BEMIS Scotland has set up the Ethnic Minority National Resilience Network (EMNRN), offering support services and sharing best practice from local community responses for those working with and supporting Scotland’s ethnic minority communities during COVID-19.

The network publishes regular newsletters, provides counselling and resources, and has funding around COVID-19 support available, including:

Emergency Sustenance Grant Fund

The fund provides emergency grant relief to individuals and families facing acute financial vulnerability, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EMNRN can support people and families who meet the following self-defined criteria:

have run out of or will run out of money between Thursday 9^th April – Friday 15^th May
are not in receipt of funding from other similar programmes
are unable to support their family due to delays in universal credit or self-employment support
have household member(s) who are showing COVID-19 symptoms, making it impossible for to go to shops or shop online
are individuals and experiencing COVID-19 hardships with no family support
any other reason connected to the COVID-19 pandemic which has a material impact of placing the household in acute hardship

The fund provides grants of £60 per individual household adult to a maximum of £120, and £40 per child (under 16 years old) up to a maximum of £200 per family unit).

The deadline for applications to the Emergency Sustenance Grant Fund is Friday 29^th May.

Transition Fund

The Transition Fund aims to help organisations respond to the changing needs of their members in a sustainable way. This can mean help in accessing food and sustenance, help in getting online and setting up online networks or creating local networks to engage with key services.

The fund’s priorities are to:

ensure community organisations can set up sustainable networks which support access to food and sustenance needs initially up until August 2020
ensure organisations can support their communities to be connected to services, information and communication
ensure community organisations can provide services to tackle isolation, such as online events and befriending

To be eligible, organisations and groups must:

be a registered charity, independent organisation, or unincorporated association (the EMNRN cannot accept applications from individuals)
be from a diverse ethnic and cultural minority community in Scotland or deliver catered programs in conjunction with these individuals and communities
provide a service or programme of work tackling online social isolation or support people to adapt to social distancing requirements and empower their access to key services, information, or support

Grants of £500 – £1,500 are available; please provide a budget breakdown for costs required. Staffing costs, travel, accommodation, and other core organisational functions are not eligible for grants awards.

There is currently no deadline to the Transition Fund at time of writing.

To apply to either fund, or for further information on these and the EMNRN’s other services, please visit the BEMIS Scotland website.