Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch has welcomed the new grant plan from Big Lottery Fund Scotland, which opened for applications on the 26th of November. The plan will award grants of £10,000 to over £1 million to communities and people most in need across Scotland and intends to invest £250m over the next five years.

Mr Thompson said, “I welcome the grant plan from Big Lottery Fund Scotland. The funds will be put to good use by the people who need them the most, including helping to tackle inequality, supporting children, young people and families in challenging circumstances, and targeting issues related to those who have experienced abuse”.

“I hope that organisations in the Highlands and Islands will take advantage by applying for a grant, which recently opened for applications, and I look forward to hearing of Big Lottery Fund Scotland success stories”.

Note:

Recent Big Lottery Fun Press Release:

Big Lottery Fund Scotland is opening a new main funding offer to applications today (26 November 2015). It will award grants of £10,000 to over £1 million to communities and people most in need across Scotland. We intend to invest £250m over the next five years.

Over the last 12 months, Big Lottery Fund staff have worked with people and organisations across different sectors to develop our new funding offer. We have built on learning from previous funding programmes and taken significant input from stakeholders as we refreshed and redeveloped our approach.

Our mission is to help communities and people most in need. We have designed our new funding offer to best achieve that in Scotland over the next five years. We want to help tackle inequality by putting people in the lead. We will also ensure we are as flexible as possible and able to respond quickly to change and the shifting environment.

People-led, strengths-based and connected

For the first time we are asking communities and organisations to tell us how their approach is people-led, strengths-based and connected.

We know that the best projects meaningfully involve those they are working with in the development and delivery of their activity. We know that building on the strengths, gifts and assets of those involved can lead to lasting change. We also believe that the activity we are funding should be connected to what else is going on locally, not only to ensure the best use of lottery funds but to contribute to stronger local services overall.

Medium and large grants for improving lives

We will make medium (up to £150,000) and large grants (up to £1 million) that are about improving lives. We know many people experience challenges at some point in their lives and we want to support activity that helps them overcome these difficulties and become more resilient.

We will be funding work which:

• Supports children, young people and families currently experiencing challenging circumstances
• Supports people who have experienced abuse
• Tackles loss, isolation and loneliness
• Challenges discrimination and supports people affected by this.

 And we will welcome activity that takes, or includes, a preventative approach to these issues.

 Most types of organisation will be eligible to apply for an improving lives grant but we are particularly keen to see applications from smaller organisations working at a local level.

Medium grants for community-led activity

We will also make medium grants (up to £150,000) for community-led activity to support communities to bring real improvements to the places they live and the wellbeing of those most in need. We know community organisations play a key role in addressing inequality and strengthening communities. We want to support those organisations to carry out the work that they do best – bringing local people together around the things that matter to them.

This funding is specifically for organisations in Scotland that are based in the local area they serve and are run by local people.

We are also planning to build on the success of our Growing Community Assets funding stream as we look to develop a further programme of large grants for community assets in March 2016.

Simpler and more straightforward

We have not stopped making grants under £10,000. Awards for All our main small grants scheme and Investing in Ideas and the Communities and Families Fund have been open all through this year and remain so. They make awards from £250 - £10,000 and are open for business.

Overall, we have simplified our approach to make applying for our funding more straightforward and to ensure that those who have not applied to us before feel they can do so now. Our new offer has shorter forms and faster decisions where organisations are asking for less funding. We are also boosting our consideration of place in our work, so that we are better connected to and informed about what is going on all across Scotland and how Lottery funding can help.

If your constituents are interested in knowing more about our new programme then please direct them to our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland or they can contact our Advice Team on 0300 123 7110 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it