National Lottery Community Fund opens £166mn funding stream for Scotland
Melanie May | 27 November 2024 | News
The National Lottery Community Fund has today opened a £166 million funding stream that will support Scotland’s communities over the next five years.
Community groups can apply now for the two new programmes, Community Action and Fairer Life Chances, which are aimed at helping communities tackle poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination.
The National Lottery Community Fund says the programmes will award bigger and longer grants than previous funds to give community groups more security over a longer term. They will also fund organisations of different sizes and levels of experience.
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Two new programmes
Community Action will support projects that help communities of all shapes and sizes, including those who are geographically dispersed, to come together around activities that matters to them, or which help communities to be environmentally sustainable.
Fairer Life Chances is for projects providing services that support children, young people and families, or that help people to be healthier or have better access to support.
Applicants will be expected to show how their project fills a gap, how it will reach and support people and communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination and how it will involve their voices and makes use of their skills and experience. They must also show how their project makes a difference and how they will measure that impact.
Groups are encouraged to discuss their idea for funding before applying via email at ad************@tn**************.uk, or phone on 0300 123 7110.
Announcing the news, Kate Still, Scotland Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund, said:
“We’re delighted to open these new funding programmes which were developed with and for Scotland’s essential community and voluntary sector. Over the next five years we want to support activity that inspires community action and leads to fairer life chances for those most vulnerable in our society.
“That’s why our new programmes will invest most where the need is greatest, reaching people and communities across Scotland that are experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage. We’ll do this by funding projects that build on the strengths within communities and which give people more agency and control over their lives and the activities and services that support them.”
The Usual Place in Dumfries is using a National Lottery grant of £199,852 to run accredited training programmes in food, drink and hospitality for young people with additional support needs.
Its CEO Craig McEwen said:
“We welcome these new funding programmes from The National Lottery Community Fund, which represent a transformative step toward sustainable support for third sector organisations.
“In today’s rapidly changing funding landscape, we are crying out for multi-year, equity-based funding to provide essential stability for organisations like ours. It would allow us to plan with confidence, reach more young people with additional support needs and make long-term investments in meaningful solutions for those facing poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination. This approach goes beyond financial security; it reflects the value of lived experience and the importance of amplifying community voices in shaping impactful, responsive services.”
The National Lottery hits 30 this year, and earlier this month announced that £50bn had been raised for good causes during this time.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.