Local Improvement Fund

Local Improvement Fund Now Seeking Expressions of Interest

The Highland Alcohol & Drugs Partnership (Highland ADP) has awarded funds to Highland Third Sector Interface to distribute to third sector organisations. In recognition of the local knowledge and close connections that third sector has with people with lived experience, we are offering five grants of up to £50,000 to be spent over the following two years. We believe that this community-led approach can improve local participation in services, encouraging community resilience and capacity. 

Common Good Funds

Millions of pounds in rent payments collected from businesses on Common Good Land (the historic burghs of Scotland) make up the Common Good Funds which are used for projects that benefit communities. We administer 10 Common Good funds which are listed below.

Recent examples of funding include the half a million pound refurbishment of the Inverness steeple and the upcoming 4.2 million pound refurbishment of the Inverness Town House. Outside Inverness, Common Good Funds have limited resources and may not be able to fund community projects.

Deadline: Friday 22nd July

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Towns Web Archiving

Digitisation Grant

The TWA Digitisation Grant help UK heritage institutions to digitise and digitally preserve their collections. It can be used to fund digitisation of bound books, 35mm slides, photographs, microfilm, microfiche, index cards, maps, plans, posters/artwork, registers, and other two dimensional materials. Our grant has attracted 600 applicants in the five years it has been running, benefiting over 80 organisations and awarding almost £80,000. Our grant has supported the digitisation of a long and eclectic list of valuable and rare heritage collections. Read on to find out how to make your own application.

Deadline: Friday 29th July

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The Gordon & Ena Baxter Foundation

The Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation has traditionally supported community projects based in the Moray area. However, the geographical area for potential funding has now been extended to cover communities in the North East of Scotland and the Highlands & Islands. This enables Trustees to assist a wider range of charitable activities and worthy causes. The Trustees of the Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation are committed to continuing the Baxter family’s tradition of providing financial assistance to those who are making a positive difference to the lives of the people in their local communities.

Deadline: Friday 29th July

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LNER - Customer and Community

Investment Fund

LNER’s annual £500,000 Customer and Community Investment Fund (CCIF) supports charities, our customers and the communities of our route, focusing on the causes that are of key importance to us.

The core themes the fund supports are mental health, education and employability skills amongst marginalised groups, diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Funding will need to be spent in full, and projects completed within the financial year (April to March), in which the funding is gifted.

Deadline: Sunday 31st July

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Let’s Move Together

Versus Arthritis want to address and prevent the likely reduction of marginalised communities driving sport and physical activity forward, by fostering and protecting community bodies, coaches and volunteers. By recognising the need for this funding to be opened UK wide, Versus Arthritis has made £150,000 available through The Let’s Move Together Fund which will support organisations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Organisations in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland should work on creating opportunities for people with long-term health conditions to stay active in their local communities.

Deadline: Sunday 31st July

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CashBack for Communities

The latest phase of CashBack for Communities fund for 2023-2026 now open for applications. CashBack for Communities supports the Scottish Government’s Vision For Justice, helping to build a just, safe and resilient Scotland. The fund focuses on young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system and the communities most affected by crime.

CashBack Phase 6 will deliver a range of trauma-informed and person-centred services and activities for young people between the ages of 10-25. 

Deadline: Friday 12th August

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The Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund

The Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund (the Fund) is being made available by Scottish Government to provide core funding to organisations that improve outcomes for children, young people, families and adult learners. The Fund will run from April 2023 to March 2025, with up to £16m available per annum. There will be one round of applications, with funding decisions made in December 2022 subject to the Spending Review, for funding that will begin in April 2023.

Deadline: Monday 5th September

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Highland Recovery Initiative Fund

The Highland Family Recovery Initiative Fund (HFRIF) can offer one-off grants of up to £1000 to groups or projects that support families affected by alcohol and drugs in the Scottish Highlands.

The overall aim of the HFRIF is to better support family members affected by someone else’s alcohol or other drug use. The Fund will support the development of independent local groups and projects to establish and grow more family-focused recovery opportunities to build on the learning from the Highland FARI project.

Deadline: Ongoing

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Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund

The Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund has been established by Scottish Government to support the personal development of women, providing them with additional skills to progress their careers and employment opportunities in Scottish agriculture beyond their current role.

One of the key findings of research into women in farming and the agriculture sector was that there was a clear need for more access to, and uptake of, vocational, practical training for women across the industry.

Deadline: Ongoing

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Foundation Scotland

Working in partnership with our trustees, Foundation Scotland facilitate the grant

making process for our funds. The Essentia Foundation is involved in all aspects of

the programme design and implementation. To ensure that our grant funding can be as far reaching as possible, Essentia

trustees are active in the decision-making process and work closely with Foundation

Scotland throughout the year to guarantee the impact of all successful projects. We

also collaborate to create engaging case studies that help bring funded activities and

participant testimonials to life.

Deadline: Ongoing

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Let’s Do Net Zero Community Buildings Fund

The Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) is here to support communities to engage with, participate in and benefit from the energy transition to net zero emissions.

The new Let’s Do Net Zero Community Buildings Fund under CARES will help community organisations reduce their building energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions by installing renewable technologies such as heat pumps. The fund opens in May 2022 and is planned to run until the end of March 2025, subject to funding availability.

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Smarter Choices, Smarter Places Open Fund

The Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) Open Fund aims to encourage people to change their everyday travel behaviours. Grants are available to encourage people to use buses and community car clubs for longer journeys; walking and cycling for short journeys, and home-working to replace daily commutes.

The Open Fund is available to support public, third and community sector organisations. The fund aims to help cut Scotland's carbon emissions and improve our air quality. It will also help reverse the trend towards sedentary lifestyles and will tackle health inequalities.

Deadline: Ongoing

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Sustaining Creative Development

The Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development aims to enable organisations to explore ways of working that will help them to adapt and respond to the current changing circumstances. The overall budget for this fund in the financial year 2021/22 is £7 million. Creative Scotland is committed to ensuring that people are supported to develop excellence and experimentation in a wide range of arts and creative activity, reflecting Scotland’s diverse and dynamic cultures. We want to ensure that the experience of the arts and creative activity benefits as many people as possible across Scotland’s communities and places.

Deadline: Ongoing

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Flexible Food Fund

The Argyll and Bute Flexible Food Fund (ABFFF) is aimed at tackling financial insecurity for adults and families across Argyll and Bute.

ABFFF offers financial support and wider confidential professional help to anyone suffering hardship. Working in partnership with the Community Food Forum, Bute Advice Centre and ALIenergy, households with low incomes and no access to cash savings can apply for immediate financial support. The Fund will help support daily living expenses. If the claimant engages with these services, a second payment will be made to contribute to a further months daily living expenses.

Deadline: Ongoing

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