How to go greener (and save money)
Whether it’s the recent news coverage about plastic coffee cups or because you’ve been watching Blue Planet II, you might be thinking about how you can be a bit friendlier to the environment in all aspects of your life, including at work.
This is especially the case for voluntary or community organisations, who may feel the onus is on them to set a good example to the rest of the world.
But how do you go about convincing the organisation you work for to go greener, especially when you and your colleagues are already busy?
Three years ago I was involved in setting up a programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund and delivered by Bright Green Business, where students took part in placements with our grantholders to reduce their environmental footprint.
This week I was delighted to attend a learning event with some of those students, who told us about the most effective ways to convince organisations to become greener – which are tools you can use at our own organisation as well!
What do you want us to blog about?
Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for continuing to follow our Scotland blog. To kick off 2018, we’d like to know what you want more information on over the coming months.
We think the advice and information we share on these pages hits the mark more often than not, but we know that there are a whole range of topics that you’ll want to hear more from us about.
With that in mind, if you have ever:
• encountered issues when filling out an application form that you’d like guidance on
• seen one of our previous blog posts that you want us to update
• had questions about any other part of the application process
• thought about topics you would like us to cover that we haven’t already blogged about (check out our compilation of our past funding tips blogs as a reference)
Success Rates – Autumn 2017
There are a lot of factors that effect your chances of success with a grant application. Because of this, it’s often easiest to get in touch so we can discuss your idea and help you find out if our funding is right for you. That said, we also like to give you a general idea of what your chances might be, and how busy our different funds are. So here are…
Success rates for the 6 month period up to 31 October 2017:
At 60%, the success rate for National Lottery Awards for All Scotland has dropped a little, mainly due to a significant increase in applications received this year. Our big tip: make sure to tell us how you’ve involved your community in the design and delivery of your work.
The success rate for grants for Community-Led Activity remains high, but recently we’ve received fewer applications than expected from outside of the Glasgow area.
Let’s talk money (and financial inclusion)
As it’s Scottish Financial Capability Week, we want to #TalkMoney and look at how our Delivering Financial Inclusion programme, which is funded jointly by the European Social Fund and National Lottery players, is helping disadvantaged households across Scotland improve their money management skills and reduce debt.
Lots of households experience money pressures, but things can be particularly tough for lone parents, unemployed people and those on low incomes.
As a result, our programme helps people in Argyll & Bute, Dundee, Inverclyde, Glasgow and North Ayrshire with these pressures, by bringing together local partners to co-ordinate support around debt advice, fuel poverty, money management, digital skills, affordable credit and banking services.
We know from The Financial Capability Strategy for Scotland that struggling to pay bills or deal with debts not only impacts on people’s day-to-day quality of life, it can have significant long-term effects on peoples’ wellbeing, relationships and opportunities.
By enabling people to address their money worries, make informed decisions and plan for the future, people are starting to build financial resilience.
Applying for funding: the ultimate guide
Over the years many of my colleagues have written blog posts that shared our best hints, tips and advice when applying for National Lottery funding from the Big Lottery Fund.
As most of these blog posts are still relevant when applying for funding today, I thought it might be helpful to bring all of our most popular funding advice blogs together into one single article (this one!) for people to refer to.
With this in mind, below is a list of links to a range of blog posts that you may find useful if you are considering applying for funding, or are already in the process of putting together your application.
Are you eligible to apply?
Applying for £10k or less
