There are now less than TWO WEEKS to go until Falkirk Funders Fayre 2020, and we’re coming to the end of our exhibitor spotlight features. In this penultimate edition, we focus on:

the National Community Lottery Fund Scotland
the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Scotland
Bank of Scotland Foundation

National Community Lottery Fund Scotland

The National Community Lottery Fund Scotland (until last year, known as the BIG Lottery Fund Scotland) works as part of the national umbrella organisation to award money raised by National Lottery players across the UK.

There are 12 distributors of money raised by Lottery players, which fund projects and activities that aim to transform communities, protect heritage, and enrich lives through arts, sports and culture. Local teams across the UK act as the main point of contact for communities, working with people to develop ideas and create opportunities for groups to come together.

In 2018/19, the National Community Lottery Fund awarded over £500 million to communities, with 86% of grants under £10,000.

In Scotland, the Fund has a number of programmes available, including:

National Lottery Awards for All Scotland, a quick way to apply for smaller amounts of funding between £300 – £10,000, available year round
Young Start, which aims to help young people aged 8 – 24 years old become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential, with grants of £10,001 to £100,000 available, and no application deadline
grants for community-led activity, medium grants for community-led activity from voluntary or community groups, with grants of £10,001 to £150,000 available
grants for improving lives, which are grants from £10,001 to £500,000 to help people facing challenging circumstances
Scottish Land Fund, supporting urban and rural communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets. All stage 2 applications must be submitted by the end of August 2020; before this point, a stage 1 application must also be completed, which typically takes around 6 months

In all their iterations, the Fund’s local team has always been one of our most regular exhibitors at Falkirk Funders Fayre – book your FREE place and come along on the day to find out why, and ask them all your questions.

Alternatively, for further information on the National Community Lottery Fund Scotland, visit their website.

School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Scotland

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Scotland provides ongoing training and support to individuals trying to create and sustain social businesses – including this year’s social enterprise pop-up café, Community Focus Scotland CIC!

The School provides training in the form of specialised workshops and ongoing opportunities, enabling individuals to use their entrepreneurial and creative skills to develop social businesses, social enterprises and charities that benefit the communities in which they live. They pride themselves in reaching out to those individuals that want to create social change, with a motto of “Doing Learning Differently!”

Being involved with the School doesn’t stop at being a student – there are a number of ways student organisations continue working with them, including becoming a “witness”, sharing their story with social entrepreneurs, or acting as a mentor to one of the students.

The School also works closely with Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland on their joint Social Entrepreneurs Programme, with applications for 2020-21 opening in March – perfect timing for discussion at Falkirk Funders Fayre!

For further information on SSE Scotland, visit their website, or book your FREE place at Falkirk Funders Fayre to speak with them on the day!

Bank of Scotland Foundation

The Bank of Scotland Foundation receives an annual donation from Lloyds Banking Group as part of the Group’s commitment to Helping Scotland Prosper. They then donate these funds to charities across Scotland through their Grants Programmes, and a Matched Giving Programme for Lloyds Banking Group employees in Scotland.

Since November 2010, the Foundation has provided over £14m to more than 1,800 charities making positive change across Scotland, enabling over 600,000 people to benefit from a variety of local services and personal support.

The “Supporting Positive Change Across Scotland” is the Foundation’s 5 year strategic plan, launched in March 2019, which has seen 4 new funding programmes open in 2019 and 2020:

Reach
Advise
Change
Invest

Those looking to apply to any of these programmes must be charities registered in Scotland and operational for at least one year. Their regulatory returns must all be up to date with the relevant body, and they must be able to supply their latest checked and signed Annual Accounts. Only one application can be submitted at a time.

For further information on the Bank of Scotland Foundation, visit their website, or book your FREE place at Falkirk Funders Fayre to speak with them on the day!

Falkirk Funders Fayre 2020 takes place on Tuesday 10^th March 10am – 2pm at the Bowhouse Community Centre, Bowhouse Road, Grangemouth, FK3 0EU. Tickets are FREE, and can be booked through Eventbrite.

To learn more about Falkirk Funders Fayre 2020, or any of our exhibitors on the day, stay tuned to the CVS Falkirk website, or sign up for our weekly e-bulletin for more spotlight features!

Alternatively, contact CVS Falkirk by phone: 01324 692000, or email: info@cvsfalkirk.org.uk