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Cost of living crisis commitments from Scottish Funders

This statement has been coordinated by The Scotland Funders’ Forum. This is a gathering of funders in Scotland, including statutory bodies and independent grant making trusts, who are committed to best practice in funding the voluntary and community sector and to maximising the impact of funding for the benefit of Scotland.

Funders know from listening to communities and organisations that the cost-of-living crisis is already having a significant impact. This is coming on top of the pandemic and for many their resilience is low. This Challenge Poverty Week      Scottish Funders have come together to share commitments in response to the challenges facing the sector.

Read the commitments from funders here.

• Trust communities and offer flexibility – the pandemic saw a shift to far greater trust and flexibility so that communities could shape their responses, based on their expertise. Funders will seek to build on this so that money is used when, how and where it is needed.

• Listen to and advocate with the sector – funders will listen to and learn from communities and third sector groups and help to amplify their voices. Listening will also help funders to improve their approaches and their contribution to bringing about positive change.

• Take a supportive approach – funders will encourage grant holders to reach out if they need support, information or advice, including to discuss the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on their work and budgets.
• Act with urgency – where possible funders will act with urgency, particularly for small grants and work to ensure funding is distributed to groups quickly. Funders will also ensure application and reporting requirements are proportionate. 

We exist to better the lives of the people of Scotland who struggle. We do this by working across all sectors to support  organisations who are embedded in their communities and know what is needed; and who can be flexible responsive and impactful.

We are are committed  to using our 14 years’ of experience to support our partner organisations and their teams at this time of challenge.