Foundation Scotland has launched the Co-op Food Fund, with grants of £,1000 – £5,000 available for projects starting after Monday 21^st December.

Over the summer, Co-op customers across the UK raised £1.5 million by buying items from their picnic range, with 20p per item being donated to the National Emergencies Trust (NET). As NET’s official partner in Scotland, Foundation Scotland is distributing a percentage of these funds to programmes in Scotland which provide access to food and sustainable solutions to food poverty.

The Co-op Food Fund aims to support organisations or projects which provide access to food and sustainable solutions to food poverty in Scotland, including:

easy access to nutritious food and balanced meals to those on a limited budget
education and learning on low cost meal solutions, limiting food waste and shopping smartly
supporting to future generations by prioritising the wellbeing of children and young people struggling with food insecurity
providing locally delivered food programmes for vulnerable communities and which help address food insecurity and its impacts

Programmes that this funding could support include (but are not limited to) foodbanks, programmes tackling food waste, or those encouraging healthy eating, and holiday hunger schemes.

Eligibility:

Only constituted groups, with a governing document, can apply. A bank account must be set up in the name of the group; all appointed cheque signatories must be unrelated, and there must be at least 2.

There must also be at least 3 unrelated members on the management committee, and the majority of committee members must be unrelated. Committee meetings must have a quorum of at least 3 unrelated members present.

Please note that if your project starts before Monday 21^st December, then you cannot apply. Additionally, successful applicants must be able to spend all of the funding by no later than Thursday 1^st July 2021.

The deadline for applications is 12pm on Friday 13^th November.

Please note that this programme may close earlier than the stated deadline should Foundation Scotland receive a high volume of applications. Those wishing to apply are advised to do so as soon as possible.

To apply, or for further information, please visit the Foundation Scotland website.