Please find below a range of funding support specifically designed to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) COVID-19 Community Action Fund has been set up to support community groups, voluntary and third sector organisations and small businesses to support people within communities who are affected by COVID-19.
The fund will contribute towards activity they are planning to carry out within the local community. Falkirk HSCP will also consider reimbursement of costs as a result of activity that has already taken place or is ongoing; they will require proof of payments already made.
Groups and organisations should apply for the amount of funding that they think is appropriate to the activities they want to provide. There is no minimum level of funding, though applications for funding over £1,000 may result in a request for further information.
The following list is intended to provide examples of what may be funded, and is not exhaustive:
- volunteer expenses, including transport costs
- keeping people connected, e.g. phone top-up cards or costs associated with making additional phone calls
- reducing loneliness and isolation, e.g. activity packs
- provision of essential supplies
- support at a time of crisis, e.g. looking after pets
- food provision, e.g. supporting people at risk of hunger, community hampers, delivery of food (fuel costs), cooking or storage equipment
To submit an application to the COVID-19 Community Action Fund, please complete an application form and return by email: funding@falkirk.gov.uk
Alternatively, for further information, view or download the guidance document, or visit the Falkirk Council website.
Foundation Scotland is providing immediate grant funding to support constituted community groups and charities which are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in their local community. Funding is available between £1,000 – £5,000, and will be focused on immediate community needs.
Foundation Scotland aims to turn around funding applications swiftly, and to keep the application process straightforward.
The funding is only open to constituted groups and organisations, who are able to provide a governing document; interested applicants are encouraged to read the Community Response, Recovery and Resilience Fund’s guidance notes.
Those seeking immediate community support funding should complete the online application as soon as possible.
Applications are now open for the Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF).
Part of a £350 million support package by Scottish Government for the sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the TSRF will support organisations across the third sector who are at risk of closure due to a sharp decrease in income, or who are unable to deliver their services directly as a result of the pandemic. The fund’s primary intention is to help these organisations to stabilise and manage cashflows over this period.
The TSRF is delivered by Firstport, Social Investment Scotland and the Corra Foundation, and offers charities, social enterprises, and community or voluntary groups grants of £5,000 – £100,000. In addition, there will be up to a further £5 million available in fully flexible, 0% interest loans starting at £50,000.
For further information, including how to apply, please visit the SCVO Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub page.
Also as a result of Scottish Government’s £350 million of emergency fund (further information available in the full web article from Wednesday 18th March), £40 million available to community organisations (including those which are not registered charities) to support small scale community resilience. The fund will be allocated through community anchor organisations that are already playing a key active role in providing services within the community and will likely have established networking and connections through the communities.
Further information will be released in due course through the SCVO Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub.
The Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Aileen Campbell MSP, has announced an additional £350 million of emergency funding for those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding will be made available to councils, third sector groups and charities, businesses and community groups, and is designed to be flexible, enabling them to respond swiftly and according to local need for people impacted economically or through reduced contact with society, including anyone struggling to access food.
The emergency funding package will include:
- a £70 million Food Fund
- a £50 million Wellbeing Fund
- a £40 million Supporting Communities Fund
- £50 million towards meeting an anticipated increase in applications for the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Scottish social security benefits
- a £20 million Third Sector Resilience Fund
For further information, please read the full web article.
Scottish Government also announced a £320 million support package to limit the impact of COVID-19 on businesses in Scotland (which includes small, local business and social enterprises) during the 2020-21 financial year, including:
- a 75% rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value of less than £69,000 from Wednesday 1st April
- an £80 million fund to provide grants of at least £3,000 to small businesses in sectors facing the worst economic impact of COVID-19
- 1.6% rates relief for all properties across Scotland, aiming to reverse the planned below inflation uplift in the poundage, from Wednesday 1st April
- a fixed rates relief of up to £5,000 for all pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000, again from Wednesday 1st April
The Finance Secretary, Kate Forbes, will also write to all local authorities, urging them to respond positively to requests from rate payers for payment deferrals for a fixed period.
For further information, please visit the Scottish Government website.
In addition to the Scottish Government funding and support mentioned above, you can find out the latest information on these funds and other support for local businesses on the Falkirk Council website, including:
