The £50,000 grant from the UK’s biggest building society will support the organisation in partnership with Elderly Accommodation Counsel.

Garry Samson, Nationwide’s regional director, said: “Helping people into homes of their own is at the heart of what we do as a building society, which is why we’re making funding available for local housing projects. In fact, we’re making £22 million available over five years across the UK to do just this and ensure everyone has a place fit to call home.”

A Community Board of Nationwide members, employees and local housing experts was appointed to have a say on which local community projects were supported, with almost 20,000 members voting on the awards shortlisted across four regions, including Scotland.

The partnership with Elderly Accommodation Counsel will mean the launch of a specific Housing Options for Older People (HOOP) service that older people and their families can easily access. The project will combine our specialist housing options service for older people with a localised version of Elderly Accommodation Counsel’s self-help tool.

Housing Options Scotland CEO, Moira Bayne, said: “Everyone at Housing Options Scotland is delighted to welcome our newest team member, Jil Dyson, thanks to this funding from Nationwide. We are busier than ever here at HOS so it is great to have Jil join our team.”