Deadline: 12-Jan-22
The Third Sector Dumfries & Galloway has launched the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund to support adult community-based initiatives to help address the impact of distress and mental ill health caused by social isolation and loneliness, as well as addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The overarching aim of the national fund is to support community-based initiatives that promote and develop good mental health and wellbeing and/or mitigate and protect against the impact of distress and mental ill health within the adult population.
Aims
In the first year 2021/22, the fund will have a particular focus on:
- Tackling priority issues within the Scottish Government’s Covid Transition and Recovery Plan such as suicide prevention, social isolation and loneliness, prevention, and early intervention
- Addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic and the needs of a range of ‘at risk’ groups locally
- Supporting small ‘grass roots’ community groups and organisations to deliver such activities
- Providing opportunities for people to connect with each other, build trusted relationships and revitalise communities
- Supporting recovery and creativity locally by building on what is already there, what was achieved through the pandemic, and by investing in creative solutions
Funding Information
- There is no minimum or maximum limit for applications. The ambition is to ensure a broad reach across small community organisations through the distribution of smaller value grants, for example, those up to the value of £3,000. However, they anticipate that a proportion of bids may be supported for example, up to the value of £50,000.
Outcomes
The following outcomes for the fund are based on the existing strategic context at national and regional levels:
- More people can live independently and healthily in their own homes
- Health and social care inequalities in relation to mental health are reduced including addressing barriers to access advice, support and services
- Safer and more effective care and support for mental health and wellbeing that improve people’s chosen outcomes and lived experience
- More people are supported to prevent or manage their mental health distress or crisis
- People and communities are enabled and supported to self-manage their mental health and wellbeing, connect, be more resilient and strengthen communities
- People who deliver unpaid care and support to improve mental health and wellbeing, are better valued and fully supported to maintain their own mental health and wellbeing.
Eligibility Criteria
The ambition of this fund is to support initiatives which promote mental health and wellbeing at a small scale, grassroots, community level to those aged 16 and over. It is accessible to all groups and it can support both new and existing groups or projects.
These do not have to have mental health and wellbeing as their main focus, but their application does have to clearly benefit the mental wellbeing of people in their community.
Applications can be accepted from a range of third sector organisations:
- Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIO)
- Unincorporated Associations
- Companies Limited by Guarantee
- Trusts
- Not-for-profit company or asset locked company or Community Interest Companies (CIC)
- Cooperative and Community Benefit Societies
- Community councils
TSDG can also consider funding from unconstituted groups. This will be managed on a case-by-case basis and may involve support from the TSDG team. TSDG can also consider allowing a constituted entity to hold a grant for the unconstituted group. TSDG as grant-giver would require to be satisfied with arrangements around monitoring and accountability of spend.
For more information, visit https://www.tsdg.org.uk/cmhwf/