Fourteen projects with potential to lead to big change that lasts on poverty and trauma in Scotland will share just over £2.5 million as part of our latest Programme Awards.
These include two research and influencing projects exploring the potential for a Minimum Income Guarantee for unpaid carers and care leavers, and a test and demonstration project to develop, pilot and launch accreditation for employers in Scotland around flexible working. Meanwhile, four awards are linked to our Education Pathways theme, emerging through our open call.
Our Programme Awards aim to support work which is bold, innovative and sustainable, with the potential to deliver big change that lasts on poverty and trauma in Scotland. This could be through:
- Development and feasibility awards – work to develop good ideas with strong potential for change at scale, including work to build partnerships and participation to design and deliver good ideas.
- Test and demonstration awards – work to test and demonstrate new approaches to services and work that can reduce poverty and trauma in Scotland.
- Research focused on change - we are not a research funder but we will fund research where it can clearly and demonstrably connect to action to deliver change.
- Advocacy, policy, campaigning and influencing projects – to change policy, practice, attitudes and behaviours.
Unlike our rolling responsive funds, which run all-year round (although currently closed for applications until September 2024), we host time-limited open calls for our Programme Awards which will publicly invite applications around a particular focus. Our most recent open call closed last month with a focus on job quality and in-work poverty. Meanwhile, through our discovery and relationship building work across the Trust, we also have the ability to co-develop potential projects with a strong likelihood of achieving big change that lasts.
A full list of our latest awards can be viewed below:
- Carers Trust
Test & Demonstration; influencing
£498,483 over 4 years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This work aims to change the education system to enable young carers to be identified and offered appropriate support at school, ensuring they are not disadvantaged because of their caring role. The project will produce a body of evidence on what works in young carer education, employment and training interventions and use this evidence to engage with decision makers in national and local government. - Crossreach
Test & Demonstration
£360,739 over 3 years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? The project will test new ways of partnering with the Local Authority’s Early Learning and Childcare Team to create choice and ensure families are engaged in the type of early years provision and support that is right for them. - Cyrenians
Test & Demonstration; influencing
£308,000 over 3 years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? The project aims to build understanding on why young people leave school without positive destinations through carrying out research alongside young people with lived experience and identifying interventions which will prevent this. The project will use learning to influence system change across Scotland to ensure every young person can progress to and sustain a positive destination. - Youthlink Scotland
Test & Demonstration; Research
£304,686 over 3 years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? Ensuring youth work is recognised and resourced as an effective approach to closing the poverty related attainment gap. An action research approach will be undertaken to work collaboratively with young people and youth work practitioners to develop and test software that will enable youth work teams to analyse data and measure impact.
- Aberlour
Influencing
£290,370 for three years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? Changing local authority public debt recovery practice. This project aims to change the way local authorities undertake public debt recovery and how it impacts on low income families in Scotland. The project – which will build on the public debt research work jointly developed by Aberlour and The Robertson Trust across 2022/23 – will work closely with local authorities and influence Scottish Government to secure legislation that ensures lasting change around public debt reform. - Carers Scotland and IPPR Scotland
Research; Influencing
£43,140 for one year
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This piece of work will see a report developed setting out influencing, policy and delivery options for the Scottish Government to offer a Minimum Income Guarantee for unpaid carers. A workable option for a pilot will be produced to add to the growing evidence base demonstrating the role a MIG can play in tackling poverty. -
Cyrenians
Evaluation and influencing
£120,000 for two years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This project aims to evidence and roll out a consistent, effective approach to supporting adults at the point of discharge from public institutions in Scotland (e.g. hospitals), reducing preventable readmissions and homelessness. This work will achieve this by generating robust evidence from Cyrenians’ Hospital Inreach Service and undertaking strategic influencing to demonstrate the impact of this model’s approach. -
Housing Justice Cymru
Feasibility
£150,000 for 15 months
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This funding is for a feasibility study and business plan to identify next steps in bringing the Faith in Affordable Housing model to Scotland. This model, currently successfully operating in England and Wales, works with churches and housing partners to provide practical support and advice to release surplus land or buildings for affordable housing. -
JustRight Scotland
Development/Feasibility
£140,000 for 18 months
What is the potential change this work could lead to? Changing debt arrears and collection practices by local authorities. This project will identify and test possible legal routes to achieving long term and systemic change in how local authorities view their debt arrears and collection practices. It will take a human rights based and community lawyering approach to supporting affected individuals and families in poverty, and lay the groundwork to a longer term aim of ending unlawful practice. - Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum
Research; Influencing
£48,000 for one year
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This piece of work will develop a detailed report that scopes and creates a clear blueprint for a successful Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) pilot with care leavers. This work will produce a workable option for a pilot to add to the growing evidence base demonstrating the role a MIG can play in tackling poverty. - Scottish Women’s Aid
Development
£9,867 (short term)
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This piece of work is for the planning and hosting of a roundtable on coerced debt, to consider the first steps for a Scotland-wide strategy to change how systems and policy support those experiencing economic abuse. - Shelter Scotland
Research
£20,000 for one year
What is the potential change this work could lead to? This work aims to address the research gap around children in temporary accommodation, and amplify their voices and experiences, with a view to producing powerful advocacy and campaigning tools to bring about change.
- Flexibility Works
Test and demonstration
£185,010 over 3 years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? The final output will be a fully developed, piloted, and launched accreditation for employers in Scotland and the UK to create flexible working practices, with more employees being able to better access increased flexible working opportunities. The accreditation will be rolled out to high priority sectors with employees on low incomes benefitting from increased flexibility. Flexibility Works will partner with Timewise UK and accreditation consultants to develop a framework for employers to encourage culture change in the highest priority sectors.
Read more about this award in our recent Big Change Blog. -
Pregnant Then Screwed
Campaigning, mobilising, influencing
£159,324 over 3 years
What is the potential change this work could lead to? The ultimate aim is to work to end the Motherhood Penalty in Scotland by making it easier for mothers to access work and earn a good living, ultimately reducing poverty and its consequences for mothers and families. Central to this is working to ensure that Scotland has a childcare system that is accessible, affordable and excellent, playing the fullest possible role in reducing and preventing child poverty.