Small funding grants for Scottish youth groups and peer education projects

 

The Scottish Peer Education Network (SPEN) recently held a little brainstorm at one of their networking meetings about small pots of funding for peer education and youth work projects. So here’s a few gems of wisdom from the members of SPEN:

Getting funding for your peer education project can be a challenge if you’re trying to cover a peer education worker’s salary, and for that we’d recommend visiting YouthLink’s Funding page.

However, if you’re looking for a few hundred pounds so that your peer educators can buy a camera, laptop, projector, flyers or other equipment, then the following list will hopefully give you a few ideas:

ASDA Carrier Bag Community Grants

Remember the 5p bag tax? ASDA takes some of that and spends thousands of pounds giving it back to communities. This particular fund allows you to get a sizeable amount of £500 – £2,000 for you to spend as you wish.

 

Foundation Scotland Express Grants

This organisation gives out Express Grants of up to £2,000 to cover everything from outings to marketing and awareness-raising activities. The best part is, you don’t even need to be a registered charity in order to apply.

 

Tesco

Each Tesco store has a ‘community donations budget’ to support local projects. All you need to do is write to the Charity / Community Champion at your nearest store, describe your project and what you will do with the funds. Simple! Start by finding your local store and take it from there.

 

O2 Think Big (and Think Bigger)

O2 give out £300 to groups across the UK to help fund community projects, and it’s yours for the taking. Applications close in June, September and November, so get applying as soon as possible.

 

 

Local government bodies

Local authorities, NHS Boards and Community Health Partnerships often have small pots of money that are put aside for community groups to apply for. Get in touch with these bodies in your local area and find out if they’ve put aside something just for you. Check the NHS Board locator and the Community Health Partnerships locator.

 

Cashback for Communities

The Scottish Government administers this fund via Youth Link, which will give you up to £2,000 for a local youth project. Deadlines are rolling and every 3 months or so. What’s not to like?

 

 

Awards for All – Scotland

The Big Lottery Fund provides small pots of cash in the form of £500 (although it also gives out not-so-small pots of cash to the tune of £10,000). You can use the money to put on an event, activity, buy new equipment, or paying for volunteer expenses and travel.