Voluntary Health Scotland - Sources of Funding

Funding Sources

This page provides information on a selection of sources of funds and grants for the voluntary and community sector


Funding Source	Description

Allen Lane Foundation	The Foundation is a charitable Trust which makes grants in the UK. It makes grants to voluntary not-for-profit organisations which are small and where the work benefits groups of people who are unpopular in UK society today.

Awards For All	Award grants of between £500 and £10,000 for people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, and projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.

BBC Children in Need	BBC Children in Need distributes the funds raised each year as grants to organisations that work with disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

Big Lottery Fund	A wide range of groups can apply including charities, voluntary and community groups, local authorities, social enterprises or health boards. Most of the grants are between £10,000 and £1,000,000.

Camelot Foundation	The Transforming Lives programme spends £1.5 million each year to develop new approaches and creative ideas for re-connecting marginalised young people (aged 11 - 25) to the mainstream of UK life.

Charities Aid Foundation	Committed to supporting a broad range of organisations, and encourage grant applications from minority ethnic-led organisations, disability-led groups and geographic regions that typically receive less support from funders.

Comic Relief	Comic Relief operates 3 grants funds for work which tackles poverty and social injustice within the UK. Each of these has different criteria and different application processes and deadlines.

Communities Scotland	During the 2006-2007 financial year they will invest £800 million on behalf of Scottish Ministers. These funds will help build decent housing and strong communities and will produce benefits for places and people throughout Scotland.

Directory of Social Change	Aims to be an independent source of information and support to voluntary and community sectors worldwide. They enable the community and voluntary sectors to achieve their aims through being an independent voice, providing training and information.

Equal	Equal is a Community Initiative designed to help a range of target groups with a particular focus on equality issues associated with gender, disability, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, and sexual orientation.

Forward Scotland	Forward Scotland offers around £7 million in grants to Scottish community groups each year. In association with a wide range of partners, Forward Scotland supports a number of strategic initiatives. Most of the funding available is through 'open' grant schemes aimed specifically at projects of community benefit.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise	Financial assistance to help new and existing businesses expand and develop. We normally offer grants of up to 25 per cent of costs, but our assistance is discretionary and might be higher in rural or disadvantaged areas, and lower in urban areas.

LanKellyChase Foundation	Concentrate on smaller charities, many of whom will have only a local or regional remit. Will consider applications from large national charities but support will be rare and limited.

Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland	A grantmaking trust distributing in excess of £6 million each year to recognised charities throughout Scotland. Their aim is to support and work in partnership with charities which help people, especially those who are disadvantaged or disabled to play a fuller role in communities throughout Scotland.

NHS Health Scotland	Health Scotland works closely with a range of national partners including The Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Communities Scotland, the Food Standards Agency, Community Health Exchange (CHEX) and Voluntary Health Scotland (VHS).

Paths to Health	When resources allow, Paths to Health seeks to fund new and innovative ways of promoting walking for health, and can provide grant funding to support this. Paths to Health can only consider funding for projects operating in Scotland.

Profunding	Profunding offers a unique set of services that provide up-to-date news and information to all those involved in raising funds for not for profit organisations

Scottish Arts Council	The contribution of the arts to physical and mental health and wellbeing is well recognised within the arts sector, and is now beginning to be widely acknowledged within the health sector.

Scottish Community Action Research Fund - SCARF	The Scottish Community Action Research Fund gives community groups support to improve their skills and confidence to carry out their own research. The fund helps them to plan a project, collect information and understand it, use the information and learn from the experience.

Scottish Community Foundation	Scottish Community Foundation grants are made to help improve the quality of life and life chances for the people of Scotland. Their work covers a wide range of social welfare and community development activities through a number of different grant programmes.

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations	Information on the largest sources of direct income to the voluntary sector covering public funding (including local and central government and government agencies), Europe, trusts and the National Lottery.

Scottish Executive	The Scottish Executive published a guide as a resource for the Scottish voluntary sector to enable organisations to know how they might apply to the Scottish Executive for funding. It covers the Scottish Executive’s direct grant schemes only.

Scottish Objective 3	The Scottish Objective 3 Programme is a significant source of European funding which helps disadvantaged groups in the community who, for a variety of reasons, are excluded both economically and socially. The strategic aim of Objective 3 is to support economic growth in Scotland.

Sport Scotland	Sport Scotland distributes National Lottery and Exchequer funds for the benefit of sport. It makes awards to help create links between schools and communities, support areas and groups deprived of sporting opportunities, encourage participation and support top athletes

The Baring Foundation	Specific grants programmes concerned with strengthening the voluntary sector, the arts and international development.

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation	The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation make grants to organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK, both now and in the future.

The HBOS Foundation	The HBOS Foundation Community Action Programme provides local grants of up to £10,000 to support a diverse range of projects - from funding equipment at a special needs school to supporting a debt advice service in an economically deprived area.

The Henry Smith Charity	The Trustees of The Henry Smith Charity use the following programme areas to classify their grants: Hospitals and Medical Care; Hospices and Palliative Care; Medical Research; Disability; Elderly; Young People; Drugs and Alcohol; Community Service; Family Services; Homeless; Holidays for children and A Programme To Develop Independent Domestic Violence Advocacy Services

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust	The JRCT makes grants to individuals and to projects seeking the creation of a peaceful world, political equality and social justice.

The Lord's Taverners	The Lord’s Taverners mission is to give young people, particularly those with special needs, a sporting chance. They achieve this by providing opportunities for young people, able bodied or with disabilities, under the age of 25 to participate in sport & recreation. Over the last 50 years they have given over £36m away to schools, sports clubs & special needs organisations.

The Nationwide Foundation	The grants programmes are designed to help people in need and importantly, to help break the drivers of social exclusion by offering support to those who are on its margins.

The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust	PSYBT will encourage, challenge and support young people in Scotland through the efforts of committed staff and volunteers to achieve their greatest potential in starting up and running their own business. Central to this is our President's wish that the most disadvantaged should be at the forefront of our efforts.

The Robertson Trust	The Robertson Trust currently disburses £6 million a year. There are no minimum or maximum donations. The Trust does operate a small grant scheme for smaller charities to apply for one-off donations of up to £5,000 to support a particular project or activity.

The Tudor Trust	Tudor is an independent grant-making trust which supports organisations working across the UK. We aim to support work which addresses the social, emotional and financial needs of people at the margins of society.

Trustfunding	Trustfunding details all trusts included within DSC and CAF publications and is updated regularly throughout the year. It includes information on over 4,200 grant-making trusts with a total of over £3.1 billion a year.

Voluntary Action Fund	The Voluntary Action Fund programmes target resources at local voluntary organisations and help them to respond to the needs of disadvantaged groups.