have been met with an overwhelming response. A huge number of charities have submitted projects for the £50,000 grant and it’s clear that charitable organisations are in need of support now more than ever.

“We believe this financial boost will create long-lasting improvements for communities and support charity workers during what is an incredibly testing time for many.

“Ecclesiastical is a unique financial services group. Owned by a charity, our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society. Charitable giving is at the heart of our business and we are proud to be able to give all available profits to the good causes which are important to our customers.

“We know that £50,000 can make a huge difference to the life-changing work that charities do and we are looking forward to seeing how these awards will help make people’s lives better.”

Ben Hall, Development Manager at Shared Lives Plus, added: “I didn’t expect to win at all and when we were told, I was delighted! For us, this project would not be taking place in the coming year without the award from Ecclesiastical’s Movement for Good. It really is as simple as that.

“Homeshare will be a new idea in Scotland and it is vital that we raise its profile. Our goal is that we want to bring shared living to more people and create a kinder and stronger society. This grant allows us to create those plans.”

An amazing 253,879 people around the UK supported the Movement for Good awards during its first phase earlier this year, with over 13,695 charitable causes up and down the country receiving votes. The 500 winning charities were picked at random from those nominated.

Phase two saw 1,059 project submissions for the £50,000 awards. Following a review of all the applications, a panel of judges made their final selection of the winning projects2.

For further information on the Movement for Good Awards and for a full list of the winning charities phase visit: www.ecclesiastical.com/movement-for-good

1.     Full list of 10 winning charities:

Breast Cancer UK Limited – Digital Learning to Prevent Breast Cancer

Shared Lives Plus Limited – Developing Homeshare in Scotland

Tastelife UK – Youth Track Development

Power2 – Teens and Toddlers

The Challenger Trust – My Journey: Challenger Trust in Birmingham Schools

The Lily Mae Foundation – Baby Loss Support Service Enhancement

The Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust – Project Langley

Thomas’s Fund – Kettering General Hospital, Pen Green Children’s Centre and Community & Family Connections scheme

Parents Plus Company Limited by Guarantee – Transforming Intellectual Disability Services across the U.K. and Ireland with The Parents Plus Special Needs programme

Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues – Resilient Active Youth

Winning charity videos:

Breast Cancer UK Limited

Shared Lives Plus Limited

Tastelife UK

Power2

The Challenger Trust

The Lily Mae Foundation

The Linskill and North Tyneside Community Development Trust

Thomas’s Fund

Parents Plus Company Limited by Guarantee

Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues

New fund to support local shopping

A new £1 million ‘Scotland Loves Local’ fund will provide grants of between £500 and £5,000 to hundreds of projects to promote town centre and online businesses.

The funding aims to support small scale improvements that will help motivate people to shop, eat and relax within their community whilst ensuring public health safety.

Grants can be put towards providing safe shopping information for residents and tourists, the installation of public health infrastructure such as protective screens, physical distancing markers, hand sanitising equipment and PPE.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We know money spent locally is more likely to stay in the local economy and support local jobs. The Scotland Loves Local campaign encourages people to think how they can safely support this.

“This fund will help initiatives supporting businesses, such as projects to encourage safe shopping, business and leisure opportunities, promoting and advertising local providers of online shopping or enhancing visitor appeal.

“We all have a part to play in Scotland’s economic recovery and can do so, whilst we look out for one another and follow the FACTS guidance.”

Chief Officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership Phil Prentice said: “This is an exceptional opportunity for local communities – a chance to get the funding that will unlock some brilliant creativity.

“We’ve seen throughout the Scotland Loves Local campaign that people all over the country want to back their local towns and places – we’re looking forward to seeing some brilliant ideas take shape. Our campaign is highlighting that money spent locally stays local for longer. This new fund will be a real boost for communities across the country.”

The funding is being provided by the Scottish Government, and administered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership.

Applications to the fund open today, Sunday October 18th and close on Friday November 25th.

Support for people with neurological conditions

Projects which support people with neurological conditions are to benefit from the latest round of funding announced as part of a five-year action plan.

The investment of £492,535 is focussed on initiatives where partnership working is key. Many of the 17 funded activities see NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Third Sector organisations joining forces to achieve better outcomes for people living with neurological conditions.

Funding recipients include Pain Association Scotland who will develop online courses to support the wellbeing of unpaid carers and the MS Society who will deliver online and telephone sessions to support the physical and emotional wellbeing of people living with MS in response to the pandemic.

‘Neurological care and support: framework for action – 2020 to 2025’ aims to ensure people get access to personalised care and support regardless of their condition or where in Scotland they live.

Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “Around one million people in Scotland live with a neurological condition ranging from common conditions such as migraines to life-limiting illnesses such as Motor Neurone Disease.

“We recognise the scale, variety and context of neurological conditions and how distressing they can be for the person with the condition and their family and the framework for action aims to support those responsible for providing care and support to people affected.

“This latest round of funding will ensure this vital work not only continues but is strengthened despite the challenges faced during the pandemic.”

PSPA provides information and support to people affected by Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).

CEO Andrew Symons said: “Neurological Care and Support Framework Funding will allow us to map provision for PSP and CBD in Scotland, simultaneously highlighting the information and support that we can offer from PSPA.

“This will contribute to the aim of earlier diagnosis of these rare conditions and reduce the time spent by people in the wrong part of the system with the result they can benefit from the provisions of the Framework as soon as their disease is recognised.”

Funding-recipientsDownload

Cosla welcomes additional support worth £750 million

A package of financial flexibilities and extra funding for councils which could be worth up to £750 million has been agreed by the Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA.

To address the financial pressures caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic over the next two years, councils will be granted additional spending powers which could be worth around £600 million.

In addition to this, a Lost Income Scheme will be established to help compensate councils and council trusts for lost sales, fees and charges from services such as sports centres and parking charges.

Councils and their trusts will have access to an estimated £90 million of funding with council trusts delivering services on behalf of councils able to receive a share of a further £49 million of support through the scheme.

Added to additional funding already committed, this brings the value of the overall COVID-19 support package for councils to more than £1 billion.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “I have been clear that the Scottish Government needs appropriate fiscal levers in order to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is equally true for local government, which is why I am very pleased that we have been able to deliver a package of support for local services worth up to £750 million.

“Working in partnership with COSLA, the Scottish Government has delivered on our commitment to support councils across Scotland with a game changing package of financial flexibilities, giving them the powers they need to make informed decisions about spending at a local level.

“In addition, we are close to finalising the details of additional financial support through a Lost Income Scheme, worth an estimated £90 million subject to confirmation of the funding from the UK Government. For trusts delivering services on behalf of councils this can also be topped up with £49 million of additional funding already confirmed.

“This support will help councils and their trusts manage the loss of income they are facing from local services due to COVID-19.  

“These measures are excellent examples of how the Scottish Government is working together with COSLA and local authorities to ensure that we are doing everything within our power to save jobs, protect our public services and reboot our economy.”

COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Cllr Gail Macgregor said: “We welcome this substantial package of measures from which councils can choose, depending on local circumstance.

“Responding to COVID-19 whilst continuing to deliver essential, everyday services has put extreme pressure on Local Government finances this year. The pandemic has also meant substantial losses of income across a range of council services including leisure, sport, culture, and planning.

“Balancing budgets will be a real challenge and this has been fully recognised by Scottish Government who we have worked with constructively and positively.”

Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards open for applications

Applications are now open for bursaries of up to £750 of National Lottery funding, through Creative Scotland’s Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) programme. 

Delivered in partnership with local partners across Scotland, these one-off grants aim to support the creative development of visual artists and craft makers at all stages of their career. 

This year’s VACMA programme offers two fixed fee bursaries – the first is a £750 grant for visual artists and craft makers who can demonstrate a commitment to developing their creative practice; the second is a grant of £500 for new graduates/emerging artists. 

VACMA funding has previously supported projects including skills development and courses, artistic mentoring, researching a new body of work and experimenting with new materials. 

Full eligibility criteria and a list of participating local partners through which applications will be made, is available on the Creative Scotland website.  

The deadlines for applications are: 

  • Autumn: 5pm, Tuesday 10 November 2020 
  • Winter: 5pm, Tuesday 2 February 2021 

Amanda Catto, Head of Visual Arts, Creative Scotland said: “These bursaries are invaluable in supporting the creative development of artists and craft makers across Scotland. 

“With thanks to National Lottery players who make these awards possible, we’re pleased to be working with local partners to deliver the scheme across 25 Local Authority areas, offering grants to emerging and more established practitioners, alike.” 

Free, online information sessions about the Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards will be held on Thursday 15 and Tuesday 27th October from 10am – 11am.

Hosted by local partner representatives and members of Creative Scotland’s Visual Arts Team, the sessions will include an overview of the scheme, followed by a panel discussion and Q+A. 

Booking is required to take part in the sessions. This can be done here for Thursday 15 October, and here for Tuesday 27 October. 

Over £2.8m for Creative Freelancers and Organisations

Latest National Lottery awards made through Creative Scotland’s Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development 

Fund receives additional £3.5m Scottish Government boost 

Fund threshold to rise to £100,000

Thanks to National Lottery players, a total of over £2.8million has reached creative freelancers and organisations between May and August 2020 through Creative Scotland’s Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development.

From online youth poetry events, to debut album recordings and digital presentations of visual art, the 173 funding awards – 113 of which to individuals (£1.4million) and 60 to organisations (£1.4million) – are supporting creative development across the breadth of Scotland, helping the creative and culture sector adapt and respond to current challenging circumstances. 

Iain Munro, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said: “The Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development is all about helping to ensure that Scotland’s creative workforce and organisations have opportunities to continue to develop creative practice in a challenging context.  

“Thanks to £7.5million from National Lottery and the recently announced additional £3.5million boost from the Scottish Government, we’re able to support creative people who are addressing the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on their creative practice. 

“People are thinking about new ways of working, how to reach audiences in different ways, taking creative risks or looking at ways to stabilise existing activity.  

“Even in these challenging circumstances, these awards announced today are a positive reflection of Scotland’s resilient and innovative creative sector.” 

A full list of recipients of Open Fund awards is available on the Creative Scotland website. 

An additional £3.5m funding from the Scottish Government was announced on Friday 28 August as part of £59million emergency funding for culture and heritage. 

In addition, the threshold of funding that can be applied for will increase from £50,000 to £100,000 for individuals and organisations, from next week. Full details will be made available @CreativeScots / www.creativescotland.com, during w/c 5 Oct.   

The fund has no deadlines, and full eligibility criteria and application guidance can be found on the Creative Scotland website. 

Demand for funding has almost DOUBLED since Covid crisis

Over 100,000 local people benefit from more than £610,000 awarded to the region to date  

Foundation Scotland, Scotland’s community foundation, has noted a significant increase in the number of funding applications submitted in the last six-months compared to the same period last year.  

Since the start of the crisis the Scottish funder has received almost the same number of applications in the last 6 months as it received in the whole of last financial year. The number of Scottish charities and community groups receiving funding across all the charity’s funding programmes has grown by a staggering 92%.   

The community foundation was quick to respond to the impending crisis.  Their Response, Recovery & Resilience Fund launched at the end of March and was the first source of community funding to open as the coronavirus pandemic hit the country.  

Working in partnership with the National Emergencies Trust (NET), a new and additional £3.6 Million has been awarded to the sector in Scotland so far.  This sizable new source of funding has to date enabled over 900 organisations to deliver key services to over one million people through the crisis the length and breadth of the country.   

Locally, this support has reached over 100,000 locals across Edinburgh and the Lothians. 152 projects have shared a total of £616,246 in the region to date. Local organisations such as Open Door Accommodation Project, Brock Garden Centre SCIO, Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Bikes for Refugees have all received essential support.

 Edinburgh-based Street Fit Scotland received £5,000 to provide digital devices, online fitness classes and peer support sessions to 30 local people to help reduce isolation, self-harmful behaviours and suicide risk whilst supporting their mental and physical well-being.

Michelle Reilly, Founder, Street Fit Scotland, (above) said: “This life-changing award could not have come at a better time for Street Fit Scotland. Thanks to Foundation Scotland we are now able to deliver free outdoor fitness sessions in the Meadows to support the homeless community and others to re-engage back into society supporting them to get fit active and healthy.

“This is a great opportunity giving people the chance to recover from periods of isolation. All or sessions are socially distanced, and we have created the safest environment we can following all government guidance.”    

Foundation Scotland distributes charitable funds on behalf of over 400 individuals, families, companies, public bodies and charitable trusts including this key partnership with NET.  The foundation manages over 120 funding programmes and has distributed £100m to the third sector since its launch in 1996.   

Helen Wray, Programme Manager at Foundation Scotland said: “We could see the impact that COVID was going to have and we knew we needed to move extremely quickly so that we could continue to deliver reliable financial support to groups delivering essential services across the country.  

“Fortunately, our partnership with NET meant we were able to respond immediately and could open and offer new funding opportunities. At the same time, we have kept all of our other important funding streams open as normal.

“We are working relentlessly to get support to where it is needed most through this challenging time.  Since April this year, we have assessed the same volume of applications as we did through the entirety of 2019.   

We appreciate that funding is becoming harder to secure and demand for essential services is often higher than ever before. So we are delighted that due to an increase in funding from NET, we are able to continue to offer these essential awards to allow groups to apply for support where they need it most.  We are however encouraging groups to apply as soon as they can.” 

The Foundation Scotland Response, Recovery & Resilience Fund continues to offer grants of between £1,000-£5,000 to constituted community groups and registered charities.  

The fund is currently in its ‘recovery’ phase supporting organisations to plan ahead, to continue their operations in the ‘new normal’, re-establish or re-design their activities to comply with new regulations.

Examples of projects include those needing support to restart face to face services, counselling groups helping those experiencing mental health issues, bereavement and domestic abuse support services and organisations needing to increase hygiene policies to safely reopen. 

Foundation Scotland is eager to distribute funds quickly to communities in need and is appealing to eligible groups to apply quickly as they respond and recover from the crisis.    

For more details, eligibility criteria and to apply online visit https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/ 

Community & Third Sector Recovery Programme: funding stream now open


The Scottish Government’s Community & Third Sector Recovery Programme funding stream is now open, offering both organisational support and funding to deliver services.

The Community & Third Sector Recovery Programme is a £25m Scottish Government funded programme aiming to support charities, community groups, social enterprises and voluntary organisations that are supporting people and communities through the shift from lockdown to recovery.

The Community & Third Sector Recovery Programme has two strands:

Strand one: Adapt and Thrive

The programme aims to support organisational change. It offers tailored support and funding to develop a plan so third sector organisations can operate sustainably post-COVID.

Strand two: Communities Recovery Fund

The fund aims to support the delivery of services in communities that were suspended or reduced because of COVID, or the creation of new services that tackle new challenges presented by COVID.

Visit SCVO’s website for more information about these funds and how to apply.

Tackling violence against women and girls

£4.25m extra funding for frontline services

Women and children experiencing or at risk of violence and domestic abuse will have increased access to support, with £4.25 million of additional funding for charities and projects across Scotland.

The additional investment will help respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse for support services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

More staff, increased hours for centres and helplines, improvements to IT and new digital resources and training will all allow services to be up-scaled so that more people can quickly and easily access help.

Updated guidance, developed in partnership with COSLA, is also already being used by local authorities to keep women and children safe.

Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said: “The greater risks to women and children of domestic abuse with referrals to frontline services increasing during the pandemic is a major concern. It is atrocious that this is the case but we are focused on ensuring that frontline services can meet the increased demand for support.

“This extra funding will help to ensure these vital services are still able to provide support to people across the country, and the scale and innovation of these projects will provide a lifeline to many women and families.

“Any kind of violence is unacceptable and the safety and wellbeing needs of women and children need to be protected – that is even more important during a pandemic. Police Scotland continue to prioritise domestic abuse cases so I would also encourage anyone suffering violence and domestic abuse not to hesitate to get the support they need.”

Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive of Scottish Women’s Aid, said: “Our local Women’s Aid groups have shown extraordinary resilience and creativity in rapidly redesigning their services to continue supporting those experiencing domestic abuse throughout the pandemic. The challenges they’ve faced have been huge as COVID-19 has given abusers more tools to control and harm women and children. 

“This injection of financial support will provide some much-needed stability for groups against a back drop of precarious, patchwork local funding. As lockdown and other measures ease, our local groups are anticipating even more demand for their specialist services as survivors begin to have more opportunities to seek support.

“Additionally, if faced with a second wave of the virus, this funding will strengthen the responses of groups and allow them to build on the progress they have made in delivering services remotely. This support from the Scottish Government will help local Women’s Aid services prepare to meet those needs and will mean that women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse can access the help and advice they want, when they want it.” 

Read the report Coronavirus (COVID-19): domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls during Phases 1, 2 and 3 of Scotland’s route map (22 May to 11 August 2020)

Read more on Equally Safe, the Scottish Government’s strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls.

Funding is confirmed to March 2021 and will be indicative to September 2021, subject to budgets for the 2021-22 financial year. 

A list of the funded projects is below:

Organisation/ProjectAmount 2020/21Indicative Amount 2021/22
Aberdeen Cyrenians£32,739£32,239
Action for Children Western Isles£720£0
Bridge funding for local CEDAR programmes£67,158£67,158
Children 1st – Scottish Borders£18,000£18,000
Committed to Ending Abuse£16,000£16,000
Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault West Lothian£30,000£30,000
Dumfries and Stewartry Women’s Aid£27,500£27,500
Equally Safe at School (Rape Crisis Scotland/Zero Tolerance)£11,684£11,684
Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project£16,500£16,500
Moray Rape Crisis Centre£5,842£5,842
Moray Women’s Aid£12,517£12,517
Rape Crisis Scotland – additional capacity for support£676,584£676,584
Rape Crisis Scotland – Helpline£31,712£31,712
Rape Crisis Scotland – National Advocacy Project£242,907£242,907
Rape Crisis Scotland – refresh funding services model£15,000£0
Red Cross – supporting vulnerable women£4,963£4,963
Respect Men’s Advice Line£14,357£14,357
Respekt (City of Edinburgh Council)£24,380£24,380
SACRO Another Way£20,000£20,000
Saheliya£38,097£38,097
SAY Women£23,308£21,692
Scottish Women’s Aid – enhanced support for women, children and young people through affiliated groups£637,500£672,219
Scottish Women’s Aid – improving digital infrastructure and communications for affiliated groups£68,000£68,000
Scottish Women’s Aid – affiliated groups staff health and wellbeing£53,000£53,000
TDAS Barnardos£25,000£25,000
West Dunbartonshire Council Support Service£24,966£24,966