Supporting Communities Fund: evaluation

4. Outputs

4.1 Activities delivered

The analysis in the following section is based on both application and monitoring data submitted by CAOs. This was categorised and entered into the initial survey to record the data in a standardised way. Of those organisations involved in the fund, 320 submitted monitoring data in time to be included in the analysis sample. Organisations who provided information on activities delivered indicated they provided a wide range of services or support. The full breakdown of these activities using data from the 320 projects where monitoring information was available is shown in Chart 3. All of the projects delivered more than one activity. In many cases activities were interlinked and targeted multiple areas of need. Therefore, in some cases, certain planned activities could fall into a number of categories and they are not mutually exclusive. Coding was undertaken by a number of analysts and as such, these codes are considered interpretive. Projects that focused in some way on social isolation and loneliness often delivered multiple activities.

As Chart 4 shows, the large majority of projects (89%) for which monitoring data is available focused on food support in some form. The second most common request for funding related to volunteer management (59%), reflecting the key role that volunteers have played in supporting the third sector throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and operating costs (59%). Basic provisions (53%), social outreach (48%) and digital access (40%) were also a common focus of projects. For the purposes of this report, these categories were combined into the broad categories: food and basic provisions; operating costs; social outreach; health and wellbeing; digital access; housing and family support; financial assistance; advice services and community resilience. These are discussed in more detail below.

4.1.1 Support with food and basic provisions

The large majority of projects for which we have monitoring data involved supporting people to access food and basic provisions, with 286 (89%) of the 320 projects in the analysis sample providing support around food and 169 (53%) supporting people with basic provisions. Most of these projects did not focus exclusively on these activities but tended to deliver them alongside other areas of support. Projects focusing on these activities delivered free meals, food items, supermarket vouchers, toiletries, sanitary products and other items that could be considered essential.

Some organisations focused on helping a specific target group to access food, such as asylum seekers; people on low or no income; people who were homeless; families with vulnerable children; or people with specific health conditions. In a small number of cases, organisations recognised a need to ensure that the food they provided was culturally and religiously appropriate.

Many other organisations took a broader focus, choosing to support anyone in the local area with food and basic provisions, recognising the likelihood that families and individuals who had not previously needed support may need it as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, due to the risk of unemployment, reduced incomes or the need to self-isolate or shield.

Several organisations established or expanded food provision through food banks in the community, while others set up community fridges or put in place systems to distribute surplus food to those in need. For some organisations operating in rural areas, projects operating a community pantry or supporting the local shop were common. Organisations providing support around basic provisions often delivered this alongside food provision in the form of emergency care packages containing toiletries, sanitary products and household essentials. For many organisations, these activities were entirely new areas of work, which they identified as important in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For example, one organisation in East Dunbartonshire, where a range of groups had been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, used the grant to supplement supplies in their local shop and to set up a meal delivery service:

"We were able to pick up supplies from neighbouring towns which aren't accessible in our small village shop such as baby formula, nappies, fresh fruit, butcher meat items and other groceries and toiletries to our vulnerable people including those with substance misuse issues, poor mental health, single parents, low income families, the elderly and disabled and those residents who don't have access to a car. We were also able to transform our café and kitchen area to operate a hot food delivery service preparing meals to vulnerable people and in particular families with children who would usually be accessing free school meals and breakfast club and elderly residents who would usually receive hot meals from family and or neighbours that could no longer do this during this lockdown period. The grant allowed us to buy ingredients and equipment for bulk cooking of soups, pastas and other hot meals, fresh fruit and veg for all the families with young children to ensure no one was facing hunger or poor nutrition during this time with limited access to supermarkets." (Community anchor organisation, East Dunbartonshire)

While most food and basic provision related projects focused on direct provision, others supported people in other ways. For example, bysignposting people to other food and basic provision initiatives; supporting people to grow their own food by providing seeds, tools or funding community garden projects; and dropping off shopping to people who could not get to the shops themselves (for example for those that were shielding or self-isolating).

A small number of organisations delivering food and basic provison related projects reported direct benefits around reduced food insecurity. Indirect benefits relating to reduced isolation and loneliness were also reported where volunteers were able to connect with people in the course of their activities, mitigating the effect of loneliness and isolation on service users.

Case study: Food support

Organisations recognised that due to the specific circumstances of the pandemic many people faced financial hardship and even for some that could afford food, they were unable to leave the house to get to the shops. As a result, many people found food difficult to access, resulting in an increase in food insecurity.

One funded organisation operating in Highland recognised the particular difficulties facing those in financial hardship or who were shielding or self-isolating. This organisation felt that there was a particular need to ensure people were still able to access food.

This organisation launched a weekly lunch club to deliver meals once a week to people's homes and started a voucher scheme to provide assistance with food purchases. The voucher scheme was made as anonymous as possible and individuals were only known by their voucher number, with the intention of reducing barriers to take-up. Alongside this, the organisation opened and operated a local food hub to make basic foodstuffs available to people who were facing financial hardship as a result of Covid-19.

The organisation reported that the demand for food vouchers levelled off as the pandemic progressed. However, they expected demand to increase again as financial measures, such as furlough, were removed and redundancies increased.

4.1.2 Operating and volunteer management costs

After support with food and basic provisions, organisations most commonly requested funding to cover operating costs (59%) or some form of volunteer management (59%), with 188 out of the 320 projects focusing some of the funding on each of these areas. Organisations that used some of the funding for this area focused on paying for staffing costs, supplementing core funding for the organisation, covering volunteer expenses and general management, and to pay for enhanced hygiene measures. Many of the organisations using funding for this reason highlighted the financial toll that the Covid-19 pandemic had taken on the third sector due to reduced income from fundraising and a lack of opportunities for income generation. Alongside this, organisations also reported additional financial pressure due to the breadth of services they were now expected to provide and the resultant need for more staff and volunteers. The increased health risk of working under pandemic conditions had also led to high and unanticipated costs relating to hygiene measures and sanitising stations, as well as the need to provide substantial amounts of PPE. A small number of organisations used the funding to develop their terms of governance or to put in place systems to formalise volunteer recruitment.

The majority of funding used for operating costs related to volunteer management and associated costs (67%) and tended to be sought to pay volunteer expenses or to ensure volunteer safety in terms of providing PPE. For example, one organisation working with vulnerable people, people with disabilities and long-term illnesses in Glasgow recognised the financial impact the specific circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic had taken on many volunteers. Therefore, reimbursing expenses, incurred in the course of delivering project activities, was an important part of supporting their volunteer staff:

"Volunteers from [the local area] who were assisting with shopping for neighbours, dropping off items and calling neighbours etc. to get their out of pocket expenses returned e.g. fuel costs, mobile phone costs, buying small items for people and taxi's to drop off items for people. Some of these volunteers were furloughed and receiving less income or self-employed with little to no income." (Community anchor organisation, Glasgow)

As well as applying for funding to help with volunteer management and associated costs, many organisations applied for funding to cover staffing and core running costs to enable them to continue operating throughout the pandemic. Organisations that applied for costs relating to this theme focused on buying PPE and hygiene supplies; funding to cover staffing and transport costs for the project; and to hire venue and storage space.

Those organisations that applied for funding to cover the cost of PPE tended to submit requests in the context of delivering food parcels, to ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and the recipients of the meals, or to cover the cost of PPE as organisations and the community moved into the recovery phase. For example, one CAO received several requests from funded organisations to help them buy PPE and additional equipment such as waste bins, screens and sanitiser. When local businesses were able to re-open the CAO was able to provide assistance to these organisations and fund the required cleaning materials, sanitiser units and PPE to ensure they were Covid safe and reduce the risk to the community.

Another organisation working with the elderly and shielding used the funding to recruit a Community Support Worker to support the delivery of the project during a critical time:

"With approval from [intermediary funding partner], we appointed a Community Support Worker for ten weeks on [a] 20 hour a week basis. Without this appointment, we would have struggled to keep services going and the post-holder supported a range of other activities including the Food Bank, local liaison, desk research and a survey of anticipated winter needs." (Community anchor organisation, Highland)

4.2 Social outreach

Recognising the specific circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, where people were confined to their homes, either through lockdown conditions, shielding or self-isolation, many organisations applying to the SCF funded projects focusing on some form of social outreach, including medical prescription delivery and support with social interaction. For those projects where we have monitoring data, 154 (48%) engaged in social outreach activities, 125 (39%) involved medical prescription delivery and 75 (23%) provided support with social interaction. Projects focusing on social outreach also carried out befriending calls, checked in on people, and adapted their services to phone or online delivery. In most cases, projects were designed to provide a specific form of support to those who were confined to their homes or were spending long periods of time at home without a support network, with befriending calls and medical prescription delivery being the most common activities delivered.

One organisation, for example, delivered befriending calls to people who were socially isolated. The organisation reported in feedback from beneficiaries that the calls reduced social isolation and made people feel like they were less alone during a challenging time. Most organisations funded projects that delivered social outreach as part of a broad range of services. For example, some organisations used weekly phone calls to offer other services the person might need or as an opportunity to carry out a general welfare check:

"Locally almost all recipients of meals have received a weekly befriending/check-in call, some do not wish this and some have several more. This takes the form of either just a re[-]register/order for the next week, a chat, arranging extra support or volunteer or staff "errand run". This has been varied – from new Blue Badge parking permits to picking up a new kettle! People have also been signposted to other agencies where appropriate." (Community anchor organisation, West Lothian)

"Being patient I think worked wonders as some we would give weekly phone calls as a welfare check and eventually we built up a mutual trust and they then engaged fully in receiving daily meals and prescription pick ups and dog walking." (Community anchor organisation, North Ayrshire)

In recognition of the fact that people who were vulnerable, elderly, shielding or self-isolating were unable to collect their prescriptions without putting themselves at risk, many organisations delivering projects focusing on social outreach and food support reported also providing medical prescription delivery as part of their activities.

Case study: Social outreach

A community anchor organisation in East Ayrshire recognised the loneliness and isolation facing some people who were shielding or self-isolating during the pandemic. With the funding from the SCF, the CAO worked in collaboration with their third sector partners to increase the reach of their confidential telephone service. The service offered a regular friendly telephone call at least once a week to people in the area who may have been living alone, were lonely or experiencing isolation.

One resident was referred to the organisation through their local community hub: J had been shielding and was receiving a friendly call once a week from the hub. The telephone befriender was returning to work and was unable to continue offering calls to J and the local hub planned to stop calls once shielding had come to an end. At first J was reluctant to speak to someone else and the organisation had difficulty connecting with them. Prior to lockdown J had been widowed and was already finding it very difficult to carry on with normal life. The organisation persevered and reported that J became the first to admit that they look forward to the weekly call and catch up with the volunteers.

The organisation reported that J was hoping to join the face to face meetings once it was safe to meet as a group. The volunteers commented that J seems to have a zest for life and tried to get out walking first thing in the morning when it is less busy.

4.3 Health and wellbeing

Around a third of the organisations where we have monitoring data delivered projects focusing on health and wellbeing, representing 119 (37%) of the 320 organisations in the analysis sample. A small number, 14 out of the 320 projects (4%), provided support with self-help.

Health and wellbeing projects took a variety of forms and delivered a wide range of services focusing on different aspects of physical and mental health, along with more general wellbeing. Many organisations used the SCF grant to move their pre-existing mental health and wellbeing services online and to adapt to their service users' changing needs as the Covid-19 pandemic continued. One organisation working with people living with dementia highlighted that the move to offering online support had allowed them to continue to provide consistent support to service users:

"[Organisation] reached out to people living with dementia in the community, and their family care givers, providing one to one emotional support via phone calls and video chats using the Alzheimer Scotland Near Me and Attend Anywhere platforms. The local dementia advisor to East Renfrewshire helped people living with dementia, and their care givers have been provided with consistent one to one emotional support via phone calls and video chats using online platforms." (Community anchor organisation, East Renfrewshire)

Another organisation working with young people reported that the funding had allowed them to adapt their services to offer remote support and develop activities to bring people back to support groups safely, when they were most needed:

"This grant allowed us to bring back the much needed support…at a crucial time, allowing time for young people and families to come and participate in small group activities at a safe distance, carry out 1:1 family support work through arts, outdoor sports, at the community gardens, through cycling club and through activities at our outdoor classroom. Young people were also able to access the youth workers online or by telephone to discuss any concerns issues regarding home learning, mental health, relationships, bereavement – whatever was concerning them with a familiar youth worker they knew and trusted." (Community anchor organisation, East Dunbartonshire)

Similarly to projects focusing on social outreach, many of the projects focusing on improving wellbeing focused on mitigating feelings of loneliness and isolation, recognising that many people were struggling with the impact of the lockdown on social interaction. As one organisation focusing on vulnerable and older people noted:

"The…project is a means of delivering activities to people's homes to continue to support their mental health and physical wellbeing. Currently we are distributing 45 packs per week to people's homes, these packs are themed around areas such as food, physical activity, stress and relaxation, craft, mental health and wellbeing, growing and generic health and wellbeing (We have provided a Vitamin D pack and Hydration pack within this theme). The packs are aimed at older and more vulnerable people within our communities. One of the key successes of this project has been to enable us to connect with people on a 1-1 basis weekly, this contact with another person has been reported as being really important to those we deliver to. (Community anchor organisation, Edinburgh)

Recognising that many people were spending more time at home, many organisations developed wellbeing toolkits or activity packs for individuals and families to complete at home. These packs contained a wide range of resources and activities aimed at reducing the impact of the lockdown and supporting positive mental and physical health, including art supplies, mindfulness activities, fitness activities and videos, self-care products, motivational cards and mental health first-aid resources. For example, after delivering one round of wellbeing packs, one organisation in Edinburgh received such positive feedback that they decided to consult on delivering a second round of packs, with the aim of tailoring these to the needs of the community:

"We put together the first round of wellbeing packs based on our own ideas and assumptions about what might help people who were struggling to maintain positive wellbeing. We wanted to know what aspects had been successful, what not so successful and what other things people would like in a wellbeing pack. We designed a short questionnaire and paid our freelance artists to call people who had received a wellbeing pack and collect their feedback. Based on this, we commissioned one of our freelancers, a local volunteer, a yoga practitioner and a member [of] Mums into Business to develop a series of additional resources which are included in our second round of wellbeing packs. These resources include: a yoga booklet of simple poses and instructions that anyone can do at home; a do it yourself reflexology booklet, a pampering booklet, a series of motivational 'When I feel...' cards which list simple ideas of what you can do when you feel happy, sad, anxious, lonely, frustrated, unmotivated, and links to other online resources that support positive health and wellbeing." (Community anchor organisation, Edinburgh)

Often, loneliness and isolation among service users was identified by organisations whose main focus was not on mental health, or by those that did not typically focus on mental health. Most commonly these additional needs were identified by organisations focusing on food distribution. For example, these organisations recognised that loneliness and social isolation were a major issue for their service users, and either set up additional services or expanded their existing service to address these needs.

4.4 Digital access

Reflecting the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on face-to-face services and the rapid move to remote support, 129 (40%) out of the 320 organisations for which we have monitoring data available focused on improving digital access, and 102 (32%) focused on online activities.

Organisations delivering projects relating to digital access focused on adapting their existing service to allow service users to access the service remotely, setting up their staff to enable them to deliver the service while working from home and providing families and individuals with digital devices, such as laptops, tablets and WiFi, to enable them to access services and stay in contact with family and friends.

Many organisations highlighted that they had been surprised by how many people in their community were digitally excluded, meaning that with so many services delivering support online these individuals and families now faced new and additional barriers to getting the help they need.

Several organisations used the SCF grant to pay for digital devices and equipment to enable their staff to deliver services from home. For example, one CAO highlighted a funded organisation who recognised importance of setting their staff up with the right equipment, noting the significant role this played in allowing employees to continue to work effectively while delivering services remotely:

"The [funded organisation] purchased up to date IT equipment for all staff, this allowed them to carry out our important role in the community within Health and Social Care, providing important information and advice to their clients and the wider community within East Renfrewshire. Having the right equipment at home has supported them hugely to operate as normal. They were able to keep up their Information sessions, meaning they had a live videos session with their clients to discuss concerns they have with their care and were able to feed this back to the local authority and work on solutions." (Community anchor organisation, East Renfrewshire)

Other organisations who delivered projects focusing on digital access recognised the importance of providing digital equipment to allow service users to stay in touch with friends and family. One organisation, for example, provided training and support to individuals and families who had limited or no access to IT equipment. Not only was this approach seen to be important to maintain social interactions but, given the move to online delivery, IT literacy was an opportunity for people to improve their employability:

"[The IFP and the CAO] have been providing Digital Equipment, Support and Training to North Ayrshire residents (individuals and families) who have limited or no access to IT equipment and the support needed to operate it. We have been able to create opportunities for individuals to remain connected with friends and family whilst also participating in pre-employment and training opportunities using digital platforms thus preventing them from being excluded in provision they would have been able to access pre-COVID. To date we have identified and supplied a number of individuals with a device and / or MiFi to allow them to get online. We have also started to recruit a number of individuals interested in becoming an IT Buddy Volunteer. These Volunteers will to work with individuals where needed to offer additional support with the device. All devices are preloaded with information on local support available to them." (Community anchor organisation, North Ayrshire)

Closely related to projects focused on improving digital access were projects delivering some form of online provision, such as fitness and wellbeing classes; music classes; up-skilling courses; virtual drop-in sessions; and online meet-ups. Organisations tended to identify the continuity of these services as important in the absence of face-to-face contact; to maintain relationships; reduce social isolation and improve health and wellbeing. For example, one organisation moved their weekly friendship group online to help people maintain contact with each other when they couldn't meet face-to-face:

"[S}et up an online Brew and a Blether, individuals joining for a chat and all having a cuppa tea together over a online meeting, this was a great platform for people to still be in touch with each other, they actively encouraged everyone to join the zoom and offered a lending service we have for tablets to help out joining the group. Due to the success and interest in this group and recognising the demographic differences in East Ayrshire a member of our team will begin piloting virtual Brew and a Blether in the [local] area. When this group is established it will connect with the existing group therefore affording people more avenues to explore and enhancing our approach to improving individual and Community well-being whilst tackling social isolation and loneliness." (Community anchor organisation, East Ayrshire)

Case study: Digital access

A funded organisation operating in East Renfrewshire identified through their usual support, advice and information services that having good digital skills was becoming increasingly important, with the majority of public services expecting people to apply on-line for support, whether that was applying for benefits, paying your rent or council tax or simply looking to access local support information.

People were being encouraged to use online services more and everything was increasingly done remotely. This organisation felt that this made accessing services and information almost impossible for those with low digital skills and led to increased stress, anxiety and isolation. Together with a staff member from the local council and a team of volunteers, the organisation developed an on-line course to help improve the participant's digital skills and confidence on-line.

The grant funding was used to cover the costs of designing, developing and delivering a 5-week digital course for 2 groups of 6 learners and 1 group of 7 learners. As a result, not only did 19 learners gain new skills and confidence but the 9 volunteers involved in the programme learned website coding/prototyping, digital training delivery skills and communication skills.

4.5 Home and family life support

Of the 320 organisations where monitoring data is available and included in the analysis, 109 (34%) said they had a focus on home and family life support. 16 out of the 320 projects (5%), specifically offered some form of domestic abuse support.

Many organisations described offering support to vulnerable and/or low-income families and children, often providing educational and home-schooling support, activities and parenting support. For example, one organisation working with vulnerable children and families living in North Ayrshire provided tailored activity packs to enable children to maintain contact with their family support worker:

"Provided 30 families with Children 1st activity packs including games/mini kit bags/supermarket vouchers and sourced 14 tablet devices with data allowances for families to help them remain digitally included and connected during lockdown. Children have and continue to receive letters and weekly activity packs that help them to retain their relationship with their Family support worker. Packs are tailored to each family and often linked to online activities that are also offered to children and families." (Community anchor organisation, North Ayrshire)

One organisation provided small start-up grants to a small number of mothers to set up their own businesses in the area. Whereas another organisation supporting full-time carers of children with severe and complex needs highlighted the freedom providing direct financial assistance gave to families:

"Families have been given a lot of freedom to purchase equipment /items which will help them over the summer as long as receipts are provided. Some [children with additional needs] are already enjoying inflatable hot tubs, sensory gardens, trikes, canoes etc. Some families have been struggling financially and again we have worked closely with them to find ways to help with this, as long as receipts are provided food, clothing and other household items have been approved for purchase to alleviate stress levels during Covid -19 times and allow them to continue in their caring roles." (Community anchor organisation, North Ayrshire)

Case study: Home and family life

One community anchor organisation operating in Glasgow used the funding to expand their service supporting women affected by domestic abuse. This organisation recognised that since the beginning of the pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown, women and children had become more vulnerable to abusive relationships and violence. This organisation identified several priority groups of women to target services. These included women shielding, women with mental health problems, women with little or no social support and mothers isolated at home with children. This organisation delivered food parcels, hot meals, mobile phones and top ups and delivered a range of online services.

The organisation also funded dedicated systems within households most vulnerable to domestic abuse. This ensured that individuals were provided with a camera alarm meaning that they could see any threats before opening the door reducing incidents of violence and ensuring there is evidence in place to report. Families were also provided with temporary furnished accommodation to ensure they had a safe, secure place to call home.

With this support, the organisation reported that women felt supported to move on with their lives and expressed increased feelings of security and wellbeing in the home.

4.6 Financial assistance

Utilities assistance was offered by 105 (33%) out of the 320 projects for which we have monitoring data, while 47 (15%) of projects provided direct financial assistance. Very few of these projects focused exclusively on providing financial assistance, instead delivering support as part of a much wider range of support offered to individuals and families.

Many of these organisations provided utilities assistance in the form of fuel top-ups, while others offered direct financial assistance in the form of hardship funds for those on low or no incomes or provided small grants to allow people to purchase the items they needed. Other organisations focused on providing financial assistance for specific services or items such as transport costs, tablets, phones top-ups, food vouchers or other items. For example, one organisation provided financial assistance to a vulnerable service user to travel to and from hospital:

"We were able to provide travel money for a vulnerable young service user who had to travel to hospital for medical care and who was released from hospital on the understanding she would return to family outwith [the area] while she was recovering." (Community anchor organisation, Argyll and Bute)

A small number of the organisations did not specify what form the financial assistance took or what it was used for, reporting only that they had provided direct financial support in the form of crisis loans for the individual to cover what was most needed, including where they were unable to obtain financial assistance elsewhere.

Other organisations focused on delivering specific housing support, including advice on benefits and entitlements to make their housing situation more secure or the provision of furnishings, white goods or home starter packs. Many of these projects did not focus primarily on delivering housing support but delivered this alongside a broad range of other services. Organisations focused on specific groups such as individuals and families on low or no income, women fleeing domestic abuse or people experiencing or at threat of homelessness. For example, one organisation provided food parcels and new home packs to those facing financial hardship who had lost their accommodation, while another organisation delivered housing support alongside a wide range of support to individuals and households in need:

"Support was also available to individuals and households by way energy costs, white goods replacement, mobile phone top ups etc indeed any request was assessed and if possible supported." (Community anchor organisation, Highland)

4.7 Advice services

Advice services relating to welfare and debt were delivered by 31 (10%) and 26 (8%) of the 320 projects respectively, while 11 (3%) projects offered housing support. In addition, 72 (23%) indicated they signposted to other services. Projects focusing on delivering these advice services included provision of legal advice, casework, advocacy, and telephone support services as well as signposting and referring to other services as needed.

As has been discussed elsewhere, many organisations highlighted the financial toll that the Covid-19 pandemic had taken on individuals and families and noted that many people were likely to be accessing benefits for the first time. One organisation for example offered financial fitness classes as a form of early intervention before people ended up in severe financial hardship, reporting direct financial returns for service users:

"[F]unding was provided to support Financial Fitness to meet the immediate demand of local people in relation to welfare benefit and money advice services, to work towards early intervention support before situations get out of hand. Over a three-month period, Financial Fitness has supported 570 clients with welfare benefit and money advice needs and generated £1,087,893 in various welfare benefit and money advice gains. This has helped to ease many of the financial worries caused by the pandemic and a significant amount of benefit claims remain outstanding, which should further assist local households financially." (Community anchor organisation, Inverclyde)

Organisations providing support to women fleeing domestic abuse provided a range of advice services to address the needs of their service users, highlighting the need for a holistic and wide ranging approach in these cases:

"In April we launched an online support group on Facebook, which allows women to provide peer support to each other as well as directly interacting with the staff. This has been very successful, with 55 active members. We have made more than 40 referrals to other services, have linked people to [a community health project's] food team, helped secure housing for four women who were homeless, and arranged GP appointments for people who were having trouble getting them. We have also helped people access the [Department for Work and Pensions] DWP and report incidents to the police and other agencies." (Community anchor organisation, Edinburgh City)

Many organisations signposted to other services if a need was identified that they could not address. These organisations often directed families and individuals to the information or service that they required or made direct referrals to other services to ensure people could access the support that they needed. One of the most common methods of signposting used by organisations focused on distributing information to the community using newsletters, leaflets and posters. For example, one organisation highlighted the importance of distributing information via newsletter during the early days of lockdown to get information out to the community:

"[CAO] created and distributed 2 newsletters within the community to share services available. We ensured all individual councillors' contact details were included to encourage all individuals to approach any member of [the CAO] for assistance. Ultimately it was agreed that no further newsletters were necessary as there were other well-developed methods of information sharing within the community and information was changing so rapidly. We felt that once the initial information was sent out with regard to the support available people knew that they could approach [the CAO] for support." (Community anchor organisation, Shetland)

Another organisation distributing newsletters reported that the impact had been wider than expected where the distribution had resulted in more social contact and phone calls with vulnerable community members:

"Newsletters were compiled and circulated to local vulnerable community members. This is an alternative to the social group meetings that they would normally be attending. The impact of this has been wider than expected, with more social contact resulting through more phone calls to chat about articles in the newsletters. We have had calls asking for more and suggesting what we might include in more newsletters." (Community anchor organisation, Shetland)

Case study: Advice services

Organisations recognised the importance of advice services, particularly in the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the speed at which circumstances changed following the first national lockdown. One organisation operating in North Ayrshire noted that the amount of information and guidance was often overwhelming for people and that many people faced new challenges they hadn't experienced before, particularly around finances.

This organisation operated a telephone and online advice service, offering advice on housing, welfare rights and debt issues. Alongside this, an online advice service was also facilitated . In total, between 1st July and 30th September, 117 new clients were assisted with housing, welfare rights or debt issues as well as an ongoing caseload of 204 clients.

As a result, clients of the service received £161,117.62 of financial returns via benefits claimed or debts challenged/written off.

4.8 Community resilience

A small number of organisations delivered projects where some aspect of the project focused on improving community resilience. For those organisations where we have monitoring data, 101 (32%) out of 320 projects focused on this form of support.

Projects where some aspect focused on this area often delivered several other areas of provision. Projects focusing on community resilience aimed to support the community to adapt to the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the provision of hygiene and sanitising stations in public places, community PPE, and in more rural areas the improvement of infrastructure and supply lines as areas were forced to become more self-reliant due to the specific circumstances of the pandemic.

For example, one CAO funded organisations working with a wide range of families and individuals and provided support in multiple areas to help them and the community to adapt and stay safe as possible:

"[Funded organisations] supported local businesses, charities and organisation in sourcing PPE, social distancing materials, organising webinars and training related to Covid safety and response, producing lockdown experience videos which is all aimed at supporting people/communities back using the high street / business with confidence that they can be safe as possible. The community face mask initiative was set up to provide reusable, low-cost face coverings for members of the community. Utilising a host of volunteers (over 40) in the production, packaging and delivery process, the service has been well received throughout East Ren." (Community anchor organisation, East Renfrewshire)

Organisations operating in rural communities and in island communities in particular, recognised that the specific circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic were likely to affect the delivery of supplies for the community and sought to mitigate this. For example, one organisation applied for funding to improve island infrastructure with the aim of clearing a freight backlog created in the initial days of the pandemic. As a result, the backlog was cleared and food and supply lines ran smoothly. Whereas another organisation delivered new infrastructure and storage facilities as a base for food deliveries across several islands, benefiting the community in the long term:

"The project has successfully delivered new infrastructure that will support the delivery of emergency food parcels across the [local area]. The new storage facilities in [the local town] will give a base for a number of organisations to safely and securely store food and supplies for the long term once the current emergency arrangements cease." (Community anchor organisation, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar)

4.9 Benefits delivered for the community

The analysis in this section is based on a combined sample of data from the 117 CAOs that responded to the follow-up survey and the 20% sub-sample of monitoring forms. Each organisation completing the end of project monitoring form was asked to describe the benefits their project delivered to the community. The follow-up survey did not include specific questions on benefits delivered. However, where organisations chose to describe the benefits they felt they delivered, these are reported alongside the analysis from the monitoring forms.

It is important to note that in all cases the benefits described were self-reported by organisations, so there may be a risk of bias towards overstating the benefits delivered. However, there will also be benefits that have gone unreported. Many of the organisations only described the activities they delivered and did not provide detail on the impact of the project. Therefore, it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions around the specific outcomes for communities.

Due to the light touch approach to administering the fund, the end of project monitoring requirements were designed to be as accessible as possible. Organisations were only asked to report on the overall delivery of the projects in terms of expected impacts and actual results and were not asked to measure impact against a set of more specific measurement questions. As a result, the monitoring forms did not include specific questions to allow us to measure the benefits delivered clearly and consistently across projects. Although this allowed the fund to be disbursed quickly and reduced the burden on applicants, because of the intangibility of some of the benefits delivered, it was often difficult to determine whether projects had delivered the benefits they had set out to achieve. For this reason, community outcomes have not been inferred from the project activities delivered and the analysis in this section is based solely on data where the benefits delivered have been explicitly stated. For example, although many organisations delivered food support in some form, it is not assumed that the project improved food security unless this was reported by the organisation.

Of the 161 organisations in the analysis sample, 30 organisations specifically identified benefits delivered to the community. Organisations identified 14 individual ways in which the community benefitted, closely reflecting the type of project activities delivered. Benefits for beneficiaries included improvements to finances, housing outcomes, physical health, mental health and wellbeing, digital connectivity and skills, access to services, employment, reduced social isolation and food insecurity. Improved wellbeing and employment opportunities for volunteers were also noted.