Kate Still, Scotland Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund highlights the scale, breadth and diversity of projects funded in constituencies across Scotland.

“Every time someone buys a National Lottery ticket they raise money for good causes. It’s thanks to them that The National Lottery Community Fund is able to support groups of people across Scotland to do truly amazing things that help their communities  thrive.

As well as National Lottery funding, we distribute dormant accounts and some Scottish Government funding to help communities tackle the things that matter most to them. This includes; mental health and loneliness; climate action; community ownership, equipping young people with skills and confidence for the future; supporting families and children in poverty and helping communities through difficult cost of living challenges.

Our funding reaches into every constituency in Scotland and in 2022 we awarded £66 million to 1730 community projects. Of this funding, at least £10 million of National Lottery funds was targeted specifically at helping local communities respond to cost-of-living pressures.  

Cost of Living response

Through our existing open funding programmes, we are already helping to tackle many issues relating to cost of living pressures such as mental health, financial advice, poverty, inequality and support for children and families. 

However, as a Scotland Committee we wanted The National Lottery Community Fund to go further – to be bold and ambitious and respond quickly with our cost of living support.  Providing an additional £10 million of National Lottery funds, we increased existing grants to help organisations  manage increased costs, and we opened a new Cost of Living Support Scotland fund offering awards of up to £75,000 to help support communities experiencing hardship.

We developed two funding strands aimed at providing emergency support to individuals most in need through the Household Hardship Fund, in partnership with Corra Foundation, and our Community Anchor’s Fund. Through these mechanisms we distributed National Lottery funds to charities and community groups who worked directly with vulnerable families and individuals to meet pressing needs such as food, fuel, household items or clothing.

Also, we relaxed our National Lottery Awards for All small grant scheme rule on only holding one grant in one year enabling groups to hold two grants.

Working in partnership

The National Lottery Community Fund  is trusted to distribute funding on behalf of others. In Scotland we deliver The Scottish Land Fund alongside Highlands and Islands Enterprise on behalf of the Scottish Government, and we distribute dormant accounts funding through our Young Start fund for projects run for and by young people aged 11 to 25. 

New for 2023

Across the UK we are currently undertaking an exciting strategy review that will shape how we support people and communities to thrive into the future. This will ensure that our grant making supports the emerging needs of all kinds of communities. We have spent the last year listening and learning from our customers and stakeholders in Scotland to really understand the issues facing the communities we serve.  We will launch the new strategy in early summer. 

Whatever and however we fund, our commitment to supporting people and communities will continue to be at the heart of everything we do.