Community Spaces aims to support local communities experiencing poverty and trauma in Scotland, and is for registered charities with an annual income of between £30,000 and £500,000.
The new fund comes as part of the next development of the phased return of Our Funds, following our pause last year. The purpose of this pause was to look at where we can have the biggest impact within Our Funds and ensure we are clear externally about what’s in and out of scope for funding.
Through our Community Spaces Grant, we want to support local community centres, hubs or anchor organisations that are delivering and/ or hosting a range of services and activities in places with higher rates of poverty and trauma. Applicants should show how the various services they deliver and/or host relate to preventing or reducing poverty and trauma for local people.
We are particularly interested in supporting applications from organisations that can show how they reach out to and remove barriers for groups of people in their community who are at higher risk of experiencing poverty and trauma, such as disabled people, people experiencing racial inequity and asylum seekers and refugees, to ensure that they know about and can access the services and activities on offer.
What can I apply for through a Community Spaces Grant?
The fund will provide revenue funding of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year, for up to 3 years, to support the costs of community centres, hubs and anchor organisations who are delivering and/or hosting a range of services and activities to meet the needs of their community.
By community, we mean a geographic community. This could be in an urban or rural area experiencing high rates of poverty and trauma.
We can consider providing unrestricted or restricted funding, depending on your costs and the nature of your work.
Examples of the type of request we might consider include:
- The running costs of an accessible community hub based in a town with high levels of deprivation. The hub hosts and delivers a range of services for local people, including community meals, family activities, a youth group and drop-in sessions with partner organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and local employability service. The organisation works closely with a nearby charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers, to ensure they know about and can access the services at the hub.
- The running costs of a village hall in a rural community, where there are no other community facilities. The hall is used to host a range of groups and services, such as a parent and toddler group, a food pantry and warm space, and provides access to IT facilities.
What’s next?
We are preparing to launch our Community Spaces Grants very soon and we are looking forward to sharing more information and guidance about the application process.
Our full guidance and details about Community Spaces Grants, including the specific funding priorities and what will or will not be eligible for funding, will be available when the Fund launches.
Please follow our social channels, website and sign up to our mailing list for the latest information.
If you have any questions, you can get in touch with us by email at TRTComms@therobertsontrust.org.uk.