Due to overwhelming demand, Scottish Government has announced a second phase to the Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF), and pledged additional funding.

The TSRF aims to 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 as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund’s primary intention is to help these organisations to stabilise and manage cashflows over this period.

For Phase 2, the guidance and criteria have been adapted to maximise the number of third sector organisations who can benefit:

applicants must be at risk of or unable to cover essential costs within 12 weeks from the date of application
the maximum grant amount awarded will be £75,000
funding requests must be for a 3 month period (previously 4 months)
eligible costs will be mostly limited to overheads and essential staff (administrative for example) who cannot be furloughed; further information is available in the FAQ section
all grant applications requesting £50,000 or more will be considered for a loan, a grant or a blended approach (part grant, part loan)

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to read the fund’s guidance notes and FAQ prior to starting an application.

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.