toggle menu
Our Funds - Inspiring Scotland

Funding programes

We work with organisations to increase and improve their impact. We will also work with them, and those they serve, to listen and learn in order to improve, influence and change policy and systems.

Relentless in our focus

We fund and support organisations based on strong evidence of need and impact, and work with them to make the best use of resources. We use evidence, and are led by the experience of people impacted by poverty and disadvantage. This directly informs our work and how we invest our time and resources.

The focus of our work is to support organisations to improve and increase their impact.

We are here to make a difference; we support people committed to making change and we get behind them.

Improving Life Chances of Children and Young People

We believe that we need to focus on children and young people throughout their life journey so that they have happy and healthy childhoods leading to positive adult lives.

We will fund, support, develop, and learn from organisations who provide holistic, whole family support and trauma informed activities from pregnancy through early years, school and post school transition, to early adulthood, in order to improve life outcomes for children, young people, and their families.

Funds

Building Brighter Futures Fund

Active
The Building Brighter Futures Fund (BBFF) aims to support young people furthest from the labour market by providing opportunities to gain the skills and confidence to succeed through education, training and employment, throughout Scotland. The BBFF is funded by Hub Community Foundation (HCF) and managed by Inspiring Scotland.
Find out more

CashBack for Communities

Active
CashBack for Communities is a unique Scottish Government programme which reinvests criminal assets recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) and invests in projects delivering positive futures for young people. In Phase 6, 29 CashBack Partner organisations are funded to deliver activities including diversionary youth work and longer term life changing intervention projects.
Find out more

Intandem

Active
intandem is Scotland’s national mentoring programme, offering regular mentoring to children and young people aged 8-14 years involved in the care system. Mentoring is part of the scaffolding supporting children and young people living at home (under a compulsory supervision order) or with extended family (kinship care), or at risk of becoming so. 
Find out more

Our Future Now

Active
Our Future Now is Inspiring Scotland’s fund aimed specifically at supporting young people into education, employment or training. A 10 year mutli investor fund investing in 12 high performing charities support young people in their communities and schools, at home, and in their workplaces.
Find out more

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health

Active
The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund has been set up by the Scottish Government to support third sector organisations that provide crucial support services for new and expectant parents, carers, infants and families who are experiencing mental health issues in the perinatal period. Inspiring Scotland manages the fund and works with funded charities and the Scottish Government to achieve the goals of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board.
Find out more

Thrive Outdoors

Active
Thrive Outdoors is focused on using outdoor play as a catalyst to improve the lives of children, young people and families across Scotland.  We lead on the delivery and development of outdoor play opportunities in communities, nurseries and schools across Scotland. Our team are experts in outdoor play and learning and are committed to equip families, childcare professionals and educators with the confidence, and skills to encourage children and young people to play and learn outdoors.
Find out more

Youth Action Fund

Active
Established by The Distillers’ Charity, and managed by Inspiring Scotland the Youth Action Fund aims to transform the life chances of people, aged between 16 and 25, in Scotland who are facing significant barriers to reach their potential, and empower them to create positive change in their lives and their communities.
Find out more

Flourishing
Lives

We believe that everyone in Scotland deserves, and has a right, to live their life to their maximum ability.  We believe that change is best informed and driven by the people who experience the challenges most directly.

We will fund, support, develop, and learn from organisations that help people and communities who face barriers to inclusion, and who may need support and services to thrive and live independently.

Funds

Creative Communities

Active
The Creative Communities programme supports communities to develop and deliver initiatives involving culture and creative arts and focuses support on people and places where social or geographical circumstances make engaging with cultural activities more challenging.
Find out more

Delivering Equally Safe

Active
Delivering Equally Safe is the Scottish Government’s funding programme to support third sector organisations and public bodies contribute to the objectives, priorities and outcomes of the Equally Safe Strategy. It funds 112 organisations working across Scotland providing, essential services to reduce violence against women and girls and support the aims and priorities of Equally Safe.
Find out more

Equality & Human Rights

Active
The Equality and Human Rights Fund supports a portfolio of 48 organisations delivering work focused on tackling inequality and discrimination, furthering equality, and advancing the realisation of human rights in Scotland. 
Find out more

Increasing Understanding of Autism

Active
The Increasing Understanding of Autism Programme aims to make Scotland a more accessible, inclusive and understanding place for autistic people to learn, work and live. The programme is directed by autistic people’s lived experiences with the Autism Advisory Forum expanding from 50 to 150 autistic people in Scotland.
Find out more

Inspiring Inclusion

Active
The Inspiring Inclusion fund works towards the aims of the Scottish Government's autism and learning difficulty transformation plan . This plan recognises that people who have a learning disability have the same aspirations and expectations as everyone else and is guided by a vision shaped by the Scottish Government’s ambition for all citizens.
Find out more

Link Up

Active
Link Up is among the largest and longest-running programmes of its kind in Scotland, bringing people together to create activities and events by and for the community. Link Up was established in 2012 without a set model or framework, just the premise that the ingredients for lasting change already lie in our communities in the shape of the passion, strengths, skills, knowledge and interests of local people, and when people are connected and energised, radical change can and does happen.
Find out more

Support in the Right Direction

Active
The Support in the Right Direction (SiRD) programme provides local independent support, advice and advocacy in line with Scottish Government’s vision for Self-directed Support. nspiring Scotland is the strategic delivery partner for the programme and works with funded projects to provide support ranging from strategic engagement with the local context, sharing learning and relationship building through peer networking. Currently, 29 organisations across 31 local authority areas in Scotland are funded by Scottish Government through the SiRD programme.
Find out more

Survivors of Childhood Abuse Support Fund

Active
Funded by Scottish Government and supported by Inspiring Scotland, SOCAS is a £10m 4 year fund aiming to support all survivors have equal access to services in Scotland. It will also address waiting lists for support, encourage collaboration and innovation amongst third sector providers, and build integration with statutory services.
Find out more

Previous Work

Workforce Wellbeing Fund for Adult Social Work and Social Care

The Scottish Government announced on 31 January 2022 a new fund to improve staff wellbeing across the Adult Social Work and Social Care sectors. The Fund opened for applications on 1 February 2022 and closed midday on 29 July 2022.

Read More

Island Communities Fund

As part of the Scottish Government’s National Island Plan commitment, Inspiring Scotland managed the one year Island Communities Fund, assessing 180 applications requesting over £160M. 35 projects received investment; from electric vehicles to projects supporting locally grown food and drink to textiles sourced and produced on islands all focused on supporting employment and community resilience through activities that deliver green economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read More

Healthy Islands Fund

The Healthy Islands Fund (HIF) was a £1.3 million investment from the Scottish Government as part the National Island Plan to improve and promote health, social care and wellbeing for Scottish island communities. The one year fund supported 56 community-led initiatives that promoted healthier lifestyles on the islands received funding and support.

Read More

Rural Communities Ideas into Action Fund

Rural Communities Ideas into Action (RCIA) was a £1.8 million investment from the Scottish Government to test future approaches to Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) in rural and island communities in Scotland over 2021-22. It enabled rural groups to try new approaches to genuine community development: tackling local challenges and creating viable and resilient communities. 120 projects supporting 389 community groups in 26 local authority areas were supported in the funding round. Inspiring Scotland has continued to work with the Scottish Government to develop support for rural groups and investment in this area.

Read More