Tag: funding

Extra funding to help communities affected by Coronavirus

An additional £350 million will go to those most affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell announced yesterday.

The funding will be made available to councils, charities, businesses and community groups and designed to be flexible, cutting down on red tape to enable them to respond swiftly and according to local need for people impacted economically or through reduced contact with society, including anyone struggling to access food.

Ms Campbell said allowing a high level of flexibility was the best way to ensure they were most effective: “This pandemic will disrupt lives like never before and cause financial hardship and negatively impact on our wellbeing.

“Be assured, however, that protecting and supporting people during these unparalleled times is the absolute focus of this government.

“Our funding package will be focused on delivery, not bureaucracy or red tape. Local authorities, local businesses, community groups and the third sector know and understand the support needs of their communities the best. Where people and organisations have solutions or ideas, I want to hear them.”

“Unless we work with local partners the impact of our investment will not be felt by those that need it most. So my message today is – if we can help you to help the people of Scotland then we will.”

The emergency funding package will be allocated to existing funding streams through several new funds, with the £95 million package direct to local authorities made up of:

£50 million in Barnett consequentials from the UK Government’s hardship fund is being passed direct to local authorities to support their own local resilience, support and hardship plans.

£45 million will be added to the existing Scottish Welfare Fund which makes Community Grants and Crisis Grants available to those in immediate need. This more than doubles the current £35.5 million fund, which is administered by local authorities. They will be given more flexibility in how it is used to ensure they can fully support people in financial crisis, including workers in the ‘gig economy’.

In addition:

  • a £70 million Food Fund will help organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors address issues of food insecurity, especially for older people, and families who may not be able to rely on free school meals
  • a £50 million Wellbeing Fund will help charities and others who require additional capacity to work with at-risk people who may be worst affected by the crisis, including homeless people and those experiencing fuel poverty
  • a £40 million Supporting Communities Fund will be used to support the rapidly growing and inspiring community efforts at a local level which will be vital to national resilience, including supporting people at risk because of age, isolation, carers, homeless people and asylum seekers and signposting people to sources of help such as applying for benefits
  • £50 million will go to meet an anticipated increase in applications for the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Scottish social security benefits
  • £20 million will be allocated to a Third Sector Resilience Fund, to help ensure the health and continued viability of the third sector organisations affected by cash flow and other problems, which have a key role to play in our national response
  • £25 million will be kept in reserve to allow swift and flexible responses to rapidly changing circumstances

Not-for-profit lender marks record year

Not-for-profit lender DSL Business Finance had a record year in 2019, providing funding of £4.5 million to small and medium sized businesses and social enterprises in Scotland, up from £3.1m in 2018.

The Glasgow-headquartered alternative finance provider supports enterprise in Scotland by offering loans of up to £50,000* to organisations that would not generally be able to access traditional sources of funding.

DSL has increased its loan book dramatically in the last five years – in 2015 it provided total funding of £917,502. Its funding gives a major boost to the Scottish economy by supporting entrepreneurs, start-ups and growing businesses.

Between January and December 2019, DSL gave 207 loans to 173 enterprises and the average loan size was £21,616. This funding created 233 new jobs and maintained 1,012 existing positions.

DSL loans also led to further injections of funding, totalling £1.8m from the private sector and £318,150 from the public sector last year.

One business benefiting from DSL funding is the Nether Bow Café and Bistro on Edinburgh’s High Street, run by husband and wife team Levent and Filiz Celik who have more than 17 years of combined experience in the hospitality trade.

They had always wanted to run their own business and in April 2018 the opportunity arose to take over the coffee house they were working in and develop it as a café and bistro.

DSL provided the couple with a loan to refurbish the property, which included opening up the kitchen preparation area, increasing the customer cover space to 40 and other modernisation to allow the business to grow.  The restaurant employs up to 11 people during the busy Edinburgh Festival season and has been proving popular with customers.

The hard work of DSL in supporting small and medium sized enterprises has also been recognised recently.

DSL and two businesses it funded have been shortlisted in the Responsible Finance Citi Foundation’s  Microentrepreneurship Awards, an annual celebration of Britain’s microentrepreneurs who have accessed alternative  business finance from a Responsible Finance member.

DSL is a finalist in the Resilient Award category, up against other responsible finance providers from across the UK.

Zero waste store The Refillery, set-up in the southside of Edinburgh last year by entrepreneur Kelly Wright with funding from DSL, has been named as one of three UK finalists for an Environmental Sustainability of the Year award.

Former school friends Zander Macgregor and Allan Nairn who launched Wester Spirit Co in 2018, Glasgow’s first rum distillery for over 300 years, with funding from DSL, have been shortlisted in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category.

Stuart Yuill, DSL Business Finance executive director (above), said: “Despite economic uncertainty, primarily around Brexit, it’s rewarding that we are able to support more small and medium sized enterprises than ever before across Scotland.

“We are already building on the record year we had in 2019 to continue to fund organisations and entrepreneurs that would otherwise struggle to get started or  grow. Our funding supports job creation and benefits the wider economy.

“I’m proud that our work, and the achievements of the organisations we fund, have been recognised by the Citi Foundation which celebrates entrepreneurship.”

Arts funding needs a greater focus on artists, says Holyrood Committee

The Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee has today published its report into Scotland’s funding of the arts and artists where it called for an urgent resetting of arts policy and funding.  The Committee’s report is the first Scottish Parliament inquiry to consider the arts funding system as a whole. Continue reading Arts funding needs a greater focus on artists, says Holyrood Committee

Disability charities urge Scottish councils not to cut special needs funding

A coalition of disability charities is urging all 32 Scottish local authorities to maintain vital funding for children and young people with additional support needs (ASN).

The children and young people concerned, an estimated 199,000 in total, include those with physical, sensory or learning disabilities in mainstream education, as well as those with health conditions. Continue reading Disability charities urge Scottish councils not to cut special needs funding

Funding support for Screen Education Edinburgh

SEVEN projects across Scotland have been awarded a total of £600,000 funding through Screen Scotland’s Film Education Partnership Fund towards Film Education programmes.

Among the successful projects is Pilton-based Screen Education Edinburgh, formerly known as Pilton Video. The project, based in Ferry Road Avenue, receives over £200,000. Continue reading Funding support for Screen Education Edinburgh

Scottish culture reaps £1.1m benefit as business partnership scheme marks successful second year

More than £1.1 million has now been invested in 68 individual business and cultural partnerships throughout the length and breadth of Scotland, thanks to a pioneering funding programme managed by independent charity Arts & Business Scotland. Continue reading Scottish culture reaps £1.1m benefit as business partnership scheme marks successful second year