Funding Opportunities

With grants of up to £100,000, the Unlocking Potential Fund supports the strategic development of museums by addressing issues that are currently preventing them from moving forward.

With grants of up to £250,000, the Innovation Fund supports museums in developing, trialling and implementing activities that will improve their financial position.

Peatland Action is a peatland restoration project run by Scottish Natural Heritage and funded mainly by Scottish Government. The funding primarily supports on-the-ground restoration activities.

The JJ Charitable Trust grants provides grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 to charities and community groups that directly help children and young people develop literacy skills, with a focus on supporting those with learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

The Public Engagement Grant Scheme aims to support the Institue of Physics 'Limit Less' campaign by improving the relationship with physics of young people and their influencers, including their parents and carers. They offer grants of between £500 and £4000 for physics-based activities in the UK. 

The Grocers' Charity is the charitable arm of the Grocers' Company. As a grant-awarding body, they invest in and support a broad range of small and medium-sized UK-registered charities. They provide one-off grants of up to £5,000 to UK registered charities with an income of less than £500,000. 

The Wise Music foundation aims to help a broad range of domestic and international charitable causes, not necessarily music-related ones. It provides financial support for people experiencing hardship, distress and illness, with a focus on children, the homeless and people living in poverty.

Social enterprises, community organisations and charities can apply to be part of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Climate Springboard delivered by Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI). It offers around 8 -12 hours of free expert-led, guided support to help you understand, plan, and act on climate change.

The Scottish Government’s Global Solidarity Fund aims to strengthen an informed, engaged and active global citizenship community in Scotland. It supports organisations and communities to work in partnership with counterparts in the ‘Global South’ to address shared global challenges and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. More information about these goals can be found on the United Nations website.  

Trefoil supports the interests of children and young people with special needs, including physical disability, caring obligations, other disadvantage or learning and psycho-social needs to foster their independence, confidence and assertiveness.

The Radcliffe Trust offers grants of £2,500–£7,500 to CICs, SCIOs and other not-for-profit organisations to develop the skills, knowledge and experience that underpin the UK’s cultural heritage and crafts sectors. 

The Radcliffe Trust offers grants of £2,500–£5,000 to CICs, SCIOs and other not-for-profit organisations to support classical music performance and training, especially chamber music, composition and music education. 

The National Churches Trust is the national, independent, charity dedicated to promoting and supporting church buildings of historic, architectural and community value across the UK. The Large Grant Programme can award grants towards major urgent structural repair projects, or the introduction of kitchens and accessible toilets.

The Early Years Parenting Fund from the Henry Moore Foundation, supports organisations that improve the development of children most at risk of poor early childhood outcomes, by investing in effective, culturally grounded parenting support.

The Foundation's main grants programme provides support for places. These grants are for capital initiatives, i.e. buildings (new build or refurbishment) and equipment.

The Magdalen Hospital Trust offers small one-off grants of £500 - £2,000, to UK-based charities and Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) working with vulnerable children and young adults, especially those at risk of sexual and other forms of exploitation. 

The Fund to Leave offers women based in Scotland up to £1,000 for essentials to support the costs of leaving, planning to leave or remaining safely separated from an abusive relationship. This may include:

• moving costs
• setting up a new home
• improving safety measures to remain in their current home

 It is funded by the Scottish Government and coordinated by Scottish Women’s Aid.

Members of the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub can apply for up to £1000 to help with unexpected financial challenges that mean a project relating to climate action can no longer continue.

Constituted groups and organisations can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 for projects in Sanday from SSE. 

Tesco's grant funding programme invites schools, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations supporting children to apply for up to £1,500 to improve access to fruit and veg.

Museums Galleries Scotland's Museum Development Fund supports museums to deliver medium-sized, strategic, sustainable development projects in line with their  own business plans and the Strategy. Accredited museums can apply for between £15,000 to £60,000 and projects can run for 2 years.

The Big Change That Lasts Fund supports organisations working in Scotland to deliver long‑term, systemic change that prevents and reduces poverty and related trauma. 

The Aviva Foundation's Communities Fund supports organisations and projects that focus on either:

• Financial wellbeing - helping people feel more secure and in control of their money. This could include budgeting support, debt advice, financial education or money management.
• Climate action - helping communities prevent, prepare for and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. This might involve restoring nature, improving access to green spaces, or providing education and skills for a sustainable future.

Community Spaces Grants from The Robertson Trust support local communities experiencing poverty and associated trauma in Scotland.

The Sackler Trust has supported research and education charities across the UK since 2010. 

Parkinson's UK offers grants of up to £3000 to activity providers, communities, networks, organisations and others to develop opportunities for people with Parkinson’s to become and stay active. 

They are looking for innovative and new projects that will support people with Parkinson’s:

• to take part in movement‑based activities that help build their confidence and encourage a growing interest in being physically active
• who are currently inactive to begin engaging in physical activity and to maintain ongoing participation

The Swan Mountain trust is a small grant making trust whose focus for the next three years is refugees and asylum seekers. They are particularly interested in projects that support the mental health of young people.

Boost Charitable Trust is a grant-making charity whose mission is to fund and support inspiring programmes which help improve the lives of the disabled and disadvantaged through the power of sport.

The trust offers two different levels of funding:

1. Small Awards, up to £750, which are considered through a shorter process.

2. Large Awards, over £750, which are considered by the full trustee body at the next trustee meeting.  Most recent Large Awards have been in the range of £2,000 to £7,000. 

The Veterans’ Foundation Small Grants funding programme supports charities and other not-for-profit groups that provide assistance to those in need among serving armed forces personnel, veterans, operationally qualified seafarers and their immediate families.

Grants are available for between £500 and £5,000 and must be spent within 12 months.

The Social Investment Scotland (SIS) Community Finance Fund provides flexible, affordable finance to charities and social enterprises across Scotland.

Loan sizes range from £25,001 to £375,000, with the flexibility to consider smaller amounts. The fund includes both term loans and bridging loans, tailored to meet the diverse needs of organisations working to create positive social impact.

Grants of between £300 to £20,000 are available for organisations in Scotland with an annual income of under £500,000, looking to support children and young people aged 8 to 24.  

Through their Wee Grants, The Robertson Trust offers funding to charitable organisations that support people and communities in Scotland who are living with poverty or trauma.

The Foundation provides grants to help organisations and clubs involved in 'on water' elements of the sport of rowing. Most of their grants are awarded to UK rowing clubs but they also support any club or organisation involved in “on water rowing-type” activities.

The grant is available to any child, up to the age of 18 years, resident in Orkney and who is disadvantaged due to any disability, behavioral or psychological problem, experiencing poverty, deprivation, illness, distress, abuse or neglect.

Buttle UK offer individually tailored grants of up to £2,400 for children and young people who have experienced a crisis that has recently had a significant and enduring impact on their wellbeing and educational engagement. They fund items and activities to help improve children and young people’s wellbeing and increase their capacity to engage in education and learning.

Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund can provide immediate relief to families with children (aged 21 and under) who are suffering extreme hardship. This support is usually via cash grants to assist with a range of needs, such as food, utilities, clothing, bedding, appliance repairs, replacement of appliances that have failed, or other essentials (excluding carpets, floor coverings or electronic devices).

National Lottery Awards for All offers funding to support what matters to people and communities. The programme is a partnership between the National Lottery Community Fund Scotland, sportscotland and Creative Scotland. It can fund projects that will do at least one of these things:

• bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage
• support people, communities and organisations facing more demands and challenges because of the cost-of-living crisis.

Young Start offers grants of £20,001 - £150,000 for up to 3 years to organisations in Scotland that work with children and young people, aged 8 to 24.

The National Lottery Community Fund worked with children and young people to design this funding. It focuses on what matters to them and how they want to be involved.

The Scottish Land Fund supports rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.

This funding is for projects that will help people connect more with each other. For the Community Action funding programme, The National Lottery Community Fund define communities as people who share an identity, interest or experience. They also include people living in the same place. They will support projects that are open, inclusive and led by their community.

This funding is for projects that support children, young people and families or that help people to be healthier and have better access to support.

The fund, which is administered by Victim Support Scotland, is open to any victim of crime who is resident in Scotland who is currently accessing victim and other support services. It is also available for people who live outside of Scotland who have been bereaved by a crime that has occurred within Scotland. Support organisations can apply for funding on behalf of victims.

Parents, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists of a child or young person under the age of 18 living with a disability or long-term health condition, can now apply for funding to purchase a new wheelchair.

Greener Spaces, Fairer Places’ - grants up to £500 are available for local faith groups or related organisations working primarily in a small, specific geographic communities to tackle poverty and climate change.

The Craighnish Trust focuses on environmental and human rights issues as well as the particular special interests of the trustees. Previous awards have included grants to organisations working in conservation, refugees, youth, and music. The fund has a Scottish bias but is not exclusive to Scotland.

The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded, charitable grant-making foundation, which supports a wide range of causes across the UK.

Start It is a funding programme that helps budding social entrepreneurs in Scotland to get their businesses up and running. Funding comes from the Scottish Government’s Social Entrepreneurs Fund.

The Clothworkers’ Foundation award grants for capital projects to UK registered charities, CICs, and other registered UK not-for-profit organisations (including special schools). They fund both large and small projects. The size of grant awarded depends on a number of factors including the size of the organisation and the cost and scale of the capital project.

This funding is for organisations in Scotland, that The National Lottery Community Fund currently fund. They want to support organisations to try out new ideas and ways of working, or to develop their organisation and improve their current work.

Funding from £300 to £50,000 is available, for up to 2 years.

Step Up offers 0% interest loans of £5,000 to £30,000 to help Scottish social enterprises scale or repeat successful trading activities.

• Social enterprises of any age can apply for microloans of up to £10,000
• New enterprises and those starting to trade can apply for loans up to £30,000

The Community Enterprise Fund is a funding programme that helps community organisations to start trading or set up social enterprises in Scotland. It offers grants of up to £5,000, to be spent over 6 months. Funding comes from the Scottish Government’s Social Entrepreneurs Fund (SEF).

The Social Innovation Challenge (SIC) is a grant-funding and support programme that seeks innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges of our times. The winner will receive a £50,000 grant and tailored support for the duration of their award to help them kick-start their solution. The other finalists will receive £25,000 each, in addition to signposting or introductions to alternative sources of funding or capacity-building programmes. 

The Esmee Fairburn Foundation is one of the largest independent grant-makers in the UK. They also offer social investment.

As well as making direct investments into organisations seeking to create impact towards their aims, the foundation also invests into impact funds, which are managed by other social investors. They offer loans (secured and unsecured), equity, fund investments and everything else.

Expressions of Interest can be submitted at any time.

Members of the Climate Hub can apply for up to £1000 to either kickstart a climate action project in their community or carry out community engagement around climate change. 

The fund awards grants to projects that value, care for and sustain heritage for everyone across the UK, now and in the future.  

Heritage can mean different things to different people. It can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. This could include nature and habitats, historic buildings and environments, or cultures, traditions and people’s memories. 

The fund awards grants to projects that value, care for and sustain heritage for everyone across the UK, now and in the future.  

Heritage can mean different things to different people. It can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. This could include nature and habitats, historic buildings and environments, or cultures, traditions and people’s memories. 

The Boost Fund is for small community-led organisations across Scotland supporting local people affected by poverty or disadvantage. Groups can apply if their activities will support their communities and the people who live there. Grants are flexible and groups can apply for many different costs. The work you are doing might be about providing practical help, or organising activities and gatherings, or addressing another local need.

The7stars foundation offers funding to charities, CICs, Schools, Nurseries and Children’s Homes for apprenticeship training to support young people who are challenged by the issues they prioritise.

The Sasha Foundation (TSF) was set up to support charities that work with mental health issues in memory of Sasha Love. In the UK this involves supporting young people with a bias towards young people, who are suffering from depression and mental health issues or who are confronting drug abuse issues. Additionally, it involves supporting education and healthcare projects and programs in low and middle income countries, with a bias towards education for young women.

The broad aim of the Heart of the Community Grant Trust is to provide financial grants for community projects that deliver lasting change within the regions in which the Company operates (Shetland, Orkney, Highland and Argyll).

The Robertson Trust offers registered charities working in Scotland with an annual income of between £30,000 and £200,000, that support people who are experiencing (or are at high risk of experiencing) poverty and associated trauma.