Welcome to the KDP Bulletin.
The National Lottery Community Fund (Scotland) has unveiled two new funding streams: Fairer Life Chances and Community Action, which are open to applications now, with no current deadlines.
Both funds focus on helping communities to tackle poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination, and ask groups to demonstrate how they will reach and support people facing these challenges.
Community Action replaces the former Community Led fund and broadens its definition of “community” to include people who share an identity, interest or experience, as well as people living in the same place. Funding of up to £250,000 is available for projects that bring communities together to improve wellbeing and develop positive relationships within those communities; and that encourage connection with other people and/or connection with the environment.
Fairer Life Chances will fund projects that support children, young people and families, or that help people to be healthier and have better access to support. It aims to fund vulnerable or excluded communities, and particularly those that find it hardest to access support, with up to £500,000 available.
To apply to either fund, contact the National Lottery Community Fund’s team to discuss your project. Email – advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk Telephone – 0141 846 0447.
The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund For Adults was created to provide grants to small, grassroots community groups and organisations working to promote good mental health and wellbeing in their communities.
Cast your vote for your top 5 projects and read about the work each of the finalists hope to do within their communities across Aberdeenshire.
Please support those groups operating within Kincardine & Mearns, including KDP member, Pillar Kincardine.
Voting closes on Monday 16th December at 12 noon.
In response to the cost-of-living crisis, the Bank of Scotland Foundation has reopened its Energise Programme to improve the quality of life for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people.
The programme offers two-year unrestricted grants of £40,000 (£20,000 per annum) to help small and local charities continue providing vital services and becoming more sustainable.
The funding can be used for core, delivery, project, and general running costs, enabling charities to use their funding in the way that helps them best. To be eligible, organisations must have an annual income of less than £150,000.
Please note the very short application deadline of 12pm on the 11th December 2024.
More here.
Help@ is a free advisory service for people looking to start or grow more food with others in their community. Offering specialist and technical advice, the service understands, enables, and can accelerate vital work that is taking root in communities across Scotland. They can help you develop and grow your vision, tackle problems, and identify solutions to transform your ideas into reality.
If you want to start to grow or develop your food, whether it be on an unloved street corner or a large open field, they would love to hear from you.
Help@ is delivered by GrowGreen Scotland and the Community Land Advisory Service with inspiration, insight and learning from partners and folk on the ground. It covers a wide range of topics, including developing and growing a vision, sourcing and securing land, working together safely, governance, and navigating local planning.
All queries from groups, new or established, and or partners and enablers are
welcome.
Learn more here.
The Royal Countryside Fund, which supports farming and rural communities, will launch a new UK-wide Supporting Rural Communities grant programme on 10 January 2025.
The programme will support organisations to deliver transformative, community-led initiatives that enhance skills training and job opportunities for young people and promote economic benefits for rural communities. Additionally, the programme will aim to increase environmental sustainability and build community resilience through innovative initiatives that address climate change and extreme weather events.
Not-for-profit and community organisations with an annual turnover of less than £500,000 will be eligible to apply for grants of up to £25,000 to deliver projects lasting up to two years.
The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest will be the 21st February 2025.
More information can be found on the website.
A webinar for prospective applicants will be held on Tuesday, December 17th at 18:00. To sign up to the webinar and submit a question for the team follow the link here.
The Ready Scotland website has a wide range of guidance aimed at individuals, community groups and businesses. Their aim is to make Scotland more resilient to emergencies.
They have tips on the small steps you can take to prepare your home, your family, and your business for the unexpected.
And when emergencies do occur, they have advice on how you can best respond, keep yourself safe and help others in your community.
There is also a section dedicated to Community Groups.
Take a look at their website for more information.
The Wolfson Foundation’s main grants programme provides Funding for Places. These grants are for capital initiatives, i.e. buildings (new build or refurbishment) and equipment.
They fund a broad range of organisations working across the fields of education, science and medicine, health and disability, places of worship, heritage, and arts and humanities. Each category has its own specific funding criteria, more detail on which can be found on the Foundation’s website.
The next round closes on 5th January, with decisions due in June.
The minimum award is £15,000.
The aim of the Platinum Jubilee Coastal Path is to complete a coastal path along the entire coastline of Aberdeenshire, under the overall jurisdiction of the North-East of Scotland Coastal Trust. The Trust has now been formed and they are awaiting approval from the charity regulators.
The whole path has been provisionally christened the ‘Platinum Jubilee Coastal Path’ as a legacy tribute to her late Majesty.
The Tangleha Artists Collective has been tasked with the development of a coastal path from the River North Esk to the southern edge of Aberdeen City limits at Cove. In time, it is envisaged that this “Kincardineshire ‘’ section will join up with paths around the City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Banffshire.
Read the latest updates from MerCHat and the Platinum Jubilee Coastal Path.
The SSEN Community Benefit Fund is aimed specifically at communities who are situated close to the infrastructure works of the East Coast 400kV Overhead Line Upgrade. This is the first preliminary local fund and has been developed in partnership with key people within these communities.
The Fund can support projects which are focused on improving health and wellbeing within the community.
Priority will be given to projects that are closest to our infrastructure works, which can be viewed on this project map.
This fund has a total lifetime value of £252,000, and you can apply for funding up to £5,000 per project.
The deadline for applications is Friday 31 January 2025 at midday (12pm), and awards will be made in March 2025.
A webinar will take place from 7-8pm on Wednesday 11 December to provide more information on the fund and its priorities. To register for the webinar please visit the event page.
More information is available here.
Village Halls in Scotland are invited to join the celebration in Village Halls Week from 17th-25th March 2025. Join the cross-border movement alongside Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). This year the spotlight will be on the incredible volunteers who tirelessly manage rural community buildings, ensuring these vital spaces remain open and vibrant for residents, groups, and businesses.
To receive your resources, make sure to register by 17th December, 2024!
Trefoil supports the interests of children and young people with special needs, including physical disability, caring obligations, other disadvantage or learning and psycho-social needs to foster their independence, confidence and assertiveness.
They will in particular consider funding for:
- projects promoting education, health and social welfare
- team building activities
- recreation with an educational element
- therapeutic activities not core funded by the statutory authorities
- new development and start up project costs.
Applications are open now. The deadline for the next round of funding is Monday 3 February, 2025.
Visit the Trefoil website for more details.
The next Gathering will take place in-person on 4th and 5th February 2025 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).
Organised by SCVO, the Gathering is the largest free voluntary sector event in the UK. It’s an opportunity for all the amazing people working in and with the voluntary sector to network, showcase what they do and learn from each other.
As well as bringing a packed programme of workshops, seminars and activities – including online sessions for the most popular events at the Gathering Extra – you’ll find a wide range of exhibitors from the voluntary, public and private sectors at the ever-popular exhibition.
Find out more and book here.
Grants of up to £10,000 are available to support small, grassroots and local charities currently delivering services to the young, vulnerable, elderly, disadvantaged or the general community across the UK.
The Foyle Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme can be used to cover projects, core costs, building projects, or essential equipment to enable ongoing service provision for charities with a turnover of less than £150,000 per annum that can show financial stability and a clear need for their services.
The final closing date for applications to the small grants programme is the 31st of January 2025, and all projects/activities need to be completed by the end of 2025 to be eligible for consideration.
Find out more here.
And finally, a bit of fun, Amey is launching their 2024/25 gritter naming competition, calling on the public to submit more inventive winter themed names for their North-East Scotland fleet.
Amey’s north east winter service, which is delivered on behalf of Transport Scotland, covers 593km of trunk road, from Dunfermline up to Inverness, across nine different Scottish regions and major cities such as Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen.
The public appeal is now live and family friendly online entries will be accepted until 5pm on Friday 20th December.
December 4, 2024 / KDP Bulletins