Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF): analysis of applications and wards

5. Funding Awarded by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)

Data was collected on Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD)^[5] quintile of each applicant organisation. This is summarised in the Table 2.

As with the local authority data, the data on SIMD is limited by the fact that it is based on the postcode given by the organisation on the application form. In some cases, particularly for organisations not delivering their services primarily in close proximity to their offices, this will not always correspond directly to the area that an organisation is predominantly working in.

Table 2: Grants Awarded by SIMD Quintile

As Figure 8 shows, with the exception of SIMD 4, the amount of funding increases with the level of deprivation. The largest share of funding (£5,078,877) went to organisations based in SIMD 1 (areas within the 20 per cent most deprived postcodes in Scotland), while the smallest share of funding (£3,421,375) was awarded to organisations based in SIMD 5 (areas within the 20 per cent least deprived postcodes).

There are two probable explanations for the fact that SIMD 4 does not fit the wider pattern. Firstly, as SCVO's State of the Sector 2020 data shows, organisations based in SIMD 4 account for the largest share of third sector organisations (25 per cent).^[6] Secondly, it is likely that a number of larger regional and national charities have their main headquarters in more affluent areas than the areas in which their services are generally targeted.

Organisations based in the most deprived quintile (SIMD 1) had the highest application approval rate (50 per cent), while those based in the least deprived quintile (SIMD 5) had the lowest approval rate (38 per cent). The largest number of applications came from organisations based in SIMD 3 (750 applications) while the smallest number came from those based in SIMD 5 (399).