DO YOU QUALIFY?

Application Criteria

While each of the trustees has their own idea of what makes a good application, there are a few general guidelines they follow during the review process.

Smaller, local organisations will be preferred to larger well-funded ones.

Charities helping greater numbers of people will be preferred to those helping only a few.

Group activity is preferred to individual support.

Those involved in early intervention will be preferred.

Those helping people with limited resources are preferred to those helping a broader cross-section of the community.

Specific projects are preferred to general funding, but applications for contributions to the cost of employing staff and community workers are acceptable.

Achieving aims through sport, organised physical activity, the arts, yoga and education are preferred.

Building projects are not generally supported.

In Canada, applications relating to issues facing First Nation citizens and those in remote, rural areas are also accepted.

Individuals and organisations that are not registered charities are not eligible to apply.

Does your organisation qualify to apply?

The following directives provide applicants with an idea of what trustees consider when assessing applications:

You must be recognised as a charity either in Scotland or in Canada, and have a charity number assigned to you either by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) or Revenue Canada.

The primary beneficiaries of the support services you provide should be considered youth, the elderly or veterans. Your application should make it clear that your charity’s beneficiaries are either in their early or later years. There are no restrictions regarding the age of veterans.

We accept applications from the education, health, social support, and arts sectors. The work of your charity can relate to personal or new skills development, literacy, mental health, drug and alcohol dependency, housing, befriending, community groups, environmental issues/gardening and play.

Your turnover should be no more than £5m.

Apply now

HOW TO APPLY

Our application process explained

Our new online portal will allow you to complete your application entirely online. This is how it works:

Applicants

40+

Review Period

±30 days

Grant Outcome

±30 days

1

Apply Online

When applying online, you will be asked to login to the application portal using your charity number as an ID. You can save the progress of your application and return to complete the submission process at any time. The application involves a number of questions (most are tickboxes) and requires the submission of the following supporting documents:

Your annual accounts
An explanation of your charity’s aims
A brief explanation of the reason you are applying for funding (whether it pertains to a specific project or day-to-day operational costs like salaries)
Any additional documents that may help our trustees to make a decision

2

Reviewing Process

The Trust convenes twice a year during March and October to review applications.

To be considered during the March meeting, applications must have reached the secretary no later than 15th February.

To be considered during the October meeting, applications must have reached the secretary by 15th September.

If they meet the criteria, late submissions will automatically be held over for consideration at the next meeting.

3

Application Outcome

Applications will be acknowledged, in most cases via email. If you do not receive such an acknowledgement, please contact the secretary.

If you are advised that your application has arrived late, the secretary will indicate whether you will need to update the application for later consideration.

You will be informed of an outcome as soon as possible after the March/October meeting and will receive funding shortly thereafter or as per an alternative arrangement.

Ready to apply?

Please ensure that you are familiar with all the criteria and guidelines before beginning your application.

Apply today

Frequently Asked
Questions

I am an individual seeking funding for a project of my own. Can I apply?

No. We only provide grants to registered charities in Scotland and Canada.

We have only just received charitable status and are looking for funds to get up and running. We do not yet have any completed accounts. Can we still apply?

Yes. We are interested in hearing from new charities looking to fill a need not covered by others. In the absence of accounts let us have your budget projections and details of other fundraising initiatives and financial papers with details of your charity trustees and what you plan to do.

We are a small charity. Is it worth applying?

Yes. We like to encourage smaller local organisations who are part of their community.

We are a large charity seeking support for a specific project. Can we apply?

We do not normally accept applications from organisations with an income of morethan £5m.

We are a hospice looking after people of all ages. Can we apply?

Yes. We do support hospices regardless of age.

We provide support for veterans of all ages. Can we apply?

Yes. We are keen to support organisations helping those who have served in the armedforces regardless of their age.

We are building a new facility to provide more suitable space for the people we support. Can we apply for funds for that?

No. We will not generally support building projects.

We are undertaking research into issues relating to youth/elderly. Can we apply?

No. We will not support research projects. Our focus is on providing day to day help needed more immediately

How young is youth, and how old is elderly?

We take a fairly flexible approach to these, and have no firm age criteria. Your service users should though be recognisable as in their early or later years.

We are looking for funding over a set period as this will enable us to make a more definite plan. Will you support that or will we need to apply every year?

We prefer not to commit to funding over a number of years but do recognise that this can make the difference between a piece of good work going ahead or not.We are therefore happy to look at applications of this kind and be persuaded of the need for future funding. We will however be mindful of over committing ourselves.

We are an English charity registered with the Charity Commission. Can we apply?

No. You must have a charity number issued by OSCR or Revenue Canada to apply.

I am having problems in making my application. What should I do?

Contact the secretaries. (details here)

When will I know whether we have been successful?

You will receive an email shortly after the trustees have met.

When will we receive the funds?

When you are advised of the successful outcome you will be asked for bank details and the payment will be processed shortly thereafter.

Will we need to provide you with updates on how our work is going?

We will not normally ask for a formal update about how the money has been spent.Receiving a grant though does mean that we are interested in your work and we may get in touch to check on how it is going.