Covid-19 Funding Update For Community Groups April 2020

7th April 2020

Funding has become available for community organisations that are setting up support for vulnerable people during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The National Emergencies Trust Fund is now open for applications. This is being delivered by Foundation Scotland and is called Response, Recovery and Resilience Fund.

The guidelines are:
Organisations can apply for grants between £1,000 and £5,000. The fund's primary focus is providing immediate funding support to constituted community groups and registered charities responding to the coronavirus pandemic by providing the following:
• support for the ongoing needs of vulnerable people to ensure their health and wellbeing is maintained
• support to groups and activities supporting vulnerable people self-isolating (the elderly, people with pre-existing medical conditions, etc.)
• support for foodbanks and organisations working to combat hardship caused by the pandemic, including child hunger
• support to aid community response coordination
• support for volunteer costs for new and existing organisations
• additional costs of working remotely and adapting services delivered in the wider community
• additional financial support as required for organisations providing emotional support, mental health and bereavement support

This is an online process. They require organisations to upload an electronic copy of their governing document, most recent set of accounts, safeguarding policy (if applicable) and a recent bank statement. Their offices are closed for the time being, and they cannot receive mail - so please do not post any supporting documents. If you don't have a scanner you can download a PDF scanner app onto your smartphone; this uses the camera function to scan the document and convert it into a PDF for email.

Examples of how funds might be used:
• mobile phone credit for a youth service provider to give to vulnerable young people so they can stay in touch
• supermarket vouchers for foodbanks to hand out in place of goods as their stock becomes limited
• additional cash to allow a community-run shops to purchase extra stock so they can remain open or add a delivery service
• funding to ensure that organisations have the right devices to support remote working to keep their operation going and deliver services online or via phone
• support to allow organisations to change their approach, e.g. purchasing equipment or software to allow digital delivery.

Eligibility criteria:
• Only constituted groups, with a governing document, can apply • A bank account must be set up in the name of the group • There must be at least three unrelated members on your management committee
Some examples of what funds have been successful so far:
• Support for the Senior Centre in Castlemilk to provide soups, meals and snacks to over 400 elderly people and ensure they remain connected via phone calls and essential health awareness updates.
• Enable the Rock Trust in Edinburgh working with young people moving on from homelessness to provide essential food, toiletry packages and mobile phone cards - ensuring vulnerable young people remain connected.
• Equip volunteers at the South Islay Development Trust with essential safety equipment so they can safely continue to distribute hot meals for their vulnerable community members on their island.
An assessor may contact you to arrange a short telephone conversation to learn more about your project and request for funding. You will be informed of the outcome of your application by email. This fund has a very quick turnaround.
To read the guidelines and apply go to
https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/programmes/the-national-emergencies-trust-(net)/
If you have any questions about your application please contact the Grant Programmes Administrator on 0141 341 4960 or email grants@foundationscotland.org.uk

North Highland Initiative
The North Highland Initiative Community Support Fund has been set up to provide grants of up to £1,000 for small initiatives in the education, conservation, and community service and support sectors in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty.  
Priority will be given to those initiatives where Government support packages are unable to help, and those ineligible for emergency grants.
Given the current crisis, and for the foreseeable future, applicants for the Community Support Programme must be able to demonstrate that their project has been established as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.
They must show that their project meets a "genuine and urgent community need", and that the project carries no financial benefits for private individuals within the community.
The Community Support Programme will not support applications from statutory organisations, individuals or projects outwith the North Highland region. Applications are open now with a closing deadline of 30th April.
For more information about the North Highland Initiative's Community Support Programme, and to apply for funding, please visit http://www.northhighlandinitiative.co.uk/community-support
For more information about the North Highland Initiative, visit
www.northhighlandinitiative.co.uk

Third Sector Resilience Fund
The Third Sector Resilience Fund is now open. This is an emergency fund for charities, community groups, social enterprises and voluntary organisations working in Scotland. The fund will support organisations that already deliver services and products but find themselves in financial difficulties directly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The primary intention of the fund is to help third sector organisations to stabilise and manage cash flows over this difficult period.

The fund will be delivered by Firstport, Social Investment Scotland and the Corra Foundation and will provide grants between £5,000 to £100,000. In addition there will be up to a further £5m available in fully flexible, 0% interest loans starting at £50,000. The fund will be complemented by specialist business advice from Just Enterprise to help grant recipients maximise the impact of the financial support.
To be eligible, interested organisations must be:
a charity, social enterprise or voluntary organisation based in Scotland and/or primarily delivering services/activities in Scottish communities;
already delivering those products or services prior to March 2020;
and needing funding to stabilise cash flows directly as a result of the impact of Covid-19, as opposed to pre-existing financial difficulties
Interested applicants are encouraged to read the fund’s guidance notes and FAQs prior to starting an application. For more information go to https://scvo.org/support/coronavirus/funding/for-organisations/third-sector-resilience-fund

Charities Aid Foundation
Charities Aid Foundation has launched a rapid response fund to help smaller charitable organisations affected by the impact of Covid-19. Grants of up to £10,000 will help them to continue to deliver much needed support to our communities across the UK.   
They aim to make payments to selected organisations within 14 days of application. Who can apply?
Organisations with a charitable purpose and charitable activities which had income of £1million or less in their last financial year.
This includes:
UK registered charities (registered with Charity Commission, Scottish Charity Regulator or Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, or as shown in the Charities Act 2010)
Organisations registered with Companies House or the Public Mutuals Register, as a charitable or not-for-profit entity, eg Community Interest Companies, Companies Limited by Guarantee and others 
Unregistered entities and social enterprises.
Organisations in the UK with charitable activities can apply for up to £10,000 to support day-to-day activities in the current health emergency or your Covid-19 emergency response activities.

It is possible that not all grants will be made at the full amount. Please apply for an amount that will make a suitable difference to the size and activities of your organisation.

You can apply for unrestricted funding for core costs, staffing, volunteer costs, supplies and equipment, communications or other critical charitable areas. You must be able to describe how an emergency grant will improve the situation for your organisation and community.
Please make only one application. Multiple applications will slow the process down and only one grant is possible for any organisation.

Please remember that this is intended as an emergency fund to enable your charitable activities to continue at the moment in whatever way is needed; it is not designed to replace other lost income in the longer term.
They anticipate that there will be a high level of requests for support now and in the weeks ahead. They will focus on:
charities, and other organisations, whose established charitable activities are at risk of being severely reduced to the detriment of vulnerable groups
organisations that are having to deliver core services in fundamentally different or unusual ways in order to respond to the crisis and still reach their beneficiaries
organisations that are deeply embedded  with communities and have established networks to deliver their charitable activities
organisations experiencing current cash flow problems, rather than concerns that future income will be reduced.
For more information go to the link below:
https://www.cafonline.org/charities/grantmaking/caf-coronavirus-emergency-fund

Caithness Beatrice Local Fund
At this time the Beatrice Local Fund is open to groups to apply for funding to develop projects to help their community as well as applications for activities that fit the criteria. If your organisation has a new service they are developing to support the vulnerable in your community as a result of Covid-19, you can contact Fiona Morrison, Community Investment Manager, Tel: 01463 728376, Email: fiona.morrison@sse.com
The area that the fund covers:
Sinclair’s Bay
Wick
Tannach and District
Latheron, Lybster and Clyth
Berriedale and Dunbeath
You can apply for a grant if you are:
a legally constituted community group
a non-profit organisation or
a registered charity
For full guidelines and application go to the link below.https://sse.com/communities/fundlocations/beatricecaithnessfund/

Resilient Communities Fund
A new £350,000 fund to support communities affected by the coronavirus pandemic is now open for applications. 
Due to the significant impact on communities from the coronavirus outbreak, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has repurposed its annual Resilient Communities Fund to offer grants of up to £3,000 for projects that will specifically support community members in vulnerable situations. Applications are being encouraged for projects that will provide extra help to those who are self-isolating or social shielding, such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Examples include a social delivery service, online advice centres or a befriending scheme. 

The fund is open to community councils in SSEN’s north of Scotland network area, which covers the area north of the central belt including Scotland’s islands. Where there is no community council in an area, a community development trust or community association can apply. If a community council in an area cannot lead to apply an organisation can work with them to apply. If this may the case then please contact Lindsay Dougan on 0141 224 7729, e-mail lindsay.dougan@sse.com

The initial funding round will close on 30 April, with additional rounds to open based on demand. Grant awards will be issued in early May to ensure timely release of funding to community groups. In the event the fund is oversubscribed, the panel will give priority to applications which support communities that are particularly remote or isolated, contain high levels.

For more information on this year’s Resilient Communities Fund or to apply, please visit ssen.co.uk/resiliencefund.

Highland and Moray communities can tap into £600,000 Beatrice fund to fight coronavirus

Communities are being urged to apply for funding from the Beatrice offshore wind farm to help them cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Groups in Highland and Moray can apply to the Beatrice Partnership Fund which is offering a total of £600,000 in this funding round.

This is the fourth and penultimate funding round, with £400,000 on offer to communities in Highland and £200,000 across Moray. The grants will go towards supporting projects that create opportunities, empower communities and stimulate sustainable places, and the funders hope it will help communities during the coronavirus outbreak.
are tackling the outbreak of coronavirus.

Over the past three years a number of project have been supported, including Home-Start Caithness which received £23,357 to deliver parenting courses and Dornoch Area Community Interest Company (DACIC) which received £50,000 for its work to create the Dornoch Hub.

Marianne Townsley, community investment manager for the fund, said: "There’s under three weeks left to apply to the Beatrice fund and they would encourage any potential projects in the area to look to see if a grant from us could help get their transformational projects off the ground.

If you would like to speak to SSE about projects that can be supported or for help in applying please contact, Marianne Townsley, Tel: 01463 728069, Email: marianne.townsley@sse.com
Fund closes April 22. For details and to apply, visit sse.com/communities/fundlocations/beatricepartnership

If you want any advice or assistance in applying for these funds contact yvonne@cvg.org.uk 07725 908955.

Caithness Voluntary Group is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland no SC150015, recognised as a charity in Scotland no SC002484, registered office; Telford House, Williamson Street, Wick. KW1 5ES