Funding Opportunities

Scops Arts overarching aim is to give people of all ages opportunities to understand, participate in and enjoy the performing arts. They are keen to find projects which widen access and have a lasting cultural impact on the community.

The fund aims to strengthen communities across Scotland by supporting young people at risk of involvement in antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending. The funding, which reinvests criminal assets recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act, will provide the opportunities and the tools to support young people to make informed decisions about their future. 

Highlands and Islands Climate Festival is looking to partner with a lead organisation in Orkney to host an event where several groups came together in one. You can either work as a collaboration across many organisations or nominate yourself as the lead organisation to bring partners together.

The Strategic Legal Fund (SLF) is a fund to support legal work that goes beyond securing justice for an individual and makes a significant contribution to law, practice and procedures to uphold and promote the rights of migrant groups in the UK.

This funding is open to community or voluntary organisations in the Highlands, Orkney or Shetland Islands Local Authority areas. A contribution of £150 is available to your organisation to stage an event from 13 September - 8 October 2025 as part of the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival. 

The first round of The Orkney Fund is now open. Community groups from across Orkney are invited to apply for funding to bring their ideas to life. A total of £200,000 is available this year for feasibility studies and capacity building. 

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).

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

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.

The grant is available to any child, up to the age of 18 years, resident in Orkney and who is disadvantaged due to any kind of disability, additional support needs, living with financial hardship, illness, distress, abuse or neglect. 

The grant must be used only to directly benefit an individual child. Examples include; contributions towards the cost of clothing, bedding,  technology equipment, school trips, resources for children with specific needs. 

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. 

Grants of up to £500 are available to individuals in Scotland aged 16-26 looking to make a positive change to the issues that matter to them.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The Roberton Trust offers offers funding to charitable organisations that support people and communities in Scotland who are living with poverty or trauma.

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

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

The fund supports ambitious, audience-facing independent UK and international film and broader screen activity of national scale.

Charles Hayward Foundation fund preventative and early intervention programmes being delivered at the community level which allow older people to stay in their own homes and remain independent. They are interested in programmes which can demonstrate their effectiveness in improving the quality of life of older people. We favour projects that offer a consistent and sustained benefit rather than one-off events or short-lived activities.

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 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.

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.

The programme supports children and young people who are facing exceptionally difficult circumstances and is delivered by Family Fund Business Services. It provides items that meet a child’s most basic needs such as a bed to sleep in, a cooker to provide a hot meal and other items or services critical to a child’s wellbeing.

Stronger Starts supports thousands of local community projects and good causes across the UK. The scheme is open to all schools, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations, with priority given to projects that provide food and support to children, young people and families. It provides grants of up to £1500 to local projects from across the whole of Scotland.

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).

Social connections and community activities are at the heart of creating healthier, happier lives and a flourishing society. That’s why we support amazing community-led projects.

Through Young Start The National Lottery Community Fund are offering funding from £20,001 to £100,000 to help children and young people across Scotland become more confident, so they can realise their own potential.

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.