Deadline: 31-Oct-2024
The Voluntary Sector Gateway West Lothian (VSGWL) is delighted to announce that applications are now open for Year 4 of the West Lothian Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund!
Aims
- The overarching aim of the 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 (aged 16 or over), with a particular focus on prevention and early intervention.
- Specifically, it aims to:
- Tackle mental health inequalities through supporting a range of ‘at risk’ groups
- Address priority issues of social isolation and loneliness, suicide prevention and poverty and inequality with a particular emphasis on responding to the cost-of-living crisis and support to those facing socio-economic disadvantage.
- Support small ‘grass roots’ community groups and organisations to deliver such activities.
- Provide opportunities for people to connect with each other, build trusted relationships and revitalise communities.
- It also clearly supports the three key areas of focus in the Strategy:
- Promote positive mental health and wellbeing for the whole population, improving understanding and tackling stigma, inequality and discrimination;
- Prevent mental health issues occurring or escalating and tackle underlying causes, adversities and inequalities wherever possible; and
- Provide mental health and wellbeing support and care, ensuring people and communities can access the right information, skills, services and opportunities in the right place at the right time, using a person-centred approach.
Funding Information
- A total of £467k is available for organisations in West Lothian for projects running in 2024/25.
- Small Grants: £2k – £10k
- Large Grants: £10k – £50k
Eligibility Criteria
- The ambition of this Fund is to support initiatives which promote mental health and wellbeing at a small scale, grass roots, community level. It must be accessible, no matter how small or inexperienced they are. National organisations undertaking initiatives in the West Lothian area are not excluded but are not the main focus of the Fund.
- Funded organisations do not need to have to have mental health and wellbeing as their sole focus, but, as this is the purpose of this Fund, their application does have to clearly outline how it benefits the mental health and wellbeing of people in the local community.
- Applications will only be accepted from a range of voluntary, ‘not for profit’ organisations, associations, groups and clubs or consortiums/partnerships which have a strong community focus for their activities. The range of organisations eligible to apply are:
- 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
- Parent councils
For more information, visit VSGWL.