Foundation Scotland reopens Covid-19 support fund after giving £855k to local projects

The Foundation has entered the second phase of its Covid-19 response.

Foundation Scotland has reopened its Covid-19 fund to support groups and charities across the Lothians.

The foundation distributed £855,000 to over 220 groups in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas during the first phase of its response.

The second phase has now launched, and the foundation is encouraging eligible organisations to apply.

SCRAN Youth Academy received support from the fund. Picture: Hannah Bailey

Niddrie-based Passion4Fusion, which provides mental health support online to BME people and their families, received £4,000 from the foundation.

Project Manager Helene Rodger said: “With Foundation Scotland funding we were able to provide the resources needed for young people to use for homeschooling and to attend our virtual supportive activities.

"Delivering these to the young people was an amazing experience, you could see the gratitude on their faces. One dad brought out the whole family to say thank you. It was a very humbling experience.”

SCRAN Youth Academy, U-Evolve Edinburgh and the Open Foor Accommodation Project all also received funding.

Passion4Fusion received £4,000 from Foundation Scotland.

Sharing A Story CIC, which runs workshops aimed at fostering a positive and social focus in people through reading and creative writing, was given support to work with women affected by domestic abuse.

Founder and Director Lorna Hill said: “We are delighted that Foundation Scotland is supporting us to work with women affected by domestic abuse particularly in such challenging times. We have been able to run online creative writing workshops; offer mentoring; one to one support and writing resources to service users at Women's Aid East and Midlothian.

"Creativity encourages self expression and allows us try out new things and explore our own stories. I am always hugely inspired by the women I work with and it's great to see their confidence grow when they realise they are creative and they do have stories they want to share.

"Research shows that empowering people, through creative interventions, can build self-confidence and self-esteem which can be a particular issue for a lot of women who have been affected by domestic abuse. We hope these sessions will encouraging a positive and social focus for people particularly when we are not all able to meet in person as we would normally do.'

Launched in March, Foundation Scotland’s crisis fund was the first source of community funding to open as the coronavirus pandemic hit the country.

Working in partnership with the National Emergencies Trust, the fund paused to new applications in June to take time to review and plan how best to adapt the fund to meet the changing needs within Scottish communities.

Foundation Scotland programme manager Helen Wray said: “We have worked hard to get support to where it is needed most through this challenging time. Through our continual assessment of applications, it was clear that we were starting to see a gradual shift in focus.

"More requests for funding started to come in to support service adaptation for beyond lockdown, to help groups plan ahead. We paused briefly to take time to take stock, review and renew the focus.

"We needed to ensure sufficient funds were in place for all groups and registered charities in need throughout the country, making sure we target funds to where they were needed most. So we have worked closely with other key bodies through this process such as with our partner The National Emergencies Trust and with other key organisations in the sector such as SCVO and the Third Sector Interfaces to get this focus right.”