The Autistic Adult Support Fund launched today (Wednesday 16th August 2023) aiming to help adults with an autism diagnosis, self-identified autistic adults, and their families and carers understand what neurodivergence means for them and improve their wellbeing.
The Autistic Adult Support Fund will provide £500,000 for the six-month period from October 2023 to end of March 2024.
Facilitated by Inspiring Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government, the Autistic Adult Support Fund builds on the work of a pilot which ran between 2020 and 2023 and funded seven organisations to provide post diagnostic support to autistic people.
Erica Judge, Director of Funds at Inspiring Scotland said:
“We are pleased to manage this fund from Scottish Government which will ensure that more autistic people and their families can help better understand their diagnosis by accessing the support they need.
“We know that there is a great need for this programme due to feedback from people who had received support from the pilot project, describing it as life changing.
“Funding will be available for Scottish not-for-profit organisations working closely with autistic people to help close the gap in provision of help and support to this community.”
Small grants of between £15,000 and £30,000 are available to support smaller, grassroots, locally based projects. Large grants of between £30,001 and £75,000 are available for national or regional projects.
Funding is available until 31 March 2024. It is hoped that this fund will run on a recurring annual basis but is subject to Ministerial approvals as part of Scottish Government’s annual budget process.
The deadline for applications is 12pm on Wednesday 13 September 2023.
For more information and how to apply, please visit inspiringscotland.org.uk/autistic-adult-support-fund
Volunteers play a vital role in supporting the work of charities across Scotland. Their contribution, big or small, can make a huge difference to individual lives and the reach and impact of organisations. Two of Inspiring Scotland’s programmes would not exist without the support of volunteers: our Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) connecting professional volunteers with
Read More
Today (30 April 2025), the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) fund team published a report sharing insights from four years of managing funding to support parents’ and infants’ mental health and wellbeing across Scotland. Inspiring Scotland managed £3.8 million of Scottish Government funding through the PIMH Fund between October 2020 and September 2024. This
Read More
More funding has been announced for the Scottish Government’s Autistic Adult Support Fund and is available to third sector organisations providing services to autistic adults – promoting wellbeing and helping them to understand what neurodivergence means for them. Since 2023, the Scottish Government has allocated £1.5 million to 15 organisations, including those helping autistic adults
Read More