New £250m community Lottery fund opens for business in Scotland

Between now and 2020 groups across the country can apply for grants from £10,000 to £1m to help finance projects which are community led or will improve lives.

Opening the new funding scheme at Big Lottery funded Healthy n Happy, Rutherglen, Maureen McGinn, Big Lottery Fund Scotland chair said: “I am delighted to be here to announce our main funding offer is now open for business. In these challenging times we hope this new Lottery money will open the door to support activity which puts people in the lead at the heart of their communities.

“We have refreshed and redeveloped our approach and focus so we will work with communities and organisations to support activity which is people centred, strengths based and has good local connections. We are sure our new approach will ensure our Lottery funds make a truly life-changing and inspirational difference to people across Scotland.

“We have also simplified our application process to make applying for funds more straightforward. We want to make it easier for those who have not applied to us before to do so now.”

Big Lottery Fund is the leading non statutory funder of the voluntary and community sector and has since 2006 has awarded over £729m to over 21,000 projects here in Scotland.

Healthy n Happy is a key organisation for community activity in Rutherglen, supported by local people as well as a range of partners and funders. Each year around 6,000 local people enjoy the activities on offer and the group has received £1.7m from Big Lottery Fund Scotland for nine projects.

Brendan Rooney, executive director Healthy n Happy, said: “We are delighted to host Big Lottery Fund as they announce the launch of their new five-year funding scheme, and are pleased that strength based approaches have been recognised in this new programme. It will play a critical role in sustaining the valuable work of community-led organisations like Healthy n Happy for the next five years and beyond. We wish the Fund and all beneficiaries every success and we look forward to a continued excellent working partnership.”

For more information including how to apply - go to www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland.