Wellbeing Fund: analysis of awards

9. The Small Grants Fund

The Small Grants fund was set up as part of the Scottish Government's Wellbeing Fund to distribute small amounts (approximately £2,000 per grant) of funding to voluntary organisations, primarily small grassroots groups. The aim of the fund was to support local voluntary groups' responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was targeted at groups whose services had been affected by Covid-19, and who could put the grant to immediate use to help support local families and communities at greatest risk from the effects of the pandemic in the short term.

The fund was managed by the Corra Foundation, with funding distributed by a group of national funders: The STV Appeal, Inspiring Scotland, SCVO, the Cattanach Trust and Impact Funding Partners. In the first instance, beginning in late March 2020, organisations previously funded by the national funders who were potentially eligible for the fund were contacted by the funders and invited to apply. The purpose of inviting eligible organisations which had a pre-existing funding relationship with the funder was to enable funds to be distributed quickly, reduce potential risks and reduce the need for lengthy financial or governance checks on applicant organisations. Following this, in mid-April 2020 local Third Sector Interfaces were asked to refer local organisations to the fund. Some organisations receiving grants in the early phase were also invited to make second bids later on in the process.

Given the relatively small size of the grants available and the need to distribute the funding as quickly as possible to allow grassroots organisations to tackle the immediate effects of the pandemic, groups were asked only a basic set of questions to identify their eligibility for the fund. This was done to reduce the administrative burden on organisations whose primary focus was to tackle the immediate effect of the pandemic. The main criteria for awarding funding were that organisations had had their service provision adversely affected by Covid-19, and that they could put the funding to immediate use to help those at high risk from the effects of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

Funding was distributed to a wide range of different organisations across Scotland, including those focused on supporting vulnerable children and families, people with mental health needs, people with disabilities or other health needs, older people, and those facing financial hardship.

Many organisations requested the funding to help continue delivering their existing services remotely, for example using the funding to buy equipment which would allow staff to work from home so that their work could continue during the lockdown. Other organisations requested funding to help change their focus to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance by:

• Delivering meals, food parcels and prescriptions;
• Creating activities and educational resources for children who could not attend school;
• Providing electronic devices and internet connections for those who needed them to access vital services or to alleviate social isolation;
• Providing emergency financial support.