Micro Grants

About the fund:

The Local Support Fund – Micro Grants is focused on small community-based groups which deliver frontline services to support people who use or used drugs, people in recovery and families affected by someone else’s drug use. This vital support is often delivered with very limited funding which means that small groups can be stretched to their limits. In some cases, the pandemic will have put more of a strain on finances, making it even harder to provide support for people and families when they most need it. This fund is designed to help these groups by providing grants which will offer some financial security for planning and delivering support to improve the wellbeing of both people who use drugs and their families.

What can be funded:

• Funding from £1,000 to £10,000 per year for up to four years can be requested. Applicants are encouraged to only apply for what they need as this will allow the fund to support as many different groups as possible.
• Funding can support day to day running costs, project costs, training, new or existing activities, small pieces of equipment, expansion costs, etc. Further examples may be found in Appendix 1 of this document.
• Only one application per organisation will be considered unless each application is for work in a different Local Authority area. Priority will be given to applications for projects taking place in local authority areas where work has not already been undertaken.

Who can apply:

• Micro grants are for organisations with an annual income of up to £50,000.
• Applicants can be charities, social enterprises or constituted1 community/voluntary groups that operate on a not-for-profit basis.
• There must be at least three people on your management committee/board.

Who can apply (cont’d):

• You must have a bank account in the name of the organisation.
• Applicants must already be delivering support in Scotland to people affected by drug use, and/or their families.
• Your work should be helping to deliver or support the Scottish Government’s alcohol and drug treatment strategy, ‘Rights, Respect and Recovery’ which outlines that individuals, families and communities:
• have the right to health and life - free from the harms of alcohol and drugs
• are treated with dignity and respect
• are fully supported within communities to find their own type of recovery.

If you are an un-constituted group that is interested in becoming incorporated, Scottish Recovery Consortium (SRC) may be able to help. SRC has a worker who can provide information and support. SRC also has a fund which can provide one-off grants of up to £5,000 to groups that support people affected by drugs and which are not constituted. If this support is of interest, you can contact Fiona at Scottish Recovery Consortium: fiona@scottishrecoveryconsortium.org.