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Support in Mind Scotland - Rural Community Engagement Fund - Funding Scotland

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Support in Mind Scotland - Rural Community Engagement Fund 

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Support in Mind Scotland - Rural Community Engagement Fund 

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Deadline: 21 October

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Support in Mind Scotland - Rural Community Engagement Fund - Funding Scotland

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Local groups and organisations across Scotland’s Rural Communities are able to apply for micro grants to support and promote mental health recovery following the pandemic in Scotland’s rural communities through community engagement and support approaches. The Scheme is designed to fund creative loca…

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Feed into the new Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy consultation with the Scottish Government 

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Feed into the new Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy consultation with the Scottish Government 

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The Scottish Government is using Eventbrite to organize 5 upcoming events. Check out The Scottish Government's events, learn more, or contact this organizer.

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Mental Health: Exploring the Current Landscape (Centred)

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Mental Health: Exploring the Current Landscape (Centred)

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Mental Health: Exploring the Current Landscape - SCVO

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Discussions about mental health have become increasingly mainstream in recent years, with contributions from all sectors and levels of society. Changes in legislation aligned to human rights coupled with state aspirations to achieve parity of esteem between physical and mental health suggest that the subject is being treated with a renewed focus.

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Getting to grips with... Training sessions with Inspiring Scotland for Rural Groups 

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Getting to grips with... Training sessions with Inspiring Scotland for Rural Groups 

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Rural Communities: Getting to grips with...

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This events programme seeks to provide targeted help and support to small, community led, grassroots rural organisations who have not applied for Scottish Government or LEADER funding before or who have been unsuccessful in the past.

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Think Health Think Nature is the work of the Highland Green Health Partnership, one of four area-wide partnerships developed in Scotland contributing towards “Our Natural Health Service”, a programme being led by NatureScot which aims to encourage more use of the outdoors to tackle physical inactivity, mental health issues and health inequalities. They have a regular mailing list and often support funding

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Taking time to enjoy your local outdoor green space could bring you huge health benefits - getting outdoors is good for your physical, mental, and social well-being. Regardless of age and ability, there really is something for everyone, including groups and organisations in your local area that can support you.

You may not be the "outside type" but we aren't talking mountain climbing and adrenalin sports here, we're talking small steps to make a positive change. It could be anything from a walk to the local park or some windowsill gardening (you can bring the outside indoors too!).

Think Health Think Nature is here as a free resource to help you explore and enjoy your local green spaces.

You can find out more about the people and reasoning behind Think Health Think Nature by visiting our About Us page, here.

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Taking time to enjoy your local outdoor green space could bring you huge health benefits - getting outdoors is good for your physical, mental, and social well-being. Regardless of age and ability, there really is something for everyone, including groups and organisations in your local area that can support you.

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The Highland Green Health Small Grant Fund

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The Highland Green Health Small Grant Fund

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Between May 2019 and October 2021, the Think Health Think Nature work programme has supported 54 community groups with small grant funding to enable the establishment of Green Health initiatives across Highland.

Green Health Small Grant Fund 2021: Grants of up to £5000 were distributed to 11 community projects aimed at promoting Green Health and tackling Health Inequalities. An evaluation report can be found here.

High Life Highland (HLH) Leader Funded Green Health Projects 2020 and 2021 In close partnership with THTN, HLH appointed a Green Health Project Officer between 2020 and 2021 to distribute funding to community groups supporting a total of 43 initiatives and events across Highland. As a direct result of the restrictions imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic, the project was adapted and also   funded 12 Highland community groups to put together and distribute over 2000 Green Health Home Packs to vulnerable households. The project evaluation can be found here.

Click on the map below to view some the projects in Highland:

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The National Rural Mental Health Forum is a strong dedicated network of over 225 organisations from third, private and public sectors, with an outreach of over 500,000 people in rural Scotland

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The National Rural Mental Health Forum is a strong dedicated network of over 225 organisations from third, private and public sectors, with an outreach of over 500,000 people in rural Scotland

The Forum features as an action point of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy (2017 – 2027) and is named in their Suicide Action Plan, Every Life Matters.

The National Rural Mental Health Forum is passionate about –

enabling rural people to be open about their mental health

developing a solid evidence base for what works to improve people’s lives

creating a programme to influence and inform policy-makers to channel resources in ways that bring positive change through a network of rural organisations across Scotland

“it is everyone’s business to tackle mental health and wellbeing”

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Dedicated to ensuring people in rural scotland lead mentally healthy lives

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Interface connect businesses to academics  and can help link to funding (including £5K and above Innovation Vouchers for SMEs). You can get in touch with the team directly through the website including through kirsty.buchanan@interface-online.org.uk

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Interface Knowledge Connection | Collaborate with academia to solve business challenges

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Interface works with businesses of all sizes, in all sectors, to match them to Scotland's world-leading academic expertise. Interested in accessing academic support? Contact us.

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A resource synthesising research around wellbeing and includes toolkits to support measurement, evaluation and sharing learning on wellbeing

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We are the UK's independent body for
wellbeing evidence, policy and practice

Our work aims to accelerate research and democratise access to wellbeing evidence
Find out more about us

We've got a wide range of evidence, guidance, information, and other resources. If you're looking for a good place to start, here's what we'd recommend:

Sign up to our weekly e-mail list

Sign up to receive resources, insights and evidence as they are published.

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We are the UK's independent body for wellbeing evidence, policy and practice Our work aims to accelerate research and democratise access to wellbeing evidence Find out more about us PrintFriendly

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A Voice For Rural Scotland

Sharing knowledge. Shaping policy.

Join the rural movement

Together we are a powerful voice for rural and island communities

Remote, rural and connected

Be part of our network

Previous Next

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Sharing knowledge. Shaping policy. Together we are a powerful voice for rural and island communities Be part of our network Previous Next

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Home | The National Lottery Community Fund

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The National Lottery Community Fund gives grants to organisations in the UK to help improve their communities. The money awarded comes from the UK National Lottery.

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Catalyst provides innovative support and tailored training to small businesses and sole traders.

The programme is designed for the leaders of these businesses/organisations to access meaningful training at a time to suit their diverse needs.

Participants have the opportunity to work through tailor-made modules through a 100% online programme (virtual).

Catalyst offers accessible training that suits your needs and preferences.

Developed with your needs in mind, Catalyst ensures broad input from many small business innovators.

Through shared experience across all sectors, you have the opportunity to unlock the growth potential of your enterprise.

Through the course you will:

increase your personal, entrepreneurial ambition and understanding;

increase your levels of leadership skills/practice;

become more productive.

Each of the Catalyst modules are designed and delivered in a manner that ensures course content is relevant to each individual learner; and encourages them to connect learning with their own business practice.
In response to the learning undertaken, there are tutor-led twilight sessions in which learners are encouraged to:

identify areas of their business which they might develop or change;

consider specific challenges/questions to relation to their own context.

Eight entrepreneurs, who have built successful businesses in the Highlands & Islands, act as role models - by sharing their stories on film.

How will my small business benefit?

The Catalyst programme will allow you to grow in confidence and support you to identify barriers, and develop ways to overcome them. Likewise, you will be better placed to identify opportunities and confidently follow them up.

Participants have shown that their change in mindset, as a result of the course, has made their businesses:

more innovative

more proactive

better able to influence others

plan strategically

initiate and plan for change.

Click here to view the Catalyst programme leaflet.
Email us at catalyst.ic@uhi.ac.uk for further information or to register your interest.

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Catalyst provides innovative support and tailored training to small businesses and sole traders. The programme is designed for the leaders of these businesses/organisations to access meaningful training at a time to suit their diverse needs. Participants have the opportunity to work through tailor-made modules through a 100% online programme (virtual).

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Find local support for each local authority's TSI

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TSI Scotland Network - Supporting Scotland's Third Sector

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The TSI Scotland Network consists of 32 TSIs (Third Sector Interfaces) operating in every local authority area in Scotland to support and promote the third sector.

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An informal network to support the links between culture and wellbeing
https://www.scienceceilidh.com/culturewellbeing

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A community of practice for those interested in wellbeing with young people through culture and creativity

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Open Mind is a programme of events, commissions and a network exploring the role of creativity and culture in improving young people's wellbeing. Following our third annual Summit in 2021, we explored the idea with delegates of launching Open Mind Network, a quarterly community of practice.

The Open Mind Network is a new community of practice bringing together practitioners across Scotland and sectors passionate about supporting young people around creativity and mental health and wellbeing.

We aim to meet quarterly online to:

Support network building

Share developing practice and challenges openly

Signpost to resources and build connectivity.

For our next Open Mind Network on 12 May 2022, we're exploring the theme Gather, and this year's Mental Health Awareness Week theme of reducing loneliness. This network will use a "teach-meet" format inviting practitioners to share a current project or idea for 5 minutes that addresses these themes.

Any practitioners interested in young people, culture and mental health are welcome to join the networking and open discussions including teachers, youth workers, creative practitioners and researchers.

The Open Mind Network is facilitated by Create Paisley and Science Ceilidh (with support from Future Paisley and other partners) and we want this to be a peer-led network for and with those working in this space and would welcome format and theme ideas!

For our first Open Mind Network on 10 Feb 2022, we had Professor Paul Ramchandani, LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Development and Learning at Universtity of Cambridge, as a spotlight talk discussing his research on play and children's development and mental health. You can watch Paul's talk and the Q&A here.

Open Mind Summit was launched in 2019 on World Mental Health Day (10 October). The sell-out event attracted like-minded individuals of all ages to be inspired, learn, collaborate and connect. In 2020 and 2021, the Summit moved online exploring themes around how creativity can reduce loneliness (during lockdown) and mental health for all.

Over the last 3 years, the summit has hosted a diverse lineup of young people, artists, activists and influencers, national organisations, educators, researchers and more with keynotes from Angela Awuah, Darren McGarvey, Jo Musker-Sherwood, Steven McLeish and Ollie Bray.

In 2021, we built upon the annual programme, launching a community of practice, international commissions (including 10,000 Miles) and started to explore running smaller events as part of Children's Mental Health Week and connecting with our programme as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival in May.

You can find out more about our commissions and watch content from the 2021 event below.

Directed by Jemma Stein, 10,000 Miles is celebration of connection and creativity and showcases the work of two dance companies in Paisley, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia and their experiences with connecting across the globe.

With support from Jemma Stein, Kyall Shanks ( yellowwheel), Joanne McKissack and Aileen Palombo ( right2dance) and Anna Kenrick (YDance), the groups came together to collaborate, showcase their dancing and to generate new dance material and spoken word, exploring themes of connection during a time of lockdown.

10,000 Miles was funded by Renfrewshire Council and delivered in partnership with Create Paisley as part of Future Paisley. Future Paisley is radical and wide-ranging programme of events, activities and investments using the town's unique and internationally significant cultural stories to transform its future.

'STOP THE WORLD' is a devised short film which explores the pressure that young people are facing in this era of severe climate crisis. Written and devised by the young people themselves, it follows their individual experiences of eco anxiety, as well as reminding us to remain always hopeful and active in our fight to save the planet. #stoptheworld #climateanxiety

Written by Iona Ramsay, starring young people from PACE Youth Theatre.

On Friday 8th October 2021, we met for our third Open Mind Summit online, exploring the theme Mental Health for All with three sub-themes: Nature for All, Connections for All and Justice for All. The programme this year reflected these themes, with 3 keynote speakers and a morning panel discussion. Our morning session was opened by Clare Haughey MSP, Scottish Minister for Children and Young People.

Keynote Speakers included:

Jo Musker-Sherwood has over fifteen years' experience in the charity sector. As the Founder Director of Hope for the Future, she oversaw the charity's growth from a small project to a national NGO impacting climate policy at all levels of government. Following an experience of activism-related burnout, Jo turned her attention to researching and developing strategies for emotional and ecological wellbeing. She is a coach in training, and currently researches, writes, mentors, and consults on emotional resilience strategies for those working in the environmental sector. You can find out more about her approach at www.climateemergence.co.uk/blog.

Ollie Bray is currently Strategic Director at Education Scotland where he overall strategic responsibility for National Improvement Initiatives and Professional Learning and Leadership. This includes major national initiatives including Wellbeing and Equality. Immediately before rejoining Education Scotland he was Global Director: Connecting Play and Education at the LEGO Foundation (www.legofoundation.com) where he led the Foundations work related to education improvement through the use of technology and play.

Angela Awuah is founder and director of award-winning social enterprise Mental Health The Arts (MHTA), an early intervention creative arts academy in South London which works with young people on developing creative coping mechanisms using their gifts and talents. She has been a carer for over 10 years for a family member that was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Her background involves campaigning, public speaking and youth-led social action. She has won several youth social entrepreneurship awards and has recently completed a MSc Degree in Public Mental Health.

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Open Mind is a programme of events, commissions and a network exploring the role of creativity and culture in improving young people's wellbeing. Following our third annual Summit in 2021, we explored the idea with delegates of launching Open Mind Network, a quarterly community of practice.

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UHI's Division for Rural Health and Wellbeing 

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UHI's Division for Rural Health and Wellbeing 

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We carry out research, knowledge exchange, commercialisation and teaching activities that are related to the physical, mental health and wellbeing of people living or working within remote and rural communities.

The Division of Rural Health and Wellbeing (RHW) is part of the Institute of Health Research and Innovation within the School of Health, Social Care and Life Sciences. Our team works to advance theory, knowledge and practice in the field of rural health.

Our research aims to contribute to increasing the evidence base in the following areas:

How to keep physically and mentally well within remote and rural areas.

To increase motivation within remote and rural populations to stay well (e.g. to engage in health promoting behaviours, behaviour change and self-management).

Understand the facilitators and barriers to keeping well in remote and rural areas.

To reduce health inequalities in remote and rural areas.

To facilitate access to health and wellbeing promoting services and activities within remote and rural areas.

To facilitate access to statutory health and care services within remote and rural areas.

Innovative approaches to services delivery in remote and rural areas.

The Scottish Rural Health Partnership (SRHP), formerly known as the Scottish School of Rural Health & Wellbeing, is currently being hosted by The Rural Health and Wellbeing group; read more about the work of SRHP.

Our division in more detail

Our expertise

Our expertise

Our research activities are grounded firmly within the arts, social sciences and humanities. Although we work across several different disciplines, and are involved in inter- and multi-disciplinary work with researchers beyond these areas, there are several key characteristics to our research:

Expertise in arts, creative industries, social science and humanities

Expertise in commercial and social marketing behaviour change

Inter-disciplinarity and transdisciplinary

Placing research participants at the heart of the process

It's starting point is the need for evidence based and demonstrable real world impact

Draws on our expertise of working in and with remote and rural communities since 2007

Grounded within theories of human nature, psychology, behaviour change, public health, health geography and rural sociology.

Our research methods

Our research methods

There has been a UHI research team specialising in rural health and wellbeing, based at the Centre for Health Science in Inverness since 2007. The nature of our research and associated activities has meant that over this time, we have impact both within and beyond academia.

Our activities benefit remote and rural residents, healthcare professionals and communities contributing to changes in policy and practice relating to rural health and wellbeing. Our Division has been involved in the development of new rural health innovations and products. The theory, concepts, methods and tools developed within our Division have contributed to the field of rural health and other disciplines such as health geography and rural sociology.

Our team have particular expertise in:

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Mixed methods research

Participatory methods

Longitudinal methods

Social Return on Investment

Explore our research expertise, projects and publications

Our themes

Our themes

We have a vision to undertake world leading research in rural health and wellbeing. This is split into two work-streams, each led by a senior academic:

Co-Production and Participation

Digital Health Technologies and Strategies

Co-Production and Participation

Workstream Lead: Dr. Sarah-Anne Munoz, Reader in Rural Health and Wellbeing

Considering the interactions and communications between service providers, service users, communities and stakeholders in remote and rural areas. The work stream focuses on current issues of importance to remote and rural health and wellbeing:

Tools and methods for community engagement in service design

Evaluation of community engagement for health and wellbeing within the public sector

Service delivery through the voluntary and third sectors

Social prescribing and related activity

Engagement with nature and landscape for health and wellbeing

Use of participatory and creative methods for health and wellbeing

We run an annual intensive short course on co-production for research and social change, find out more on the Research and Social Change Residential Workshop webpage.

Digital Health Technologies and Strategies

Workstream Lead: Dr. Mark Grindle, Senior Lecturer in Digital Health

In this area we consider how health services and wellbeing enhancing activities are delivered and accessed in remote and rural areas. The work stream focuses on current issues of importance to remote and rural health and wellbeing:

Technology enabled access to existing and new services

Technology enabled behaviour change interventions

Innovative products, services and delivery

Engagement with nature and landscape for health and wellbeing

Use of participatory and creative methods for health and wellbeing

Contact us

Contact us

Division of Rural Health and Wellbeing

Centre for Health Science
Old Perth Road
Inverness
IV2 3JH
View Google Map
t: +44 (0)1463 279573

Acting Head of Rural Health and Wellbeing: sarah-anne.munoz@uhi.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Digital Health: mark.grindle@uhi.ac.uk

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We carry out research, knowledge exchange, commercialisation and teaching activities that are related to the physical, mental health and wellbeing of people living or working within remote and rural communities. The Division of Rural Health and Wellbeing (RHW) is part of the Institute of Health Research and Innovation within the School of Health, Social Care and Life Sciences.

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A cultural funding scheme with an ethos centred on communities. There isn't a current round out at the moment but worth keeping on your radar if this interests you.

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Many thanks for visiting our website. During the current COVID-19 situation, Inspiring Scotland is still open, but we're working remotely until further notice. The easiest way to reach team members is by mobile or email. You can also reach us at enquiries@inspiringscotland.org.uk. We'll be keeping the website updated and we're also on Twitter @InspiringSland

Culture is a part of every community

Creative Communities is a new programme that aims to support and empower communities to develop cultural activities.

The programme will distribute up to £600,000 to support communities to develop new initiatives involving culture and creative arts for the period October 2020-June 2021.

In addition to investing in projects, Inspiring Scotland will provide a number of community organisations with development support to progress ideas to the point where they can be more fully funded over the course of a second year.

Creative Communities is funded jointly by the Scottish Government's Culture and Justice directorates, and aims to extend opportunities for people to take part in culture throughout their lives.
Applications are open from July 1 until August 12.

About the programme

Creative Communities forms a key part of the Culture Strategy for Scotland, and is based on the belief that cultural activity has broad, interlinked benefits for people and communities.

We are looking to support communities to develop and implement programmes of cultural activity. Support will be focused on communities where social or geographical circumstances make engaging with cultural activities more challenging.

We expect to fund 10-15 initiatives requiring between £10,000 and £40,000, to be delivered between October 2020 and June 2021. There may be the option for funding to be renewed thereafter. We are also looking to support early-stage ideas which are not yet ready for implementation with seed funding and development support.

Read the Information and Guidance Notes for the programme here.

How to apply

A simple application process involving a short series of questions can be completed in written form or submitted as a video.

You are welcome to attach supporting materials (photos, videos, links) to help us understand the creative element of the proposal, but please remember that only ideas for new initiatives will be eligible.

To help you prepare your answers for online submission, the application questions, required budget template and guidance are provided here .

To request an application, please submit your details via the Expression of Interest form .

Eligible applicants will then receive a link to the application.

Further information
To find out more about applying to Creative Communities:

One-to-one information surgery sessions are available between July 8-30(daily Mon-Thu, various times). Book an appointment here .

Creative Communities information webinar

Creative Communities performance advisor Erica Judge held an information webinar for potential programme applicants on Wednesday July 15 th, 2020. Watch a recording of the session here.

Sign up for our newsletter

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Funding for 31 SiRD social care projects has been extended to March 2022 with an additional £2.9m in Scottish Gover... https://t.co/hiDVEIXCHu

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Creative Communities - Inspiring Scotland

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Many thanks for visiting our website. During the current COVID-19 situation, Inspiring Scotland is still open, but we're working remotely until further notice. The easiest way to reach team members is by mobile or email. You can also reach us at enquiries@inspiringscotland.org.uk.

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The Scottish Consortium for Rural Research is a collaboration between 24 organisations who work together to produce and share rural science for public good.

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SCRR/RSE Peter Wilson Lecture - The time for rural is now

23 May 2022, The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Register here

“Resilience” and “sustainability” are described as essential goals that we must reach. We must also address connected crises of climate, biodiversity and livelihoods. Research and practice in rural Scotland are already, and will continue, to support the opportunities and address the challenges that we’re facing, in Scotland, the UK and internationally.

Come and hear inspirational speakers challenge and provoke us about how “the time for rural is NOW”. Listen to established and earlier career researchers debate and give their views. And have YOUR say as to how rural can shine a light on the possibilities and opportunities for addressing the “grand challenges” and “wicked problems” of our and future generations.

We are excited to confirm that our speakers for the event are:

Professor Julie Fitzpatrick OBE, Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) for Scotland, Scientific Director of Moredun Research Institute and CEO of The Moredun Foundation. She also holds a Chair in Food Security at the University of Glasgow’s College of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences.

Claire Taylor, Agricultural Communicator with Jane Craigie Marketing and Herald Columnist.

Dr Leslie Mabon, Lecturer in Environmental Systems in the School of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University.

SCRR’s third mini-conference for Early Career Researchers (ECRs): “Rural research in Scotland 2022: facing up to the challenges“

We have taken the decision to postpone the November 2021 SCRR Mini-Conference for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) until we can all meet in person. We are therefore rescheduling our gathering to November 2022.

This will allow us to plan for: face-to-face engagement with ECRs rather than an online-only experience; networking between ECRs and those from the public, private and third sectors; plus mingling with some of Scotland’s leading scientists. We will also be organising contributions (and question/answer sessions) from specialists on developing careers and writing for peer-reviewed publication.

This will be a richer experience for everyone, creating more informal opportunities to talk with ECRs and learn about each other’s work, as well as network with many others with an interest in rural issues.

We will update the website nearer the time to confirm new details.

Our latest newsletter for spring 2022 – out now!

OUR LATEST NEWSLETTER is just out and has a diversity theme for spring. Contents include…

Prof Des Thompson of NatureScot on the nature-climate crisis.

Seaweed project funding will benefit the ‘blue economy’.

An ambitious project to sequence 70,000 species.

It’s available to download in Newsletters.

SCRR / RSE Peter Wilson Lecture 2021

This event, the showpiece in our annual event calendar, was an online seminar held on 21 May and chaired by Dr Rebekah Widdowfield, chief executive of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Focusing on how we face the twin challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global climate emergency.

Read more

About SCRR

The Scottish Consortium for Rural Research is a collaboration between 24 organisations who work together to produce and share rural science for public good.

Our member organisations are active in research into land, freshwater, coastal and marine resources, and their uses – including farming, forestry, aquaculture and recreation.

Find out more

Next meeting

The 147th meeting of the SCRR Executive Committee takes place online on Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 10am.

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SCRR – Scottish Consortium for Rural Research

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Community Centres Investment Fund

A new capital fund of €15 million for the improvement and refurbishment of existing community centres in Ireland Read more

Brent Cross Town Community Fund

Grants of £500-£5,000 to new or existing local initiatives that boost local wellbeing and create flourishing communities Read more

Persimmon Community Champions

Donations of up to £2,000 are available every month for community groups and charities across the UK Read more

CDL Fund

Funding for grassroots community based in the borough of Stockport to improve the quality of life, wellbeing and health of the local community Read more

Funding for Global Majority-led arts organisations

Grants of up to £60K available for Global Majority led arts organisations to develop creative work in mental health Read more

The Ann Maguire Arts Education Fund

Grants of up to £10,000 for 2 years will support various arts activities that boost the wellbeing and soft skills of young people  in Leeds. Read more

Bringing People Together

Funding available for voluntary and community organisations across the UK from The National Lottery Community Fund Read more

Vacant Commercial Property Grant Scheme

Grants of £2,500 to £10,000 to help you open new premises in Bristol. Read more

Onward Community Fund

Supporting community groups and projects in neighbourhoods of Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester Read more

The Happiness Fund

Funding for grassroots, neighbourhood-based community projects that build happy, strong, resilient communities across the UK Read more

Scops Arts Trust

Funding for arts projects across the UK Read more

Let’s Move Together Fund

Supporting organisations to create opportunities for people with long-term health conditions to stay active Read more

Sport England’s Together Fund

Supporting specific activities and increasing the availability of exercise opportunities in local communities Read more

Arnold Clark Community Fund

Helping UK charities and local community groups at a time of crisis. Read more

William Syson Foundation

Grants to support arts, heritage, and culture in the UK Read more

The Tudor Trust

Funding for community-led UK organisations Read more

Grand Plan Fund

Grants for people of colour to realise cultural projects Read more

Cheshire West Microgrants - Kickstart voluntary art

2021-22 Microgrant scheme across Cheshire West and Chester (funded by the council as part of the Reopening and Recovery Programme for rural areas and local communities) to kickstart creative activity happening in communities across the borough. Read more

The Steel Charitable Trust

Grants for arts/heritage, education, environment, health & disadvantage Read more

The Radcliffe Trust

Grants for music and heritage in the UK Read more

Tesco Community Grants

Applications from across Scotland welcome Read more

Art Fund

Small project grants for visual arts organisations in the UK Read more

Enabling Neighbourhoods and Communities Fund

Funding for Scottish groups from the Corra Foundation Read more

Grants for Good

Supporting your group to make a positive difference in your local community Read more

The Leathersellers' Company

Small grants to support vulnerable people Read more

D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

Grants for UK charities Read more

Andor Charitable Trust

Grants for charities in England and Wales Read more

Golsoncott Foundation

Grants for UK voluntary sector organisations Read more

Hilden Charitable Trust

Grants for UK charities Read more

Southwark Pioneers

Southwark Council's new fund to support the London borough's creative and entrepreneurial residents Read more

Film Education Partnership Fund

Funding to help partnerships and collaboration Read more

Art Roots Fund

Create artistic improvements to the National Cycle Network in Scotland Read more

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As well as the opportunities listed below, visit our page filled with briefings and guidance to help you secure funding for your group here. Welsh language funding listings: Cyllid Contact us with information about a funding opportunity

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Funding opportunities for public engagement with research 

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Funding opportunities for public engagement with research 

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A range of funding opportunities are available to support public engagement activities.

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In Scotland, we focus on social justice and inequality in mental health, raising awareness of mental health with the public and working in partnership with community organisations, policy makers and researchers. The Mental Health Foundation Scotland is officially an accredited Living Wage employer.

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In Scotland, we focus on social justice and inequality in mental health, raising awareness of mental health with the public and working in partnership with community organisations, policy makers and researchers. The Mental Health Foundation Scotland is officially an accredited Living Wage employer.

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Also provide small research grants which can be led by practitioners

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The Royal Society of Edinburgh recognises, supports and mobilises expertise from across academia, business and public service for the benefit of Scotland and the wider world. Our Fellows from academia, business and public service are among the most distinguished in their fields.

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Provide support for enterprise in rural Scotland

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GrowBiz | Free Business Support Services

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We can help you to find funding sources and assist you with your application.

Are you looking for small business funding?

Do you need help with a funding application?

GrowBiz are here to help small businesses and self-employed people find out what funding is available and to help them to put together their applications.

Whether you’re a new business start-up, an existing business, a social enterprise or a self-employed individual you can search through GrowBiz’s extensive list of grants and loans available to businesses in rural Scotland using this page:

If you would like to discuss any of these topics, or another aspect of your business finance please get in touch to arrange a meeting.

What business funding is available to you

The information and documents that you need to make an application

Cashflow forecasts and other financial planning tools

Alternative types of business finance (eg angel investment, crowdfunding or private loans)

How to budget for your business

How to create a business plan when there is no suitable business funding available

Meetings with the GrowBiz team are free and confidential – contact us here to arrange a meeting:

“GrowBiz helped me navigate the grant application forms and gave me the confidence to apply for funding I never would have thought about before. Thank you GrowBiz.”

— Client, 2021.

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Sign up to our newsletter for the latest coronavirus support updates, GrowBiz events and resources.

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Funding Support Services — GrowBiz | Free Business Support Services

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We provide free and independent information on funding opportunities for Scottish businesses and can support you with applications.

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Knowledge Hub - including the Place and Wellbeing groups  

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Knowledge Hub - including the Place and Wellbeing groups  

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Welcome

Free-to-use digital tools for the global public service community

Connect digitally with colleagues and experts, share knowledge, insight and best practice, learn from experiences and inspire innovation and new ways of working.

Sign up and start using for free now.

Why Knowledge Hub?

The benefits of KHub collaboration

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Connect digitally with colleagues and experts, share knowledge, insight and best practice, learn from experiences and inspire innovation and new ways of working. Sign up and start using for free now.

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The Highlands and Islands Ecosystem for mental health and active healthy ageing is a new collaborative network bringing together academic expertise, industry partners from SMEs to major international companies, health and social care professionals from across the NHS, local government, voluntary sector, and patient and service user representatives.

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Scotland - Highlands & Island Mental Health Ecosystem - ECHAlliance

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The Highlands and Islands Ecosystem for mental health and active healthy ageing is a new collaborative network bringing together academic expertise, industry partners from SMEs to major international companies, health and social care professionals from across the NHS, local government, voluntary sector, and patient and service user representatives.

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IT4Anxiety - Managing anxiety via innovative technologies for better mental health

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IT4Anxiety aims to support the implementation of innovative solutions through start-ups with the objective of reducing the anxiety of patients suffering from mental disorders

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Overview

In 2021 the shared policy programme in the Bute House Agreement committed to establish a 10-year £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray. The Fund was announced in recognition of the particular need to diversify the regional economy away from carbon-intensive industries and to capitalise on the opportunities, including jobs and prosperity, that the transition to net zero will bring..

This guidance and criteria is only for the first year of the Fund. We are committed to applying learning from this first year to future development of the Fund.

Over the last few months we have engaged extensively across the region with businesses, communities, workers, trade unions, enterprise agencies and local authorities to design the Fund, and to understand how our spend can have maximum impact in the region. The outputs from this engagement have been crucial in shaping the Fund such as:

the prioritisation of partnership working over the lifetime of the Fund

the emphasis on Scottish Government to support capacity building in the region

encouraging that future years of the Fund are informed by a just transition vision for the North East and Moray that has been collaboratively designed and agreed

Alongside supporting and monitoring delivery of year one projects, over the coming year we will work with stakeholders to develop that collective just transition vision for the North East and Moray. This will build on the strengths and assets of the regions, including existing economic and net zero visions and strategies. Future projects supported by the Fund will help to realise this vision, and ensure we all pull in the same direction to create truly transformational change.

Read: Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party - Shared Policy Programme

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Just Transition Fund: call for year one projects

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In 2021 the shared policy programme in the Bute House Agreement committed to establish a 10-year £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray. The Fund was announced in recognition of the particular need to diversify the regional economy away from carbon-intensive industries and to capitalise on the opportunities, including jobs and prosperity, that the transition to net zero will bring..

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From one-day workshops and events to intensive support lasting up to a year, the Northern Innovation Hub brings together a wide range of fantastic opportunities designed to fit the needs and aspirations of local businesses.

How we can help you

We’re helping businesses and entrepreneurs build resilience: planning for the future; developing and refining products and services; innovating: and attracting investment. We’ve got programmes offering support across a range of themes:

Young People
Support is available for SMEs across all sectors through Technology Placements and the IMPACT30 programme for young entrepreneurs.

Growth
We can help you build resilience with targeted expert support.

Sectors and Place
Our region has unique opportunities for businesses in life sciences, tourism, food & drink, and the creative industries. We offer targeted support to businesses which want to maximise their impact in these sectors.

Northern Innovation Hub Programmes

We've got something for everyone. Browse our programmes here.

Sign up for the Northern Innovation Hub newsletter

I went on it to be challenged and certainly was. I’m really glad I did, I wouldn’t have be online without it. Trialling the software was a real lightbulb moment that turned everything on its head for me and my business. I would 100% recommend Pathfinder.

Karen Simpson, Director and Tutor, My Primary Tutor

Read More

Who we've helped

Many ambitious and innovative businesses across the Highlands are benefiting from our programmes. Read more about how our support has helped.

Kirsty Elizabeth Studios

A Fort William native, Kirsty, has found time to develop her real passion - a bespoke bridal occasion and evening wear brand. After years of planning and preparation, Kirsty finally took the plunge and launched Kirsty Elizabeth Studio in 2020.

Read more here

My Primary Tutor

Discover how one Highland business owner faced the challenges brought about by COVID-19 and, by taking part in HIE’s Pathfinder Accelerator, was able to turn them into opportunities to innovate and grow.

Read more here

MIME Technologies

NEXUS, our Northern Innovation Hub-supported collaborative co-working space for the life sciences and tech sector, supports the growth of many ambitious young companies. One of these is MIME Technologies.

Read more here

West Highland Museum

When COVID-19 struck, the West Highland Museum in Fort William knew it would need to adapt in order to survive.

Read more here

Proterra

A childhood spent in Papua New Guinea, combined with expertise in micro renewable energy systems, led Terry Stebbings and his brother Neil to develop HydroTrailer, a cost-effective mobile hydropower system designed for developing countries.

Read more here

Pat Munro

In 2019, Pat Munro’s commercial director, Mark Bramley, identified several IT projects that would introduce digitised processes and reduce administration time across all departments. The company’s existing IT team was already stretched, so Mark applied to hire a graduate via our Technology Placement Programme.

Read more here

About the Northern Innovation Hub

The Northern Innovation Hub is part of the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal - a joint initiative supported by £315m investment from the UK and Scottish governments, The Highland Council, HIE and the University of the Highlands and Islands. This programme also receives financial support through the European Regional Development Fund Scotland Programme.

Newsletter

Sign up for all the latest news, information on investments and development opportunities from across our region.

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From one-day workshops to intensive support lasting up to a year, the Northern Innovation Hub brings together a wide range of fantastic opportunities.

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What is the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre doing?

Rural Centre of Excellence

The first project to commence as part of the Moray Growth Deal is to deliver a Rural Centre of Excellence for digital health and care innovation.

DHI has worked closely with the Moray community and partners since 2018 to identify and refine the key challenges and opportunities digital health and care innovation could bring to the local region and takes into consideration our experiences over the last 18 months in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The funding programme aims to support the remobilisation of health and care services and the economic recovery of the Moray region, by investing in research and innovation activities aligned to the digital health and care agenda.

Demonstration and Simulation Environment

The programme will include the creation of a state-of-the-art, anchored, demonstration and simulation environment (DSE) and an enabling cloud infrastructure along with a spread of five co-designed Living Lab testbeds across the Moray region.

Living Labs

The Living Labs will focus on remobilisation and recovery of care services from Covid-19. The Living Labs will be open to all and focus on co-managed wellness, home first, mental health, smart housing and communities, and unscheduled care, reflecting the priorities identified through stakeholder engagement.

All Research and Development projects will be co-designed with person-centred needs at the heart of programmed activity and will deliver real-world evidence that will enable the innovations to be embedded in local services, potentially scaled to other parts of Scotland, the rest of the UK and globally.

The digital health investment will help support Moray to create a dynamic and creative digital health and care cluster enhancing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and secure the provision of sustainable public services whilst creating inclusive growth through the creation of new jobs, development of future skills and equitable access, whilst also contributing to the Net Zero ambitions of the UK.

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Moray Growth Deal and the Rural Centre of Excellence for digital health and care innovation

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A £5 Million capital investment from the UK Government, delivered by the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre, to support the remobilisation of health and care services in Moray, by investing in research and innovation activities aligned to the digital health and care agenda

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NHS Scotland - Digital mental health innovations

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NHS Scotland - Digital mental health innovations

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Chris Wright is national advisor for digital mental health at NHS Scotland / Scottish government. Works closely with DHI, SHIP, CSO, and CfSD to develop, evaluate, and deploy novel mental health innovations

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The Prince's Countryside Fund - Supporting Rural Communities - Funding Scotland

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Summary

The Prince's Countryside Fund provides grants for projects from across the UK which are working to create resilient rural communities. This fund will support community-led projects that are pursuing innovative and strategic solutions to the challenges facing their rural area and improving the long-term viability and resilience of their community.

Successful projects will do one or more of the following:

Support people to resolve existing and emerging community issues, circumstances, and priorities

Build rural community resilience

Develop innovative and replicable projects

Enable leadership and community planning

Successful projects will demonstrate how they are addressing one of more of the following objectives:

Improving the economic or social resilience of a UK rural community

Reducing isolation for people living in rural areas through improving service provision

Creating a rural community fit for the future.

Premium information is available exclusively to SCVO members and supporters

Geographical areas funded: UK

Fund type

Fund award sizes

Who can apply

Applications are encouraged from properly constituted, community-led organisations with a turnover under £500,000 per year, who can demonstrate how beneficiaries will be drawn directly from the local rural community.

When to apply

Applications will open on 1 September 2022 and close at 12 noon on 11 October 2022. Applications will be informed of decision at the beginning of December with first payments being made in January 2023.

Next deadline: 11 Oct 2022

How to apply

Apply online via the Countryside Fund website.

Contact information

Exclusions

Activites funded: Advice & information Citizenship & community involvement Community development & regeneration Community facilities Community safety Transport Education & training Employability services Environment Social care & welfare

Beneficiaries funded: Economically/socially disadvantaged Rural communities

Report inaccuracy

Last reviewed about 1 month ago

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The Prince's Countryside Fund - Supporting Rural Communities - Funding Scotland

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The Prince's Countryside Fund provides grants for projects from across the UK which are working to create resilient rural communities. This fund will support community-led projects that are pursuing innovative and strategic solutions to the challenges facing their rural area and improving the long-term viability and resilience of their community.

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Funding for change: investing in collaboration with communities

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Steve Scott

Public Engagement Lead, UKRI

Tom Saunders

Head of Public Engagement, UKRI

Emily Morrison

We are announcing a £4 million investment in equitable and sustainable models of community engagement in research and knowledge production.

Over the next five years, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is investing over £4 million in the development of a series of community research networks.

The networks will be designed by community groups and partnerships outside of the current research and innovation system. These networks will support organisations to develop the capacity, capability and collaborations required to support research produced in collaboration with communities.

Transforming tomorrow together

This investment links directly to the new UKRI strategy, ' transforming tomorrow, together ', which sets out a vision where research and innovation are at the heart of society. It emphasises the importance of an open, diverse, collaborative and connected system of people, ideas and institutions.

The strategy emphasises UKRI's role is not just to fund research, but to use its resources and influence to nurture cultures, connect institutions and create opportunities and platforms that span boundaries.

The strategy recognises that everyone in the UK has a stake in research and innovation. And that there is a need to build effective collaboration and genuine partnership with a much wider range of people.

An exciting mandate for change

For those of us working to break down the barriers between research and wider society, this emphasis is welcome. It sets a high bar and an exciting mandate for changing how we fund public engagement and who leads it.

We recognise that achieving this vision requires new approaches that are sensitive to groups who have, to date, not had access to or agency in the research and innovation system. We are excited to announce one such approach today.

In the last few years, UKRI has developed programmes, invested in projects, and gathered evidence to support new forms of public engagement. Most importantly, we have listened to and learnt from different groups across the UK to understand whether communities want to play a more active role in the research and innovation system; and, if so, how they might want that to happen.

We've seen that the UK has a rich mix of charities, community organisations, local authorities and collectives who are already working on research with local communities. But this system is disconnected from, and has been undervalued by, the formal research and innovation system.

Traditional approaches to funding community involvement in research, which have largely been short-term projects where communities play limited roles and cannot set the agenda, have done little to change this picture.

More sustainable and equitable

In October 2021, UKRI commissioned The Young Foundation to undertake research to investigate new forms of investment. Investments that might pave the way for more sustainable and equitable forms of collaboration with research and innovation.

Today, we are publishing that research and announcing a new funding opportunity that we hope will support these new ways of collaborating. The scoping research was developed with input from a steering group of 14 members and an engagement process with over 50 individuals from different forms of community representation.

The resulting report demonstrates the need to:

rethink what is recognised and valued in funding for knowledge production

change where funding sits in community research relationships

invest in capacity and space to set the research agenda and fund infrastructure that supports communities to identify and solve their needs for knowledge, data and research

be upfront about the power imbalances inherent in research investment, recognising that currently certain groups and institutions have greater opportunity and access than others.

These issues can only start to be resolved if we shift our focus. A shift from funding the change we think is the solution, to funding in response to the needs of communities and the circumstances they're in.

Community research networks

The expression of interest phase of the UKRI community research networks launches today and opens for applications on 25 July. We are investing £500,000 into 20 collaborations made up of:

community organisations

charities

local authorities

research organisations.

We will support these collaborations to develop proposals for the implementation phase, opening in April 2023. In this phase, the emphasis for the collaborations will be on:

designing and building relationships and connections

developing and sharing knowledge

supporting the core skills and capacity to develop research produced in genuine collaboration with communities.

Top image: Credit: SDI Productions, E+ via Getty Images

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Funding for change: investing in collaboration with communities

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Steve Scott Public Engagement Lead, UKRI Tom Saunders Head of Public Engagement, UKRI Emily Morrison We are announcing a £4 million investment in equitable and sustainable models of community engagement in research and knowledge production. Over the next five years, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is investing over £4 million in the development of a series of community research networks.

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Public Health Scotland- Mental Health Indicators for adults/ Children and young people

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Public Health Scotland- Mental Health Indicators for adults/ Children and young people

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Hi Folks, These are recently developed Mental Health Indicators from Public health Scotland, which will be used will help to identify important information at local and national level about mental health outcomes. There are a wide range of indicators representing a broad scope of determinants that can have an effect on mental health and wellbeing.  These indicators help to support and monitor mental health and wellbeing locally and nationally, and may be useful to inform research or to support evaluation.

Further information, and the indicators can be found at the link.

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The Adult Mental Health Indicators aim to support effective action to improve public mental health.

The indicator set has been created with input from topic experts and a community workshop, using existing literature and high-level evidence as a starting point. It refreshes and builds on a mental health indicator set created by NHS Health Scotland in 2007.

The Adult Mental Health Indicators help to identify important information, at local and national level, about mental health outcomes and the determinants of these outcomes.

A suite of resources is being built around the indicators. The first phase of resources (published in March 2022) presents the indicator sets and supporting papers. Headline trend data will be published later in 2022, and then kept up-to-date to inform planning and decision-making. More detailed analyses will follow, to highlight inequalities and the challenges faced by different population groups.

These resources are designed to support action both nationally and locally. Data availability will limit the information that can be presented at local level. However, guidance on how national trends and findings can be translated to inform decisions at local level will be provided.

Adult Mental Health Indicators resources include:

Adult Mental Health Indicator set, including notes on data sources

Adult rationale document, explaining what is covered in the indicator set and why

Summary note of a discussion from a community workshop used to inform the adult indicator set

View the Adult Mental Health Indicator resources View the archived indicator sets previously created by NHS Health Scotland

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The Adult Mental Health Indicators aim to support effective action to improve public mental health. The indicator set has been created with input from topic experts and a community workshop, using existing literature and high-level evidence as a starting point. It refreshes and builds on a mental health indicator set created by NHS Health Scotland in 2007.

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ALISS (A Local Information System for Scotland) is a service to help you find help and support close to you when you need it most.

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Communities Mental Health Fund | HTSI main

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Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund