Cost of Living Support Scotland

  1. Funding
  2. Funding programmes
  3. Cost of Living Support Scotland

This fund is closed.

We're not accepting new applications to our Cost of Living Support Scotland fund.

We’re funding projects that:

  • supports individuals, families or communities experiencing hardship due to the increased cost of living
  • increases access to services and support for people facing financial hardship.

We’ll support projects that take or include a preventative approach to these issues.

We offer funding between £20,001 and £75,000.

We want to support activity that means people:

  • have more resilience and are more able to identify ways to deal with the impact of increased cost of living in their lives
  • are able to shape activity in their community to address the increased cost-of-living
  • have more access to support and services that will help them to deal with the increased cost of living.

We're funding work that is people-led, connected, and strengths-based. These three approaches are vital to help us achieve our mission and address inequality in Scotland. Find out more about our three approaches.

Area
Scotland
Suitable for
Voluntary or community organisations
Funding size
£20,001 to £75,000
Application deadline

This fund is closed.

If you applied

This fund closed at 12pm on 21 August 2024

If you’d like to talk to us about your application:

Information you needed to apply

You can access a:

What happens after you apply

As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you provide us. You can find out more about the checks we'll carry out on your information.

What we expect from the organisations we fund

Keeping people safe

If we give you funding, we expect that you’ll:

  • promote a culture of safeguarding
  • keep people safe
  • respond to safeguarding incidents.

These expectations apply to all organisations we are giving funding to, as well as partners doing any part of the activities we’re funding. We’ll consider these expectations when we make decisions about who to fund. We may use them when we ask for updates on your funding. They’re also written into the terms and conditions for all of our funding.

Read our safeguarding expectations for the organisations we fund.

Reduce your environmental footprint

The National Lottery Community Fund cares about our environment and are always striving to manage our environmental impact. We encourage and support projects and communities to do the same. Learn more about how you can make your project or event more environmentally sustainable and perhaps save money at the same time.

Who could apply

Who could apply

Most organisations were eligible to apply but we were particularly keen to see applications from smaller voluntary and community organisations, working with those most vulnerable and disproportionately affected by the increased cost of living.

You could apply if you had other funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. But you can usually only have one grant that responded to the increased cost of living at a time.

You need a board or committee with at least 3 members who are not related

Related can mean:

  • related by marriage
  • in a civil partnership with each other
  • in a long-term relationship with each other
  • related through a long term partner
  • living together at the same address
  • related by blood.

All companies who apply must have at least 2 directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.

What we can and cannot fund

We can fund:

  • staff
  • training
  • volunteer expenses
  • equipment
  • premises costs
  • evaluation
  • overheads.

Although we welcome applications with match funding, we can fund up to 100% of the costs of your activity.

You could apply for funding for up to 12 months to deliver or tailor existing services, or to develop new activity.

Types of projects we’re likely to fund

We do not have an exclusive list of the types of projects we want to see. However examples could include:

  • money advice projects
  • mental health projects
  • projects bringing people together for activities under one roof
  • 'warm room' projects.

We will also consider innovative responses that we may not have seen previously.

We cannot fund:

  • individuals
  • mainstream employability support such as job search or job access
  • payments directly to people for household expenses
  • anything you spend money on before you get a decision from us
  • activities outside the UK
  • activities that actively promote religion.

This list does not cover everything we cannot fund. Contact if you would like more information about what we cannot fund: