**Fair Funding**

Over the last few years, SCVO has been engaging with organisations across the voluntary sector to collect evidence on the issues and barriers faced when accessing and receiving funding. The evidence we have collected demonstrates the urgent need for Fair Funding – an array of policy asks and principles that we have been calling for since late 2022. Our calls are primarily directed at the Scottish Government; however, the wider principles apply to all funders, including local government and independent funders.

Fair Funding is about ensuring a voluntary sector funding landscape that is fair, flexible, sustainable, and accessible. You can read about the package of asks in more detail [**here**](https://scvo.scot/policy/fair-funding-procurement/fair-funding/what-is-fair-funding)**.**

Promising progress has been made over the last few years, but further action is needed. This extensive resource aims to move the conversation forward and fully highlight why Fair Funding is so urgently needed. Below you’ll find an extensive, ever-increasing resource doing exactly that – outlining the reality for organisations on the frontlines across government priorities, sector-wide themes, and areas of work, while giving a voice to those who have experienced the consequences of the current funding environment and recognise the vital the need for Fair Funding for organisations across our essential sector.

If you are keen to support this work go further, please also check out the **Get Involved in Fair Funding** section below.

**Forewords**

Four in every five households in Scotland interact with charities and the voluntary sector every year. And yet the financial climate means the sector is more fragile than ever before, and charities and voluntary organisations are having to scale back their operations or close for good.

At a time when demand for support from the voluntary sector is rising, we need a funding landscape that is fair, flexible, sustainable and accessible to ensure that organisations can provide the services and projects that are vital to communities across Scotland and further afield. This can only be achieved by guaranteeing Fair Funding that includes longer-term funding models, ensures processes are proportionate, accessible and consistent, and provides more unrestricted funding with in-built uplifts to reflect rising costs of delivery.

There has been some progress, primarily with the Scottish Government’s commitment to Fairer Funding which, so far, has included a pilot of two-year funding tranches and a pledge to ensure more timely notifications. But it barely scratches the surface.

The Scottish Government’s four priorities – eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, ensuring sustainable public services, and tackling the climate emergency – will not be achieved without a strong, secure, and sustainable voluntary sector. But our sector will only continue to become more insecure and less sustainable, the longer Scottish Government, local government and other public authorities make the political choice not to implement Fair Funding in full.

Continuing to take Scotland’s essential sector for granted lets down families and communities across Scotland and will ensure that the Scottish Government’s four key objectives will not be realised.

Scotland’s charities, community organisations, and social enterprises are a fundamental cornerstone of our society and economy. It is essential that the slow and inadequate progress on Fairer Funding is driven with greater urgency, a better understanding of the reality on the ground, and a full commitment to implement Fair Funding now. All the research shows a growing fragility which is detrimental to us all.

It’s time to give these organisations, and the people they serve, the respect and stability that they need.

**Anna Fowlie  
**Chief Executive  
**Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)**

Over the last few years, the support for SCVO’s Fair Funding calls, which has grown relatively organically, has been incredible. Across the length and breadth of the sector, organisations of all shape, sizes, and focus, have championed Fair Funding, taken ownership of those calls, incorporated its principles in their own campaigning work, and included Fair Funding within their own manifestos.

Fair Funding is thus not just the policy asks of SCVO - it is the demand of Scotland’s essential voluntary sector.

However, over the past year, SCVO members and others across the sector have asked us for more in this space. We have heard that, as important as the Fair Funding work has been and as encouraging as progress has been, the next steps should focus on a reframing of that work. It should focus on telling the firsthand stories of those battling with an unfair funding landscape on daily basis, shining a light on the endless areas of work that the sector is crucially involved in, and amplifying the voices of those on the frontlines.

That is what this piece of work intends to do.

Working with valued partners across multiple sectors and governmental priority areas, we have sought to highlight the damaging impact of unfair and unsustainable funding practices right across Scotland We will continue to add to it with additional themes and voices from across the sector.

Because the voluntary sector is not a homogenous blob. It is an array of incredible organisations and dedicated individuals, without whom no government priority can be achieved or portfolio can be successful, working across an inexhaustive number of areas and providing an invaluable level of services and support.

There is no eradication of child poverty, no tackling of the climate emergency, no building of a flourishing Scotland, and no availability of the crucial services communities across the country depend on without a sustainable voluntary sector. And there is no sustainable voluntary sector without Fair Funding.

**Jason Henderson  
**Policy & Public Affairs Officer (Fair Funding Lead)  
**Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)**

**Get Involved in Fair Funding**

In the coming weeks and months, we intend to bring forward some calls to action, additional ways in which organisations can come together to demand that the Scottish Government aligns its Fairer Funding commitment with our Fair Funding calls and to show their support for our ongoing work in this area.

In the meantime, please do read the contents below – either in full or the sections that matter most to you. Utilise what you find in your own influencing work and discussions with decision-makers, and share this resource on your social media channels.

And crucially, if your organisation works within an area that you do not see represented here, let us know by e-mailing Jason at [**jason.henderson@scvo.scot**](mailto:jason.henderson@scvo.scot)**.**

We want to work in collaboration with more organisations to continue showing the real impact our sector has, as well as the barriers that current funding practices impose. We also want to identify and champion good practice where we find it. So, please do help us add to this resource as we continue to show that there is no part of Scottish society that is untouched by our sector and, as a result, would not see vast improvement with Fair Funding.

**Eradicating Child Poverty**

**Foreword**

One in five people in Scotland are held back by poverty. That is over a million people whose ability to meet basic needs is being actively restricted, creating powerful barriers to opportunities and sustaining inequality. This is a longstanding, structural injustice, but it is not inevitable.

For more than 30 years, the Poverty Alliance has built a strong network of organisations and people campaigning for the changes needed to end poverty in Scotland. At the heart of this network are hundreds of community and voluntary organisations providing vital support to people experiencing insecurity.

Their work - and the work of a sustainable, financially healthy third sector - is critical to making meaningful progress on poverty and inequality. That is why advocating for a Fair Funding approach for the voluntary sector, as set out by SCVO, is central to our campaigning.

Community and voluntary organisations mobilise local knowledge to deliver trusted support. They reach people too often missed by statutory services, can respond to need quickly, and tailor solutions to local and cultural contexts. Through this experience, they also advocate for systems change, highlighting the root causes of poverty and holding decision-makers to account.

Despite this invaluable work, the current precarious funding landscape has left too many organisations themselves without the security they need to survive and thrive. They face significant challenges in staff retention, recruitment and morale; continuity of service provision; and planning for the future. Some face a constant threat of closure. 

While these organisations continue to work at the frontline of efforts to challenge poverty, their commitment to positive change cannot be sustained by rhetoric and praise alone. Rather, it demands fair and secure funding.

This demand is a cornerstone of [Scotland Demands Better](https://www.scotland-demands-better.com/), a campaign led by the Poverty Alliance and supported by over 280 civil society organisations. In a key campaign moment in October 2025, thousands gathered in Edinburgh for the largest anti-poverty demonstration Scotland has seen in decades. They were united by calls for fair work, strong public services and dignified social security, and the demand for a Fair Funding approach that properly supports the critical work of the voluntary sector.

It is clear that if we are to achieve a Scotland free from poverty, community and voluntary organisations must be recognised as valued partners in building a fairer society, with a Fair Funding approach the essential starting point.

**Chloe Campbell**  
Policy & Parliamentary Officer  
[**The Poverty Alliance**](https://www.povertyalliance.org/)

**Narrative**

**“FAIR FUNDING WOULD MEAN STABILITY AND SECURITY”**

The Scottish Government has made it clear that eradicating child poverty is its top priority, having recognised that around one in four children in Scotland living in poverty is, of course, unacceptable. It is a harrowing statistic and the ambition to eradicate it is an admirable one that we all must support. But we as a country, quite simply, cannot seriously expect to achieve that ambition without the invaluable services, crucial expertise, and unwavering dedication of a stable and secure voluntary sector, whose organisations continue to be on the frontline of efforts to challenge poverty. And we will not see that stable and secure voluntary sector without Fair Funding.

As the Poverty Alliance’s 2026 Scottish Parliament election manifesto, [_Building a Secure Foundation For All of Us_](https://www.povertyalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Poverty-Alliance-2026-Scottish-Parliament-Election-Manifesto.pdf)_,_ sets out, _“a sustainable, financially healthy third sector is central to making meaningful progress on inequality \[to allow\] community and voluntary organisations \[to\] mobilise community resources through their local knowledge, delivering trusted support that has legitimacy in the communities they serve.”_ Simply put, the Scottish Government cannot expect to achieve its priority of eradicating child poverty without also taking the required steps to ensure that Scotland’s voluntary sector is sustainable.

_“The stress of finding funding is getting far too great,”_ explains a development trust with a focus on the alleviation of food poverty. _“It impacts our staff, volunteers, and clients. Even three-year funding is over before you know it – the whole process has a negative impact on mental health and is disruptive to the services we offer, it is very concerning for us all.”_

_“We spend a great deal of time and energy applying for and reporting on multiple small pots of funding, which takes staff and volunteer time away from delivering frontline support,”_ adds a community-based charity in Glasgow undertaking work to tackle poverty, isolation, and inequality. _“Ultimately, it leaves vulnerable community members facing disruption to essential support.”_

And yet, in testament to the commitment from staff and volunteers across the sector, that fight to eradicate poverty continues despite ongoing poor funding practices.

As a community-led anchor organisation explains: _“As an organisation operating in a deprived area, we continue to experience high levels of deprivation – however, we are constantly having to fight against the impact of poverty with limited resources.”_

It is those very organisations, so crucial to the Scottish Government’s top priority of eradicating child poverty yet struggling every day with the unsustainability and unfairness caused by the current funding landscape, who know firsthand the necessity of SCVO’s Fair Funding calls.

_“\[Fair Funding would give\] peace of mind,”_ says the development trust. _“Core funding would be amazing and would actually help to change the way we think and function, giving us less to worry and stress about, and enabling us to be the trusted and reliable service that we know we are.”_

_“Fair Funding would enable us to respond to local needs more flexibly and consistently, giving our community confidence that support will be there when they need it,”_ adds the Glasgow-based charity. _“Fair Funding would mean stability and security.”_

**Case Study**

**THE IMPORTANCE OF CORE (Anonymised)**

For a small, local community development project tackling poverty and inequality, **Organisation A** has found a lack of funding for core costs an issue for years now, receiving funding that only covers around a third of total core costs. During the pandemic, the organisation recognised the efforts that funders went to in streamlining and improving processes, and placing more trust in organisations, but unfortunately it now feels that most of the progressive steps taken out of urgency have now been abandoned.

A combination of a lack of core funding, which the organisation believes is, at least partly, the result of short-sightedness on the part of the local authority, and a perceived power dynamic, which results in organisations being unable to feed back when funding does not meet their requirements, has led to an ongoing financial instability. **Organisation A** also has no relationships with local authority or Scottish Government funders. This is in stark contrast to fruitful relationships and strong communication with charitable trusts, resulting in an inability to communicate the sheer importance of core funding at that level. Ultimately, the organisation feels like these funders, in particular the local authority, fail to treat them with trust, honesty, and respect.

Despite undertaking work with positive impacts that are easy to evidence, **Organisation A**’s ability to meet outcomes is still hampered hugely by a lack of core funding, despite shared priorities with the local authority. Capacity that could be spent on planning for the future, delivering services, and developing partnerships is instead spent plugging funding holes consistently. In terms of sourcing enough funding to maintain core staff and services, as well the organisation’s building, **Organisation A** has to devote large amounts of time and resource to working on applications for the vast majority of the year. The process is relentless, leading to burnout for the organisation’s staff.

If all core funding was to cease, **Organisation A**’s budgets for the next 18-months would have to change radically. Given the way in which decisions have been made on funding applications previously, the organisation would potentially consider bringing in additional staff in order to give a greater chance of then obtaining core funding, resulting in a potentially disastrous financial situation if they were unsuccessful.

In an ideal world where all core costs were met, **Organisation A** would have the space to think more boldly and provide more innovative services, developing programmes, engaging with communities, and unlocking the ability to generate further income through services and other sources. This would lead to a reduced reliance on revenue funding from the local authority which would be hugely beneficial on both sides.

**Growing the Economy**

**Foreword**

Our role is to raise the public profile of social enterprises, represent their interests to policymakers, and support their continued success and development. The vital mission of all social enterprises is to provide solutions to Scotland’s big environmental and social challenges, from poverty to homelessness, neighbourhood regeneration, recycling, and so much more. 

Crucially, the sector also makes a significant contribution to Scotland’s economy. The [2024 Social Enterprise Census](https://socialenterprise.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2024-report.pdf) shows that, despite ongoing economic challenges, the financial footing of Scotland’s social enterprise sector remains relatively robust. There are well over 6,000 social enterprises currently operating in Scotland, with around 90,000 full-time equivalent employees, and a £2.89bn Gross Value Added (GVA) economic contribution to the Scottish economy. 

However, for the sector to thrive and scale its impact, there’s a pressing need for long-term, flexible funding solutions, improved access to investment, and a policy environment that supports financial durability. Significant economic and financial challenges continue to affect social enterprises, alongside other businesses and charitable organisations. 

We need to see certainty and consistency in public funding support for social enterprises and charities, this must mean fair, multi-year funding. It’s essential that this is rolled out and implemented post-election, for 2026 and beyond. Fair Funding is not just a good thing to do. It’s a direct social investment in Scotland’s people, enterprises, and communities. 

There’s a notable commitment by sector bodies, in partnership with the Scottish Government, to [dramatically increase](https://eu-west-1.protection.sophos.com?d=www.gov.scot&u=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ292LnNjb3QvcHVibGljYXRpb25zL2RldmVsb3Bpbmctc2NvdGxhbmRzLWVjb25vbXktaW5jcmVhc2luZy1yb2xlLWluY2x1c2l2ZS1kZW1vY3JhdGljLWJ1c2luZXNzLW1vZGVscy8=&i=NjE4YWViOGFjNDRkNjAwZTQ4OGY5M2Fj&t=ZWNJcmk1Z3h1WlA2bm9DbmV3ZGZyUFhHVTBtS3RhcmhFYm1EMGhBT2JjTT0=&h=03cd6ede21934a69bef90ce416d46ff6&s=AVNPUEhUT0NFTkNSWVBUSVZ4WPPzJllnygZgDhTzwR0X0prXwXz5dPiuAkNjbBUiIr6K0MD8uv2JJ0_90Q85eNA) the number of social enterprises. This target includes boosting the numbers of employee-owned businesses, community development trusts, and cooperatives, which would mean that 3 in every 50 businesses would be one these inclusive, democratic business models by 2034. The huge potential for Scotland is there but this can only happen with the right financial support.

Alongside charities and voluntary groups, we seek to work in partnership, with our shared values, to grow Scotland’s economy, provide high numbers of meaningful jobs, and implement fair work. We look forward to working with national and local government and public sector partners to make the vision of Fair Funding and investment a reality.

**Duncan Thorp  
**Policy & Public Affairs Manager  
[**Social Enterprise Scotland**](https://socialenterprise.scot/)

**Narrative**

**“\[FAIR FUNDING\] WOULD ALLOW US TO BUILD ON PROJECTS THAT HAVE PROVEN IMPACT”**

In recent years, the Scottish Government has been consistent in championing the growing of Scotland’s economy as one of its four key priorities. In the [Programme for Government 2024 to 2025](https://www.gov.scot/publications/programme-government-2024-25-serving-scotland/pages/2/), the government laid out its view that _“businesses, large and small, sustain communities and provide valuable employment”_ and _“investment, public and private, lays the foundation for future growth.”_ Missing from that document, and consistently throughout discussions regarding this vital priority of economic growth, is the contribution of Scotland’s voluntary sector.

The voluntary sector is a significant player in the economy and, although its economic contributions are perhaps less well understood and captured, those contributions should not be ignored. It employs 5% of the Scottish workforce – a higher percentage than in the food and drink manufacturing industry, for example – contributing to the economy and GDP by creating jobs. In retail, charity shops had a [social value estimated at £75.3 billion across the UK](https://www.charityretail.org.uk/key-statistics/) in 2022.

In the same year, volunteering was [estimated to be worth £5.3 billion](https://www.volunteerscotland.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Volunteer-Scotland-Briefing-Programme-for-Government-2024.pdf) to Scotland’s economy. And the voluntary sector continues to contribute in a multitude of other ways, including providing public services, supporting people of all ages to access employment and training opportunities, focusing on early intervention and prevention, building partnerships, and displaying a unique ability to fundraise.

At a time when the Scottish Government and local authorities are prioritising economic growth, backing the prospects of a wellbeing economy, and investing in local economies following the passing of the [Community Wealth Building Bill](https://www.gov.scot/news/investing-in-local-economies/), any hope of solving the challenges we face as a society rests on acknowledging that the voluntary sector is a key economic player. And it is a sector that needs support to continue being that key player.

_“\[The current funding landscape has a\] major impact on nature and scope of services; major impact on continuity, sustainability, and resilience; major impact on capacity to undertake development work; \[and a\] major impact on staff morale,”_ explains an urban organisation tackling long standing endemic wellbeing problems.

_“It is harder to recruit staff as \[there are\] too many fixed-term contracts,”_ adds a membership body for circular economy charities. _“It is harder to retain staff as \[there is\] often funding uncertainty. Board and governance focus \[is\] too much on funding and survival rather than strategic purpose.”_

Essentially, when you have a voluntary sector that is such an incredibly important contributor to Scotland’s economy, it is crucial to ensure that the approaches to funding on which that sector relies are as sustainable, flexible, and accessible as possible. And that can only be achieved by implementing Fair Funding.

_“\[Fair Funding\] would allow us to plan ahead, retain skilled staff, and build on projects that have proven impact rather than constantly starting and stopping,”_ confirms a Glasgow charity operating a foodbank, pantry, and charity shop. _“It would free up time and energy to focus on delivering services rather than chasing funding.”_

**Case Study**

[**APEX SCOTLAND**](https://www.apexscotland.org.uk/)

In Scotland, around 1 in 3 men have some form of conviction, equating to around 33% of the working population of men between ages 25 to 49, while Scotland is facing a shortage of working age people across multiple sectors. However, those with experience of the justice system represent an opportunity for economic growth as untapped talent. **Apex Scotland**’s national specialist services support people to unlock the barriers they face to moving on to positive opportunities, which support desistance, wellbeing, and long-term stability.

**Apex Scotland** has been fortunate in recent years to have benefited from multi-year core funding, with the security provided by this bringing some stability to the core executive staffing team. One of the many positive impacts of this stability has been the enabling of senior staff to undertake, and complete, more strategic pieces of work than would otherwise have been possible if capacity had, instead, been focused on chasing annual funding. Having that additional capacity has enabled the team to review the organisation’s activities and ways of working, and to work alongside [Evaluation Support Scotland](https://evaluationsupportscotland.org.uk/) to increase their understanding of the impact that their activities have, in order to help better inform future decision-making.

In contrast, **Apex Scotland** also regularly experiences poor practice elsewhere in the funding landscape, including short-term commissioning cycles for local services that fund frontline staffing roles. With funding often not confirmed until after a new financial year has begun, those frontline staff frequently have to be issued with redundancy notices on an annual basis and time is wasted on the running down and setting up of services every year. This not only increases the risk of losing skilled staff due to a lack of job security but it also harms the relationships that staff have successfully developed and maintained with those accessing services. This then compounds the further risk of people disengaging with the service or, in the event that the service discontinues, failing to engage with a new provider, resulting in their needs not being met and an increased risk of harm arising.

Ultimately, staff at **Apex Scotland** feel like they are in an endless loop of pay and job insecurity, with a distinct possibility of job losses every year despite being a Fair Work employer. Each year, reserves are often utilised to ensure the bridging of contracts as a result of delayed payments and poor funding practice, often involving calculated gambles that services will be funded into the following financial year. Despite the benefits of multi-year core funding, this is simply not sustainable.

Without vast improvements to the way in which voluntary organisations are funded, **Apex Scotland** faces an incredibly uncertain future. Delayed decision-making in particular threatens to not only derail or delay some of the vital services provided by the organisation but threatens the long-term sustainability of **Apex Scotland** itself. In turn, the life-changing services supporting those in our communities who need them are at risk as a direct result of funding practices that can and must be improved.

**Delivering Sustainable Public Services**

**Foreword**

As Dr Campbell Christie noted in [his seminal 2011 report](https://www.gov.scot/publications/commission-future-delivery-public-services/), high quality, sustainable public services are _“central to achieving the fair and just society to which we aspire”._ Although countless staff and volunteers in the public and third sectors do an excellent job, too many people struggle to access the services they are entitled to.

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE), Scotland’s third sector membership organisation for health and social care, watched with disappointment as ambitious, yet achievable, plans for a [National Care Service](https://www.gov.scot/policies/social-care/national-care-service/) and [Human Rights Bill](https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-human-rights-bill-scotland-discussion-paper/) were scrapped or delayed. This was despite sustained engagement with civil society and people with lived experience, and the emergence of a growing recognition of the need for reform to close the gap between policy intention and people’s experiences.

Public service reform cannot be limited to the public sector alone. Third sector health and social care services, for example, are at the heart of communities across Scotland. Hundreds of ALLIANCE members deliver an incredible array of person centred, rights-based programmes that promote prevention and wellbeing, whether that’s social care, money advice, counselling, self-management, peer support, independent advocacy – the list goes on.

Too often, the third sector is left on the sidelines of decision-making whilst our vital services are first in line for devastating cuts. This has increased demand on statutory services and let people slip through the cracks until they hit crisis point at far greater cost to dignity, rights, and the public purse.

The third sector must be included as an equal partner in public service decision-making and delivery. Fair and sustainable funding for our trusted, flexible and responsive services, that create and maintain good health, and that allows for long-term planning and growth, is one of the smartest investments governments can make.

**Sara Redmond  
**Chief Officer of Development  
[**Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)**](https://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

The Scottish Government has been very clear over previous years that ensuring people in Scotland have access to high quality and sustainable public services is one of its top priorities, describing _“our precious public services”_ in the [2025-26 Programme for Government](https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/advice-and-guidance/2025/05/programme-government-2025-26/documents/programme-government-2025-26/programme-government-2025-26/govscot%3Adocument/programme-government-2025-26.pdf) as _“the engine that keeps our country running”._ Progress towards realising this priority is perhaps most ambitiously outlined in the government’s [Public Service Reform Strategy](https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-public-service-reform-strategy-delivering-scotland/), setting out to boldly change Scotland’s system of public services in the form of a long-term programme of reform.

It is even within that strategy that the Scottish Government recognises our sector’s crucial role, stating _“the third sector often provides a huge range of services from specialist to generalist support – it is often more trusted by people enabling stronger relationships to be built that help to understand need more deeply”._ And so, if the Scottish Government’s priority of ensuring high quality and sustainable public services is to be achieved and its strategy of reform implemented, it surely must be paired with taking the clear steps required to ensure a sustainable voluntary sector that can subsequently operate as a truly valued partner.

We know that 4 in 5 households use a voluntary sector service in a typical year. We know that public sector funding makes up 40% of the sector’s income, with around £1.6 billion from local authorities and £1 billion from the Scottish Government. And we know that Scotland’s voluntary sector is essential to delivering for communities and that the Scottish Government cannot do it alone. Across Scotland, voluntary organisations are commissioned by public authorities to deliver services but are disadvantaged by funding arrangements.

_“Our funding is insufficient with no uplifts to reflect the cost-of-living,”_ says a national organisation providing services for care experienced people.

_“The way we are funded has a major impact on what we can offer,”_ explains a national Scottish charity supporting children and families affected by imprisonment. _“Because most of our funding is short-term and confirmed late, it is difficult for us to plan ahead, keep services stable, and retain experienced staff. We spend a lot of time reapplying for funding instead of developing services or improving long-term support.”_

_“The pressures of having funding streams that are year to year make it difficult to commit to sustainable support,”_ admits a small community-based additional support needs provider. _“There is always a worry there that ‘what if’ we don’t receive continuing funding.”_

_“Funding is short-term, funding won’t cover core costs,”_ adds a medium-sized rural community hub and transport provider. _“How are we expected to run services without staff, buildings, \[or\] transport? It just doesn’t make sense.”_

The crucial improvements that Fair Funding would bring to the voluntary sector, and therefore public services in communities across Scotland, are obvious, particularly to those delivering such services every day.

_“\[Fair Funding\] would reduce administrative burden and allow organisations to focus more of our time and resources on delivering impact for communities,”_ says a national membership and development organisation for Scotland’s library and information sector. _“Ultimately, implementing Fair Funding would strengthen the resilience of organisations across the voluntary sector.”_

_“Fair Funding should offer hope,”_ suggests the community hub. _“Longer-term funding which meets a charity’s needs \[and\] enables them to get on with their aims and objectives. Imagine having time freed up to actually do our jobs rather than constantly chasing funds? That would be great!”_

**Case Study**

[**CHAI EDINBURGH**](https://chaiedinburgh.org.uk/)

**CHAI (Community Help & Advice Initiative)** is an Edinburgh-based charity supporting and empowering people and communities through free, confidential, high-quality, impartial advice, information, and representation on welfare benefits, money, debt, housing, and employability. And yet, despite providing such vital services, the organisation finds itself in the midst of an unsustainable funding landscape.

Following a significant redundancy process, the direct result of an end to UKSPF funding, **CHAI** continues to face serious issues with staff retention. Against a backdrop of increased national insurance contributions, and with the organisation unable to ensure salaries that increase in line with inflation or pension contributions any higher than 3%, there is an ongoing trend of experienced, trained staff leaving for better paid, more secure jobs in the public sector.

This situation is made even more difficult by a short-term approach of funders, which results in an inability to plan for the future and deliver services to those who need them, leading to an estimated 8,500 people in Edinburgh unable to access vital advice and information. **CHAI’s** contracted service providing hugely valuable support and representation in court for private tenants and homeowners has had to have its funding topped up by the organisation itself through a combination of unrestricted funding and reserves – a direct result of the funding not increasing in line with inflation since the contract was first awarded in 2014.

The future for **CHAI** is precarious and services continue to suffer as a result. For example, due to current funding restraints, there is now a lack of advice services available in Edinburgh schools, while mental health and recovery hubs across the area suffer a similar fate. And, despite demand continuing to rise, the number of services being lost will consistently increase without improvements to funding processes.

There is, however, a case for some cautious optimism. The local authority has recently confirmed its intention to move towards a multi-year core funding model, something that **CHAI** has described as potentially transformational. This would not only provide some necessary stability but would also allow the organisation to attract more independent funding by being able to demonstrate greater security over the long-term, rather than being deemed too much of a risk due to a lack of core funding.

It is with such a proposed change to the way a local authority may approach its funding that the organisation can see clearly the potential game-changing impact of Fair Funding in full, ensuring a funding landscape that would allow better staff retention, provide the security for long-term planning, and create the space and capacity needed to source funding from elsewhere.

**Tackling the Climate Emergency**

**Foreword**

SCCAN sees every community‑led climate project as a tiny act of optimism — the kind Scotland is going to need in industrial quantities. Our network shows, daily, that when people are trusted and resourced, they deliver real climate action with creativity, care, and the occasional traybake. But this work depends on stability, not suspense.

Right now, funding practices often feel like a yearly game of “Will We, Won’t We?” — except the stakes are people’s jobs, community trust, and the momentum of local climate solutions. Short‑term grants and late decisions create stop‑start cycles that drain energy and force groups to spend more time refreshing inboxes than refreshing their communities - myself included!

Fair Funding offers something radical: the ability to plan ahead without needing psychic powers. Multi‑year, inflation‑linked, trust‑based funding would let organisations like ours build long‑term capacity, retain skilled staff, and support communities with the consistency they deserve. It would turn the sector’s default mode from “scramble” to “strategic”.

Without improvements, the future looks worryingly familiar. Brilliant projects will continue — because communities are stubbornly hopeful — but they’ll be held back by uncertainty. Innovation will shrink. Burnout will grow. And Scotland will risk missing the full potential of its grassroots climate movement.

SCVO’s Fair Funding work aligns closely with SCCAN’s own calls for sustained investment in community infrastructure, reduced bureaucracy, and a shift toward partnership rather than procurement. We don’t need more hoops; we need more trust.

Ultimately, what matters to us is simple: Scotland cannot deliver a just transition on short‑term funding cycles. Fair Funding isn’t just a technical fix — it’s the foundation for a future where communities can lead climate action with confidence, creativity, and maybe even a little less caffeine.

**Craig Dunn  
**Operations Support Lead  
[**Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN)**](https://sccan.scot/)

**Narrative**

**“\[FAIR FUNDING WOULD ENSURE\] BETTER PLANNING, BETTER PARTNERSHIPS”**

Like most of us, the Scottish Government undoubtedly recognises the urgent, human-driven emergency that the world now faces. The climate crisis is causing catastrophic weather extremes, melting ice caps, biodiversity loss, and significant risks to human health, food security, and economic stability worldwide. It is a crisis that we should all strive to combat, and it has been encouraging to note that the Scottish Government has both highlighted doing so as one of its key priorities and taken forward work in this area through, for example, the [Climate Change Plan (CCP).](https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-climate-change-plan-2026-2040/)

Whether it is playing a role in directly fighting the climate crisis by bridging the gap between national policy and local action, or helping to alleviate the social issues linked to climate action, such as poverty reduction, health improvement, and inequality, Scotland’s voluntary sector is at the forefront of work to avoid climate catastrophe and reduce the damage from the climate-related impacts we are already experiencing. It is this aspect that is crucially important to the Scottish Government’s approach to tackling both climate change and the impacts of climate change. The sector’s input is crucial. But it has to be a sustainable sector in order to ensure that input.

_“Confirmation of funding often comes late in the year, which can be stressful,”_ says an organisation connecting culture and climate change. _“This is largely because \[the\] Scottish Government doesn’t confirm its support of our core funding until later in the year. The Government \[also\] tends to provide funding which has to be spent before 31st March. These projects are too short and waste money.”_

_“The inconsistency and lack of confidence \[in\] funding is now starting to really affect our organisations,”_ admits a national environmental charity. _“Managers leading on grant bids face the constant stress and anxiety of managing current operational delivery set against a more erratic funding environment.”_

_“The turnover of staff is both exhausting and disruptive,”_ confirms an organisation focused on environmental improvements. _“\[There needs to be\] an acknowledgement that inflationary uplifts need to be made to ensure that voluntary sector organisations are able to maintain good staff on good quality contracts.”_

The climate crisis requires immediate action. Only by ensuring those organisations who directly support climate action, and those that provide the services to mitigate, and prevent, the impact of climate change, are sustainable, will we be able to create the best possible conditions to ensure that the planet itself is sustainable for future generations. Fair Funding is crucial to this objective.

_“\[Fair Funding would ensure\] better planning, better partnerships,”_ says the culture and climate change organisation. _“More confidence about the future leading to better work.”_

_“Fair Funding will enable organisations to plan effectively, develop staff, help managers and trustees move away from constant firefighting,”_ explains the national environmental charity. _“Organisations will be able to engage more effectively in policy making and providing stability of staffing to stakeholders and clients.”_

And as outlined by the national network of climate focused organisations: _“Service levels would increase, staff morale and retention would increase – overall, \[it would mean\] a better delivery of support to our network.”_

**Case Study**

[**GREENER KIRKCALDY**](https://www.greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk/)

**Greener Kirkcaldy** is a community-led charity and development trust working locally to bring people together, take positive action on the climate emergency, and support people through fuel poverty and food insecurity. Despite a clear focus on climate action, the organisation’s work spans several additional areas, including social justice, community development, and volunteering.

Over the past fifteen years, the organisation has deliberately built a diverse funding portfolio and developed strong relationships with funders, partners, and networks. This approach has enabled **Greener Kirkcaldy** to grow, build resilience and respond to changing community need. As a result, the organisation has extensive experience of funding practice, including many examples of positive and supportive funding relationships, as well as some of the challenges facing the sector.

The organisation is fortunate enough to receive some multi-year grants. These have provided valuable stability and enabled longer-term planning and investment in staff and services. However, the lack of inflationary uplifts within many grants remains a concern, particularly as costs continue to rise. Delays in funding decisions and the release of funding can also create uncertainty and place unnecessary pressure on staff and services.

**Greener Kirkcaldy** has also found that securing funding for core organisational costs remains difficult, despite these costs being essential to delivering effective projects and services. Funders often look to support new, short-term projects while the infrastructure, staff capacity and organisational development required to deliver those projects can be harder to fund. As the organisation has grown, it has become ineligible for some funding programmes designed for smaller charities. At the same time, there can be an assumption that larger organisations are financially secure, when in reality they remain heavily dependent on grant funding and face the same challenges around rising costs, core funding, and financial sustainability. In addition, the organisation is increasingly facing the challenge of grants being awarded at lower levels than requested, requiring them to repeatedly adapt plans and seek additional funding to fill gaps.

These challenges have clearly outlined that, despite those years of effort developing a varied funding portfolio, this has not eradicated the issues caused by the current funding landscape. Primarily, the capacity required to be frequently applying for funding is exhausting, directing crucial time and resources away from the work the organisation exists to carry out. And right across the climate action sector, there is an increasing belief that funders are losing interest in funding the kinds of projects needed to specifically tackle the climate emergency.

Despite this, **Greener Kirkcaldy** has experienced many examples of positive funding practices. Flexible, multi-year funding has enabled the organisation to plan ahead, invest in staff, and respond to changing community need. Some funders, both independent and statutory, have proactively engaged with the impact of rising costs, offering opportunities to reprofile budgets and incorporate uplifts where possible, for example following the recent increases in employer national insurance contributions. And some networks, trusts, and foundations are recognising the need for unrestricted, core funding streams, with some even creating funds to develop organisational resilience. These examples demonstrate that Fair Funding approaches are both achievable and beneficial for funders, organisations, and communities alike.

But in reality, these welcome snapshots of positive practice are simply not enough. **Greener Kirkcaldy** is now forced to approach all of its activities with a reluctant understanding that funding, and the barriers imposed by the current funding landscape, are likely to only worsen in the coming years. **Greener Kirkcaldy** has worked hard to build financial resilience through diversified income streams, strong partnerships, and forward-thinking financial management, including maintaining healthy reserves. These measures help the organisation absorb some of the pressures created by delayed decision-making, funding uncertainty, and rising costs. However, it is far from a sustainable position and capacity restraints make it difficult to balance funding and diversifying income. Ongoing funding uncertainty increases the risk that even well-established organisations across the sector will need to reduce services and staffing levels in order to remain sustainable.

Fair Funding approaches, including multi-year funding, inflationary uplifts, timely decision-making, and greater support for core costs, would enable organisations like **Greener Kirkcaldy** to spend less time navigating funding challenges and more time tackling urgent issues such as climate change, poverty, and delivering lasting benefits for communities.

**Supporting Local Communities**

**Foreword**

The annual [SURF Awards](https://surf.scot/surf-awards), which recognise community-led regeneration, will mark their 28th year in 2026. The awards not only celebrate grassroots work but also create space for shared learning through workshops that explore what makes projects succeed, and the barriers communities face. Over the past 27 years, one barrier consistently emerges: funding.

Whether communities are regenerating their areas through housing, creativity, employability or other activities, the short-term, project-based nature of the funding cocktail is a major barrier. It limits communities’ ability to reach their potential and creates insecure employment for people living and working locally.

SURF Award winners are increasingly providing services once delivered by the public sector as it withdraws to focus on statutory duties. Across Scotland, local people are running spaces and activities that tackle worklessness, isolation, homelessness, and poverty. That local leadership is a strength, but these organisations often lack the funding security needed to sustain services for as long as demand remains.

The lack of secure core funding places additional personal stress on people within these organisations. Knowing your services are desperately needed but not knowing whether you can continue to deliver them is exhausting. It contributes to staff turnover as employees face the annual prospect of funding ending, and it increases the risk of burnout for those responsible for keeping charities operating and focused on their aims. Delayed funding decisions only exacerbate this.

For these reasons, Fair Funding is one of the four primary asks in our [SURF Manifesto 2026](https://surf.scot/2026-manifesto/), which calls on the Scottish Parliament to deliver this over the 2026–31 term. The issue appeared in several party manifestos, and at my local hustings candidates from all parties said they would support it.

Investing in Fair Funding for frontline work delivered in and by communities is the preventative spend advocated by the [Christie Commission](https://www.gov.scot/publications/commission-future-delivery-public-services/) 15 years ago. It needs implemented now to pay future dividends.

**Euan Leitch  
**Chief Executive  
**SURF – Scotland’s Regeneration Forum**

**Narrative**

**“WE DO NOT KNOW IF WE WILL STILL BE HERE IN A YEAR OR NOT”**

There is no local community in Scotland that is not reliant on the voluntary sector. As outlined in [_SCVO’s State of the Sector 2025_](https://scvo.scot/research/stats-size), of the over 46,500 voluntary organisations across the country, an incredible 88% are local. When we drill down even further, 79% of Scottish charities and 98% of community groups are local. Simply put, the sector is dominated by organisations working in their local areas, providing the kind of crucial services and support that communities, and local authorities, rely on.

Such organisations provide employment and volunteering opportunities in every local authority area. They provide services across the spectrum, including all those considered here and beyond. They provide skills, experience, expertise, and dedication, without which communities would be negatively impacted. But the future of these organisations, and therefore the local communities themselves, is worryingly uncertain. The reliance on funding streams that are constantly unfair and unsustainable is creating circumstances that will only lead to more and more local services ceasing to exist, either as organisations struggle to meet the capacity required to maintain them or because those very organisations also cease to exist.

_“Applying for funding is often complex, requiring many hours of input from already over-committed volunteers,”_ explains a Lothian-based community SCIO. _“Small organisations do not have access to paid or experienced fundraisers, so feel they are at a disadvantage.”_

_“Insecure, uncertain, short-term funding means that we are always scrambling to meet the needs of our service users,”_ says a small organisation in the Highland region. _“It means that we struggle significantly with long-term planning. We do not know if we will still be here in a year or not, it’s difficult to remain positive and excited about our essential work.”_

_“\[Sourcing funding\] requires considerable time spent completing forms, writing letters, maintaining detailed records, and providing feedback,”_ adds a small, remote, rural provider of transport. _“None of which guarantees success.”_

With ever-increasing demand for services in local communities across Scotland, and a growing reliance by local authorities on the voluntary sector to provide statutory services, the need for Fair Funding is as clear as day.

_\[Fair Funding\] would help voluntary organisations carry out their work with much less stress about their future survival as a service,”_ says the rural transport provider. _“In light of increased pressure from governments to deliver more locally based services and for communities to become more self-reliant, any way to make this easier for those who give up their time would be a great benefit to them.”_

_“\[Fair Funding with\] simple application processes for smaller charities who don’t employ a full-time grants or fundraising employee \[would\] allow staff time to focus on service delivery rather than lengthy funding applications,”_ confirms a charity supporting people across local villages.

 _“Fair Funding would help to provide more consistent provision of services,”_ adds a community café.

_“Why should communities have to fight for the resources to change their communities?”_ asks a community anchor charity.

**Case Study**

[**RED CHAIR HIGHLAND**](https://www.redchairhighland.scot/)

**Red Chair Highland** is a micro-CIC based in the Scottish Highlands, with a primary focus on digital inclusion. Delivering services in local communities across the Highland region, the organisation provides a range of intervention services, device allocation, and connectivity support. The organisation also specialises in delivering media literacy courses, ensuring that people can identify a growing level of misinformation online. Given the unique rural challenges of the region, which includes a higher percentage of older people and a greater number of people who find themselves digitally excluded than many other areas in the country, the work undertaken by **Red Chair Highland** is crucial for people living in towns and villages across the Highland region. And yet, the funding situation that the organisation finds itself in, which staff describe as an “absolute nightmare”, continues to hinder **Red Chair Highland**’s ability to provide full support to service users.

Unsurprisingly, **Red Chair Highland**’s primary costs, aside from retaining staff, relate to the purchasing of devices. But a lack of understanding about digital inclusion from funders has resulted in a landscape where the tried and tested services with evidenced impact are no longer of interest, replaced instead by a desire for the new and innovative for its own sake. Digital inclusion, which seemed to be a hot topic just a few years ago, now appears to have slipped down the lists of priorities for funders, and both local and national government, with the opportunities for funding becoming more restricted as a result. In addition, the accessibility of existing funding continues to be hampered by onerous and complex application processes, and extensive reporting requirements – even for relatively small grants covering, for example, a batch of Chromebooks – both of which are disproportionately burdensome.

The result of that lack of accessible funding is clear. While **Red Chair Highland** can continue to run courses in ten local communities, there remains dozens of other areas across the Highlands that remain without crucial digital inclusion services. While the organisation can support some people by providing devices which, rather than a luxury, can provide a lifesaving connection for people who are otherwise digitally excluded, countless others remain deprived of access to employment, GPs, medical diagnosis management, and much more.

Despite trying to diversify, including attracting funding by undertaking commissioned research projects in the digital space, the situation remains precarious for the organisation and extremely stressful for **Red Chair Highland** staff. Ultimately, for as long as the accessibility of funding does not improve, there remains a continual fear that the organisation may not exist the following year. Without Fair Funding, the work of the organisation will continue to be limited – staff will continue to face anxiety and stress, the future of the organisation will remain uncertain, the main community hub in Inverness will continue to only open three days a week, and people in local communities across the Highlands will continue to be digital excluded.

Despite the incredible work and dedication of **Red Chair Highland,** the ongoing issue of digital exclusion in the rural areas of the Highlands is increasingly creating unequal members of society. And without funding for the voluntary sector that is fair and accessible, Scotland is actively keeping such people digitally excluded.

**Distributing Funding**

**Foreword**

For more than 17 years, Inspiring Scotland, alongside partners across the voluntary sector, has played a vital role in allocating and distributing funding in ways that strengthen organisations and maximise social impact. This work goes beyond investment alone; it is about building stability, supporting leadership, and enabling third sector organisations to deliver lasting change for the communities they serve.

Through our experience, we know that financial stability is important – if not more important - as the levels of investment. Yet short-term annual funding cycles too often undermine this. They limit organisations’ ability to plan, increase administrative burden, and divert skilled staff away from frontline delivery. For the vulnerable people many charities support, whose needs do not align with annual funding timetables, this instability can result in paused services, closed waiting lists, and lost momentum.

Multi‑year, fairer funding has the potential to transform this picture. It gives organisations greater certainty to plan and invest, supporting staff retention, and reducing the significant waste associated with repeated recruitment and training. It enables smarter, longer‑term decisions on overhead and running costs, ensuring more funding reaches frontline services. It also frees leadership time that's often spent on annual funding bids - to focus on governance, programme delivery, sustainability, quality improvement, innovation, and increased accessibility.

Without improvements to funding practices, the sector risks unnecessary inefficiency, workforce instability, and reduced capacity to meet long-term needs. Scotland’s third sector is the backbone of our communities—often the first to respond to poverty, inequality, mental ill‑health, and social isolation. At Inspiring Scotland, we stand alongside these organisations as a funding partner, combining investment with tailored development support to help them grow, adapt, and deepen their impact.

SCVO’s Fair Funding work closely aligns with our own long‑standing calls for stability, trust, and fairness. Together, we make a clear case that fair multi-year funding is not merely good practice but essential to the future resilience and effectiveness of Scotland’s voluntary sector.

**Celia Tennant  
**Chief Executive  
[**Inspiring Scotland**](https://inspiringscotland.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“THE POSITIVE IMPACT FAIR FUNDING COULD HAVE… CANNOT BE UNDERESTIMATED”**

From Scottish Government to local authorities, NHS Boards to Health and Social Care Partnerships, from corporate foundations to independent grant-makers, trusts to charities themselves, the voluntary sector’s funding landscape is varied and diverse. [As outlined by SCVO data](https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/8619/html/), 42% of the sector’s income comes from the public sector, with 59% of this earned in the form of contracts. Grants make up the other 41% of that public sector income. However, despite this, sizeable swathes of sector funding comes from grant-making organisations who are themselves part of the voluntary sector.

As a result, such organisations can face the very same issues and barriers caused by unfair and unsustainable funding practices as those faced by any other charity or voluntary organisation. This can include the inability to plan for the long-term, to recruit and retain staff, or to face rising costs without the security and resilience required. And yet, at the same time, it is often these organisations that are already incorporating Fair Funding principles as part of their funding approaches. For example, as the [Social Justice and Social Security Committee’s report on Third Sector Funding Principles outlines](https://digitalpublications.parliament.scot/Committees/Report/SJSS/2024/11/13/287b8aaf-931b-4526-80e0-c0f9ee6c0682#eeea0843-d628-4f35-a1bd-6ea66751bd8e.dita), such funders are often those leading the way in terms of longer-term funding, sometimes with ten years seen as the “optimum”, and are recognised to be amongst the most likely to address rising inflation through the inclusion of uplifts.

_“People can often think that, because you are a grant-maker, you are somehow immune to the same problems as others,”_ explains a charity that provides funding to local projects and groups. _“That couldn’t be further from the truth but we still ensure that the funding we provide is long-term and sustainable.”_

_“The current model is broken and does not allow organisations to grow and thrive,”_ says a national charity offering support to organisations seeking funding. _“If someone were to buy shares, it would never be expected that they could invest in just one specific product, it would be widely understood that this isn’t how investment works and that it would limit the business’s ability to grow and develop – yet this is effectively what is expected of organisations through restricted funding.”_

Fair Funding is far from a radical set of asks. Instead, it is largely a manifesto for basic expectations and processes that make funding more efficient and more impactful for everybody. And we know that is the case because there are already funders out there, many of whom voluntary organisations themselves, incorporating Fair Funding principles in their processes. It is these funders who can clearly see the benefits Fair Funding would have if implemented by the Scottish Government.

_“Fair Funding is a great example of what funding should look like,”_ says the local funding provider. _“We like to think that we approach all of our grants with similar consideration and understanding of the sector. But there’s always improvements we could be making – we’re not perfect.”_

_“The positive impact Fair Funding could have, if implemented by all funders, cannot be underestimated,”_ agrees the national charity_. “Both in terms of strengthening organisations themselves and in increasing the impact they are able to have on society.”_

**The Role of Intermediaries**

**Foreword**

National intermediaries and networks play a vital role within Scotland’s ecosystem. They connect grassroots organisations to policy processes, amplify community voice, support collaboration, and build capacity across the sector.  Much of this work is often unseen but fundamental. Without strong infrastructure bodies, smaller organisations struggle to influence decisions, learning is fragmented or collective responses to emerging challenges are weakened.  This work relies on continuity, trusted relationships, and the ability to plan beyond a single financial year.

Yet, the majority of current funding practices undermine this role. Short-term project-restricted funding constrains strategic planning, late decisions create operational uncertainty, and insufficient core, flexible investment undermines workforce sustainability. While steps towards multi-year commitments are welcome, they remain inconsistent and under resourcing continues to limit the impact intermediaries can achieve on behalf of their members and communities.

A genuine shift to fair funding is necessary. Multi-year settlements, realistic inflationary uplifts, and proportionate accountability would provide the stability for long-term change. Predictable funding would enable intermediaries to invest in people, deepen partnerships, and contribute consistently to policy development rather than reacting to short-term pressures.

Without meaningful reform, the risk is to weaken the very infrastructure that enables community voice and democratic participation. Continued instability will reduce coordination, drive out expertise, and narrow community representation in national decision-making.  The consequences of which would be felt most acutely in the communities already facing the greatest challenges.

SCVO’s Fair Funding campaign directly reflects these concerns. It calls for multi-year settlements, proportionate reporting, and respectful funding relationships, which mirror the needs expressed by Scottish Community Alliance. Together we are clear, sustainable community impact requires sustainable investment in the infrastructure that supports it.  

**Elizabeth Docherty  
**Director  
[**Scottish Community Alliance**](https://www.scottishcommunityalliance.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FAIR FUNDING ACROSS THE SCOTTISH VOLUNTARY SECTOR WOULD BRING SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS”**

Intermediaries - also often called umbrella bodies, membership bodies, or network bodies - are the voluntary sector organisations whose members are primarily other voluntary sector organisations that share a common interest or purpose. These national organisations support, connect, and represent others working in the same field, such as youth work, arts, health or heritage, directly reaching thousands of members and indirectly supporting thousands more organisations and individuals across Scotland.

Working with and on behalf of their members, such organisations help to build capacity, support with development, advocate for policy change, and, ultimately, increase the positive impact of Scotland’s voluntary sector. The work of intermediaries in any given field is, in short, invaluable.

However, just like the thousands of members they represent, intermediaries are not protected from the impacts of an unfair, unsustainable funding landscape. Intermediaries and their members alike often find themselves facing the same difficulties, including challenges with recruiting staff and providing services.

_“Much of the funding available to organisations in Scotland is allocated on a short-term or annual basis,”_ outlines a national membership and development organisation for Scotland's library and information sector. _“Research into Fair Funding in Scotland has highlighted how this can create uncertainty for organisations in the public and third sectors, making it more difficult to plan strategically, retain staff, and invest in long-term development.”_

_“Some years we only deliver services at the optimum level for six months,”_ says a national network of organisations tackling the climate crisis. _“This is because we don’t hear about funding for three months into the financial year and then it can take three months to recruit – without taking into account onboarding time.”_

_“Multi-year funding is never available and every year we are in a position where we don’t know how many of our team we can keep on beyond March,”_ adds an intermediary organisation providing much needed support to third sector groups across Scotland delivering on fuel poverty projects. _“This is very unsettling, creates a lot of stress and uncertainty, and we lose good staff because of it.”_

The benefits of Fair Funding are obvious, particularly to membership organisations who understand fully the issues facing those members.

_“The implementation of Fair Funding across the Scottish voluntary sector would bring significant benefits to our organisation and to the wider library and information sector we support,”_ says the library and information sector intermediary. _“Fair Funding encourages funders to support fair pay, including the Real Living Wage and pay progression comparable with the public sector. This would help organisations recruit and retain skilled staff, strengthen organisational expertise, and ensure staff delivering public services feel valued and supported.”_

_“It would mean we could attract and retain a stronger team and deliver more strategic outcomes,”_ adds the circular economy charities membership body.

**Case Study**

**Lack of Multi-Year – A Relentless, Never-Ending Process** **(Anonymised)**

With funding from the Scottish Government, local authorities, and numerous other funders, **Organisation B** is a national intermediary organisation that, from the outside looking in, could appear to have a solid funding foundation. However, the funding landscape for the voluntary sector is such that the organisation still faces a myriad of struggles – particularly with a lack of flexible, multi-year funding.

With a need to submit proposals on an annual basis, even for programmes with outcomes that are a strong priority of funders, there is a huge drain of time and resources. For a lengthy period of each year, **Organisation B**’s senior management team must devote a sizeable portion of capacity towards sourcing funding ahead of the following year, taking valuable staff members away from programme management, staff development, and strategic planning. A lack of flexible funding simply compounds these issues, with a need to seek out specific pots of cash to cover the core costs of the organisation making the entire process relentless and seemingly never-ending.

Essentially, **Organisation B** cannot help but face continuous barriers when seeking to provide its services, helping people through programmes and working with local organisations and communities while faced with uncertainties around the length of financial support. This has, at times, even led to the offering of voluntary redundancies, as the organisation has sought to cut capacity out of necessity. With local authority contracts in particular, the lack of multi-year funding on offer – and the subsequent ongoing uncertainty – is a major issue. In addition, the disproportionate time and hugely complex processes involved in the bidding for contracts, with more hoops to jump through once awarded, means that, on balance, it is often not worth the effort for the organisation in the first place.

Being able to rely on multi-year, flexible funding would be a game-changer for **Organisation B**, providing the space to plan and sound out the most effective ways in which to produce the best outcomes possible, instead of spending huge amounts of time just trying to source enough funding to survive, and helping to avoid the kinds of challenges that have, in the past, led to valuable staff members losing their roles.

**Sector Workforce & Fair Work**

**Foreword**

Unite are deeply aware of the pressure faced by organisations and the impact it is having on our members in the current climate of unsustainability in resources, restricting employers in their ability to recruit into this sector. We have requested financial transparency around funding to support the sector and how funding is being used to reach the services most in need.

We believe that our members who work in the voluntary sector should be paid on par with those in the public sector and we require organisations to be funded accordingly to accommodate and secure future pay uplifts in line with others. Failure to be able to plan and forecast funding arrangements means decisions will have to be taken on what services are able to continue and this places uncertainty on service provision and on our members, regarding their long-term employment and career options.

Failure to provide sustainable funding risks damaging the services and the recruitment of staff into this sector which will result in no community service provision long-term and no career development or jobs for our members.

We welcome SCVO’s continued advocacy for a fairer, more sustainable funding landscape for Scotland’s voluntary sector. The principles outlined—multi-year funding, flexibility, sustainability, and accessibility—are essential to ensuring that voluntary organisations can deliver vital services with stability and confidence.

As Chair of Unite’s Community, Youth Workers & Not-for-Profit Regional Industrial Sector Committee, I strongly support the call for the Scottish Government to align its Fairer Funding commitments with SCVO’s definition, which has been shaped by extensive sector engagement. We recognise the urgent need for funding models that reflect the real costs of service delivery, including inflationary pressures, fair wages, and core operational needs.

Our members are committed to echoing these calls in our own work and communications, and we encourage others across the sector to do the same. A unified voice is crucial to securing the long-term changes our sector needs.

**Paul King  
**Chair  
[**Unite Community, Youth Workers & Not-for-Profit RISC**](https://www.unitetheunion.org/what-we-do/unite-in-your-sector/community-youth-workers-and-not-for-profit)

**Narrative**

**“FAIR FUNDING WOULD ALLOW US TO… EMBED FAIR WORK PRACTICES MORE DEEPLY”**

Employing around 5% of Scotland’s 2.67 million workers, there is no question that the voluntary sector is a significant employer. In 2023, the sector spent £3.2 billion in staff costs, up from £2.9 billion in 2021, costs that will undoubtedly have since risen further following the UK Government’s increase to employers’ national insurance contributions, costing the sector an estimated £75 million, and increased inflation over recent years.

[Fair Work First](https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/advice-and-guidance/2023/03/fair-work-first-guidance-2/documents/fair-work-first-guidance-supporting-implementation-fair-work-first-workplaces-scotland/fair-work-first-guidance-supporting-implementation-fair-work-first-workplaces-scotland/govscot%3Adocument/fair-work-first-guidance-supporting-implementation-fair-work-first-workplaces-scotland.pdf), described by the Scottish Government as the _“flagship policy for driving high quality and fair work”_, seeks to achieve its objectives by applying fair work criteria to grants and other funding. There is then no surprise that a lack of Fair Funding can subsequently pose barriers for the organisations seeking to meet these criteria.

Against the backdrop of a worsening voluntary sector pay gap, and despite performing better than the private sector, [10.4% of people employed by ‘not for profit’ organisations were paid below the Real Living Wage in 2024](https://scvo.scot/research/reports/pay-in-the-voluntary-sector) and, as set out in [_SCVO’s 2025 Scottish Voluntary Sector Workforce Survey,_](https://scvo.scot/research/reports/2025-scottish-voluntary-sector-workforce-survey) only 39% of paid staff in the sector feel that they are paid fairly, with more than one in five saying their salary does not cover basic needs. In addition, a quarter of staff are employed on fixed-term contracts or more casual arrangements – a rate far higher than in other sectors. This is compounded by funding uncertainty, which respondents consistently describe as the most stressful aspect of their work.

We also know from the [Scottish Third Sector Tracker](https://scvo.scot/p/103256/2026/02/03/the-scottish-third-sector-tracker-wave-11-autumn-2025) that 41% of organisations have found the recruitment of staff to be an ongoing challenge, with 44% laying the blame squarely upon an inability to offer competitive pay or benefits.

_“\[Current funding\] impacts staff who start looking for other jobs with better employment prospects,”_ explains a Borders-wide community transport organisation. _“We often lose good staff because the funding is uncertain for the next financial year.”_

_“\[It\] makes it more difficult to plan and deliver long-term impact,”_ confirms a large veterans’ support charity. _“We struggle to maintain costs and provide staff with pay uplifts.”_

_“With a small remote team, we deliver significant impact but operate under high pressure,”_ adds a small charity supporting live performances in the Highlands & Islands. _“We are proud to be a Real Living Wage employer and embed Fair Work principles, yet funding insecurity affects staff wellbeing and volunteer retention, with some promoters stepping back due to costs and lack of support.”_

It appears that regardless of the type of organisation, the support offered, or the geographical location there is an understanding across the sector that the Scottish Government cannot expect organisations to meet its Fair Work First criteria without first improving the funding landscape in which voluntary organisations operate by implementing SCVO’s Fair Funding principles.

_“If we had more certainty longer-term then more staff would be retained and more development would be done,”_ says the community transport organisation.

_“We could pay a fair wage to our staff, retaining a quality workforce,” adds the veterans’ charity._

A small, rurally-based creative opportunities provider for young people confirms: _“Fair Funding would allow us to maintain Real Living Wage commitments, improve job security, and embed Fair Work practices more deeply.”_

**Case Study**

**Relationships are key to effective funding!** **(Anonymised)**

**Organisation C** is a membership organisation that works with various bodies, groups, and representatives within its sector to progress work collaboratively, achieve a shared vision, and be a strong voice for its members and their strategic aims. The organisation provides a range of important services and resources to support the delivery of vital services both locally and nationally across Scotland.

After over 20 years of obtaining funding from the Scottish Government, during which **Organisation C** enjoyed positive relationships, the organisation has recently experienced “an administrative nightmare”, with a whole new process being introduced and previously good relationships changing overnight. This new process has focused more on outputs rather than outcomes, a backwards step prioritising matters such as numbers of meetings and newsletters over a substantial impact on Scotland’s communities in what appears to be a move towards a target-driven culture.

New objectives have been introduced with no input from charities and business plan templates have been utilised, resulting in **Organisation C** having to write a business plan based on objectives it wasn’t involved in setting. In addition, the changing process has led to the organisation having to devote the time and resources involved in rewriting a funding application multiple times to successfully obtain funding.

As a result of the new approach, **Organisation C** has not just found its previously strong relationships reset but, instead, having to develop new relationships with grant managers staff don’t know and who don’t know staff. The organisation has been informed that they are “lucky” to receive funding at all, cannot assume that they will be funded the following year, and that metrics and output data are the most likely way to evidence their success. Furthermore, the organisation, due to its close links with similar organisations, is aware of information that it has been given that is either inaccurate or different from that given to others accessing the same funding stream. **Organisation C** now describes itself as being in “a parent and child relationship rather than the partnership” that it enjoyed for over two decades.

Whilst eager to agree to Fair Work principles as a mandatory part of the grant agreement process, the organisation is aware that staff are now more anxious about the certainty of their salary and security of their jobs than ever before, further compounded by the challenge of finding cost-of-living increases in a standstill budget. 

**Organisation C** has always taken responsibility for public money very seriously but has found this recent process incredibly concerning and demoralising, causing great worry that, should relationships and processes deteriorate further, funding will become hugely difficult, if not impossible, to successfully obtain. Nevertheless, **Organisation C** is keen that relationships improve and is striving to return to a happier place of positive relationships that are so crucial to ensuring that the organisation, and Scotland’s third sector, is able to continue to deliver the critical services that it does so well.

**Volunteering Opportunities**

**Foreword**

Volunteers are vital for thriving communities in Scotland. They provide companionship and emotional support to people who are isolated or lonely. They help us understand and act against the many impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. They ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in society receive crucial advice and support. They provide culture, heritage, and arts activities which promote creativity and connection. They lead clubs and groups which enrich the lives of our children and young people. They also support the delivery of key public services, including responding to emergencies at sea or in our great mountain ranges. That’s just a flavour of what Scotland’s volunteers are doing every day. 

Behind this pillar of Scottish society is an infrastructure that supports volunteering. This includes dedicated and passionate volunteer managers and coordinators, in both paid and volunteer roles. It also includes local [Third Sector Interfaces](https://www.gov.scot/publications/third-sector-interfaces-contact-details/) and umbrella bodies (like Volunteer Scotland and SCVO) who support the sector. This infrastructure helps make volunteering happen - it ensures that volunteers have an enjoyable, rewarding, and fulfilling experience, and keeps volunteers safe and protected in delivering their volunteering roles. Fair Funding is required to ensure that volunteering is sustainable and inclusive; that we understand who volunteers and why, the difference they make, and remove the barriers to wider participation. 

Our [Volunteering Manifesto](https://www.volunteerscotland.net/policy/our-volunteering-manifesto) echoes SCVO’s call for Fair Funding. We need fair and sustainable funding for third sector organisations to ensure that anyone who considers volunteering can volunteer and have supported, meaningful, and appropriate experiences. And that we can demonstrate the impact of volunteering, so our policymakers and funders continue to invest in it. We are cautiously optimistic that volunteer participation in Scotland is showing early signs of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. However, without Fair Funding this recovery will stall, and inclusion gaps will widen, excluding the very people who have the most to gain from volunteering.

Fair Funding for the third sector is crucial for our work to create a nation of volunteers strengthening Scotland’s communities. Without volunteers, there is no community. 

**Alan Stevenson  
**Chief Executive Officer  
[**Volunteer Scotland**](https://www.volunteerscotland.net/)

**Narrative**

**“THE VOLUNTEERS WE RECRUIT ARE UNAWARE OF OUR FUNDING SITUATION”**

Volunteering is not just crucial to the work undertaken by the tens of thousands of voluntary organisations and charities in Scotland, it is also crucial to Scotland’s economy. As the [Scottish Household Survey](https://www.volunteerscotland.net/research-evaluation/national-volunteering-profile) sets out, in 2022 46% of Scottish adults volunteered in some capacity, up to 48% in 2024, giving over 300 million hours of their time and contributing an estimated £5.3 billion to the economy.

Despite these impressive stats - and the Scottish Government’s own aims to encourage and raise the profile of volunteering in Scotland through the [Volunteering Action Plan](https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-volunteering-action-plan/) - [Wave 11 (Autumn 2025) of the Scottish Third Sector Tracker](https://scvo.scot/research/scottish-third-sector-tracker/wave-eleven-autumn-2025) continues to portray an area that remains hugely testing for the sector, with volunteer shortages now considered the top challenge faced by organisations (42%). 62% of organisations now report challenges in recruiting volunteers, with 41% stating that they face a difficulty in retaining volunteers – a 4% increase over the previous 12 months. And with the [SCVO Workplace Survey](https://scvo.scot/research/reports/2025-scottish-voluntary-sector-workforce-survey) highlighting that 1 in 4 volunteers are currently considering leaving their roles, it is hard to see where the much-needed improvements are going to come from.

When organisations were asking by the Third Sector Tracker what actions they had taken to improve recruitment and retention of volunteers, one in five said they had taken no action due to additional barriers. 37% of those said that this was due to financial constraints, with 24% reporting that uncertainty about the future of their service provision was the main reason.

_“Funding is often short-term, uncertain, and project-specific, which makes it very difficult for us to plan ahead or sustain vital services,”_ explains a community-based charity providing volunteering opportunities to tackle poverty, isolation, and inequality. _“The lack of security creates stress for our team and anxiety for the people who rely on us. This uncertainty can prevent us from retaining skilled staff and makes it harder to recruit volunteers, as we cannot guarantee continuity.”_

_“We do not advertise that we only get funding year to year to our clients and volunteers as this would unsettle them,”_ admits a national charity delivering grassroots services. _“The volunteers we recruit are unaware of our funding situation; we continue to deliver the service as if we will be there forever.”_

But as with so many challenging areas within the voluntary sector, the introduction of Fair Funding would have a markedly positive impact on volunteering, giving organisations the security and sustainability to both recruit and retain volunteers by ensuring the capacity and resource to invest in positive volunteer experiences. As outlined in Volunteer Scotland’s 2026 Scottish Parliament Election Manifesto, [_Creating a Nation of Volunteers_](https://www.volunteerscotland.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/VS-2026-Scottish-Parliament-Manifesto-%E2%80%93-Creating-a-Nation-of-Volunteers.pdf)_,_ Fair Funding would ensure _“that volunteers have supported, meaningful and appropriate volunteering experiences”._

_“For our members – 70% of whom are volunteers – Fair Funding would create a fairer, more sustainable touring infrastructure,”_ says a small charity supporting live performances in the Highlands and Islands. _“Volunteers would benefit from better access to funds and proportionate, flexible support.”_

As the national charity that does not advertise its annual funding cycle to volunteers states: _“\[Fair Funding would mean\] better calibre of staff, more security, better morale, more development, and the ability to expand our services.”_

**Case Study**

[**FOOD TRAIN**](https://thefoodtrain.co.uk/)

**Food Train** is a charity helping older people across Scotland, offering members practical help to eat well, age well, and live well at home for longer. Teams of dedicated **Food Train** volunteers provide vital services helping older people affected by ill health, frailty, and disability. The vital services provided by the organisation include a weekly shopping service, a regular meal share service, various befriending options, and, in a few areas of the country, help with household tasks and access to library books.

The organisation, however, faces a number of funding-related issues. **Food Train** remains significantly reliant on statutory and commissioned income, which, while essential, creates exposure to external pressures and results in a significant proportion of income remaining restricted to specific services or programmes, reducing the organisation’s ability to invest in innovation, infrastructure, and preventative work, and limiting responsiveness to emerging need. In addition, there are little or no inflationary uplifts built into this funding and many funding streams are secured on an annual basis, creating ongoing uncertainty and a need to devote capacity to the year-on-year application process.

It is within these circumstances that there has been a reduction in total income, driven not only by a tightening funding environment but also by the cumulative impact of standstill statutory funding settlements, rising operational costs, and increasing demand. There are also challenges regarding maintaining consistent income across multiple streams and the inability of voluntary income to provide the consistent, long-term support needed to underpin sustainable growth, due to it being largely secured through short-term funding cycles and competitive processes.

The organisation is, of course, not simply waiting around on the Scottish Government bringing forward the urgently needed improvements to the funding landscape. **Food Train** has, instead, finalised a strategy that will put fundraising in a central role within the organisation in order to expand its reach, invest in prevention and innovation, and strengthen its national influence. It’s through this work that the organisation has developed a vision to build a sustainable, diversified, and resilient fundraising model that will enable long-term planning, support strategic growth, and reduce reliance on statutory funding, while meeting a number of objectives, including strengthening its volunteer capacity.

But even with that strong strategy, bright vision, and series of objectives to work towards, **Food Train** still finds itself at the mercy of an unfair funding landscape when it comes to accessing statutory funding, even if the reliance on that funding is proactively reduced. Without inflationary increases and multi-year funding commitments, organisations like **Food Train** are being asked to do more, for more people, with effectively less resource each year.

The organisation continues to undertake incredible work across Scotland, while taking steps to ensure that its funding is more fair, sustainable, flexible, and accessible. But without drastic improvements to statutory funding, the organisation will continue to suffer from a lack of security and stability upon which its renewed fundraising model can be based and its objectives achieved. This will only mean that **Food Train** is unable to keep pace with growing demand, limiting the number of people who can be supported, increasing waiting times, and placing further strain on already stretched health and social care systems.

**Active Travel**

**Foreword**

Imagine a Scotland where everyone has the freedom to travel in the healthiest, cheapest, and most sustainable ways. Where our young people move around safely, independently, and joyfully. Where we can all make choices which improve our wellbeing, save money, and do our bit for the planet – all while getting where we need to go. And where we all feel better connected to our communities and with nature.

Walk Wheel Cycle Trust, the charity previously known as Sustrans, has spent decades working directly with communities to make this happen. With funding support from the Scottish Government, we’ve supported thousands of partners make walking, wheeling, and cycling possible.

From supporting volunteers and grassroots groups making National Cycle Network routes safer, more joyful spaces through the [Love Your Network](https://www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/our-blog/projects/love-your-network-support-for-community-groups-on-the-national-cycle-network-in-scotland/) and [ArtRoots programmes](https://www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/our-blog/projects/artroots-funding-for-the-national-cycle-network-in-scotland/), to co-designing fairer neighbourhoods with the people and local groups who know these places best – the impact adds up to something huge.

Community demand has never been higher. And the evidence showing this work is helping to tackle some of Scotland’s biggest challenges – inequality, child poverty, health and climate - has never been greater. Yet every year this momentum is put at risk.

Annual funding cycles limit ambition. And delays to confirmation and award, often stretching months into the financial year, can undermine the meaningful engagement processes that deliver projects shaped around real local needs.

Community‑led groups, who are already operating in a challenging delivery window, can be forced to operate at risk — delaying work, scaling back ambition or, in the worst cases, folding altogether.  For charities like us, this uncertainty creates an annual jeopardy: balancing unsustainable financial risk against the potential loss of passionate, expert staff and programmes that are already changing lives. 

Investment in walking, wheeling, and cycling is helping create a better Scotland for everyone. But its true potential will not be realised until the third sector has the confidence to plan beyond a single year with transparent, sustainable, and flexible funding that protects our biggest asset: our people.

**Mark Shields  
**Head of Policy in Scotland, Cymru and Northern Ireland  
[**Walk Wheel Cycle Trust**](https://www.walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“FAIR FUNDING WOULD BE TRANSFORMATIONAL – THE BLUEPRINT IS THERE TO FIX IT, SO FIX IT!”**

_“Everyone benefits when more people walk, wheel, and cycle,”_ states [Transport Scotland](https://www.transport.gov.scot/active-travel/benefits-of-active-travel/). _“Active travel is good for your physical, mental, and social health, and increased rates of active travel as an alternative to the car brings wider health benefits from improved air quality, reduced road danger, and increased community cohesion.”_ And through the likes of the [Active Travel Framework](https://www.transport.gov.scot/active-travel/active-travel-framework/), bringing together the key policy approaches to improving the uptake of walking and cycling in Scotland for travel, and the [Active Travel Infrastructure Fund](https://www.transport.gov.scot/active-travel/infrastructure/), it is clear that steps are being taken to realise an active travel vision for the country.

The benefits are, indeed, clear. According to the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust’s [_Walking and Cycling Index 2025_](https://eu-west-1.protection.sophos.com/?d=walkwheelcycletrust.org.uk&u=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2Fsa3doZWVsY3ljbGV0cnVzdC5vcmcudWsvbWVkaWEvcHYxajJsbWovMjYwMzEwLXdhbGtpbmctYW5kLWN5Y2xpbmctaW5kZXgtc2NvdGxhbmQtcmVwb3J0LWRpZ2l0YWwtdjFhLnBkZg==&i=NjE4YWViOGFjNDRkNjAwZTQ4OGY5M2Fj&t=N3RGOGNhYkI0cGpGbjhZRjlLb3Q2OGZsTlNGRGRzNWJaUmFQQ1JNcW11Zz0=&h=c17c18577ac94a7eabc9725a656de490&s=AVNPUEhUT0NFTkNSWVBUSVaTW4tXzjKyCLJBLeRsyWE4h1HKif3UexofHPzOLE4MDbB_r90Voo97yvH5kyo6RVQ), walking and cycling across Scotland’s eight cities has prevented 4,530 serious long-term health conditions, saved 93,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas, reduced the daily number of cars on the road by 520,000, saved the NHS £53.7 million per year, and resulted in £1.48 billion in economic benefit for individuals and Scottish cities. With impacts as important as these, it is vital that Scotland not only harnesses the skills, experience, and dedication of voluntary organisations providing valued active travel support but also ensures that those organisations have the stability and security to do so effectively.

_“We are lucky enough to benefit from some small pots of funding which are given in a way that shows an understanding and respect of our sector,”_ says a local environmental charity providing support for active travel. _“We have benefited from larger contracts in the past but the benefits of more money have been massively diluted by the processes and approaches.”_

_“The current approach to funding is a nightmare,”_ explains a UK-wide charity with a focus on encouraging walking. _“Funding is largely inaccessible with complicated, time-consuming applications, and when we do manage to access funding it’s usually short-term, delayed, and void of any core funding.”_

_“We are a tiny organisation, so we don't have in-house bid-writing expertise - it's harder for small, start-up entrants to compete with established bigger charities,”_ admits a community cycling hub. _“We haven't been able to increase staff salaries for a number of years to align with inflation and cost-of-living, despite wanting to, which increases risk of staff feeling forced to go elsewhere in order to make ends meet.”_

When the numbers set out by Transport Scotland show both the savings that active travel can deliver to our national health service and the economic boon the sector generates, it should be an obvious aim to ensure that all partners working in this area have the tools to be as secure and as sustainable as possible. But as is consistently the case, this not the reality for voluntary organisations. And it will not be the reality without Fair Funding.

_“\[Fair Funding\] would literally change our society and country for the better,”_ states the UK-wide charity. _“Quite considerably so.”_

_“\[Fair Funding\] would enable us to remain an ethical attractive employer and retain skilled, passionate staff,”_ says the community cycling hub. _“\[It\] would enable us to layout a more concrete business plan, ensuring we can be more ambitious in our work and take action to increase our impact and reach.”_

_“Fair Funding would be transformational,”_ agrees the UK-wide charity. _“The blueprint is there to fix it – so fix it!”_

**Case Study**

[**WOMEN ON WHEELS**](https://womenonwheels.org.uk/)

For four years, **Women on Wheels** has been encouraging women into cycling in Glasgow, while working with the local community to understand the barriers they face and how those can be overcome. Creating an all-inclusive community so that women can cycle for transport and leisure, the organisation provides an array of services, including adult cycling lessons, bike maintenance classes, family cycling, led bike rides, and social cycling events.

Founded in 2022, the organisation initially found it relatively straight forward to successfully obtain funding for its services. However, this success rate has gradually declined and, recently, **Women on Wheels** has been notified that its main funder, the Scottish Government, is cutting revenue funding by 60%, a move that the organisation describes as “catastrophic”. Furthermore, the organisation has been left in the dark as to the reasoning behind this cut in funding.

In response to this worrying financial drop, **Women on Wheels** is having to consider potentially reducing hours, and possibly even making some staff redundant, as the organisation now finds itself in a position where there is nowhere near enough funding to carry on in its current form. The plan already in place for the year ahead will now need to be revised, services will undoubtedly need to be scaled back and, while the organisation will explore other methods to generate income, it seems likely that its reserves will need to be used to plug gaps, potentially in their entirety.

The impact of this cut to funding is even more deeply felt by the organisation due to it working within a landscape that has prevented **Women on Wheels** from becoming more resilient since its founding. For example, its funding has been never timely, with confirmation routinely provided well after the start of the financial year. In addition, the organisation has never received any feedback following unsuccessful funding applications, which would provide valuable support towards strengthening future applications, other than when applying to independent funders. Simply put, the uncertainty and unsustainability of the approaches taken by most funders has created the circumstances in which an unexpected and sizeable cut to funding is made even more damaging and puts the organisation at even greater risk.

Those at **Women on Wheels** putting every ounce of time and effort into finding an effective way forward find themselves with little capacity to do much else, with all energy devoted to identifying and attempting to access additional funding. And this is not a new development, with the sapping of capacity across the sector being a frequently cited impact of the current funding landscape. But those within the organisation are also clear that, had Fair Funding already been the default approach taken by funders across Scotland, the organisation would have been far more resilient and, therefore, far more prepared to navigate this recent cut.

**Antiracism & Integration**

**Foreword**

AWAITING FOREWORD FROM LAYLA-ROXANNE HILL (SEIN)

**Narrative**

**“NEW AND SHINY IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN TRIED AND TESTED”**

Racism in Scotland is rising. As outlined in [a University of Glasgow led survey last year](https://www.theredcard.org/news/rise-in-race-hate-crime-in-scotland/#:~:text=According%20to%20Police%20Scotland%2C%20there%20has%20been,50%25%20increase%20in%20racist%20incidents%20last%20year), around one-third (35%) of people in Scotland’s Black, Asian, and visible ethnic minority communities say they have faced discrimination within the past two years, while confidence in anti-discrimination efforts has continued to decline. This follows [statistics released in 2024 by Police Scotland](https://www.theredcard.org/news/rise-in-race-hate-crime-in-scotland/#:~:text=According%20to%20Police%20Scotland%2C%20there%20has%20been,50%25%20increase%20in%20racist%20incidents%20last%20year), showing an increase in racial hate crimes from two years previous.

Against this backdrop, the Scottish Government has made efforts to turn the tide. Following the publication of the [Race Equality Framework 2016-30 in 2016](https://www.gov.scot/publications/race-equality-framework-scotland-2016-2030/), the government has more recently published the [Anti-Racism Delivery Plan 2026-2030](https://www.gov.scot/publications/anti-racism-delivery-plan-2026-2030/pages/1/). This plan aims to set _“a clear vision for anti-racism in Scotland: to build a Scotland that actively tackles racism, and where equity, justice, dignity, and respect are upheld for all communities.”_ The plan also acknowledges the key role of voluntary organisations, setting out the need for partnership working across government, public bodies, and the third sector.

At a time when racism and overtly racist rhetoric are rising – online, in our communities, and in public discourse - working with partners on antiracist strategies and initiatives is invaluable. It also important to acknowledge that some of those partners continue to struggle with the everyday reality of current, unfair funding practices, particularly their impact on staff retention and the prevalence of short-term funding, rather than the sustainable, long-term funding that is needed on the ground.

_“New and shiny is not more important than tried and tested,”_ explains a Glasgow-based charity supporting BAME residents. _“Sustaining what already works to support communities and groups to continually thrive should carry as much weight as developing and creating new projects that meet emerging needs. If what you are doing works – has great results, changes lives, and supports wellbeing – keeping it going is vital!”_

_“We have no complaints about how our funding is managed, the application or reporting process - it’s the failure to maintain the three-year funding cycle and upgrade in line with inflation which is damaging us,”_ says a national strategic antiracism organisation. _“Demand for our work far outstrips what we are funded to provide, which can lead to workload pressures. The standstill funding represents a real-time reduction which puts our sustainability at risk.”_

_“There is a rise in the need for what we do because there is a rise in racism, discrimination, and hatred within our society,”_ adds a charity with a predominant focus on battling racism. _“There is no question that we are in the middle of a fight against a rising tide of racism but we will lose that fight if we are hindered by basic expectations such as being told we are receiving funding prior to the beginning of the financial year or not having to search behind the sofa for funding to keep the lights on.”_

The question, therefore, has to be asked: if turning the tide on increasing racism, and providing better support for integration, is reliant on partnership working between the Scottish Government, public bodies, and Scotland’s voluntary sector, is there a way to improve the funding landscape for the latter through a package of measures that, broadly, focus on improving the processes and culture themselves, rather than simply calling for increased funding? The answer is a resounding yes.

_“Fair Funding is not just a nice, shiny gift for the voluntary sector,”_ says the charity with a focus on fighting racism. _“Longer-term funding with uplifts, more core funding, accessible application process, and the rest are nothing other than requirements.”_

_“\[Fair Funding would mean\] better sustainability; staff time fully and fairly funded, including accounting for pay rises; realistic contribution to core costs,”_ says the national antiracism organisation.

**Case Study**

[**SHARPEN HER: THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S NETWORK**](https://www.seinglasgow.org.uk/sharpen-her-the-african-womens-network)

**Sharpen Her: the African Women’s Network (SHAWN)** was established in 2019. Seeking to address the multiple layers of inequalities faced by African women arriving in Scotland, including on the grounds of both race and gender, the organisation was formed with the objective of enhancing the integration of African women and to empower them to reach their goals in education, employment, and entrepreneurship. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these aims expanded in response to the isolation caused by lockdown as **SHAWN** also became a support group to connect African women with each other while also operating a beneficial “buddy system”, services that have continued since.

In recent years, the organisation has sought and received grants from various funders, but this has not been without its challenges. The short-term nature of the funding received has been a particular problem, creating the circumstances within which the organisations is constantly asking “what next?” and frequently having to entertain the prospect of ceasing its operations. Recently, **SHAWN** has been able to source funding in order to recruit one member of staff, but this too is incredibly short-term, only allowing the employee to be funded for six months.

Through an endless cycle of searching and applying for funding, **SHAWN** has experienced rejections with no feedback, the shifting of goalposts well into an application process, and finding itself in a “resourcing paradox” where the organisation does not have the long-term funding required to allow it to grow but is not yet large enough to successfully compete against other organisations for the same funding.

The organisation has also faced issues due to the knock-on effect of a lack of support regarding banking. Despite successfully applying for specific funding, **SHAWN** was unable to be allocated any of the funds due to the funder refusing to transfer it into the particular bank account used by the organisation. With no guidance or support to help with identifying and sourcing a more suitable account, the organisation had to go nine months without critical finances that had already been awarded before finally opening an acceptable account, leading to a situation where the organisation was unable to pay rent for several months and volunteers leading **SHAWN** had to invest their own money to keep the organisation afloat.

The issues caused by short-term funding practices, and various other challenges, result in an “existential toll” felt by the volunteers who run **SHAWN**. High levels of stress are a huge feature of the day-to-day existence of the organisation, with rising emotional burnout leading those at the forefront to recently give serious consideration to calling it a day – a prospect only rejected by a recognition of the needs of the almost 300 women that the organisation supports.

Although crowdfunding has allowed **SHAWN** to get past crises and gaps in funding in the past, the future continues to look difficult. Despite undertaking hugely valuable work that helps African women to integrate into communities, realise their full potential, and allow them to contribute successfully to Scottish society, it seems inevitable that there will be future spells during which **Sharpen Her: the African Women’s Network** will be forced to consider closure. And without urgent improvements to the voluntary sector’s funding landscape, it is far from unlikely that closure will be the ultimate conclusion.

**Children & Young People**

**Foreword**

Children in Scotland’s strength comes from working with our membership, our wider network, and children and young people themselves. Together we are working for a Scotland that is better for all our children. The [Children’s Sector Strategic and Policy Forum](https://childreninscotland.org.uk/forums/), which we chair, brings together leaders from the third and statutory sectors to identify, discuss, and seek solutions to challenges facing babies, children, and young people. A theme we constantly return to is the funding of third sector partners.

Scotland has ambitious policies, aimed at creating a better future for children. Achieving these aims depends on strong partnerships between statutory and third sector organisations. The statutory sector often directly funds third sector partners in recognition of the quality of their work and their proven ability to reach those children who struggle most to get their rights fulfilled. This work is relational and frequently long-term in nature. However, current funding models often do not fit with that approach.

Funding is often short-term, blind to inflationary increase, and ultimately undervalues the true costs of the work. Annual funding is particularly damaging as it forces organisations into a negative cycle of uncertainty, impacting staff wellbeing, retention of highly skilled staff, and service continuity at a relational and practical level. It also has a significant opportunity cost. Time that could be spent on delivering higher impact is leeched away into the bureaucracy required to maintain yearly funding.

We have experienced the difference even a small change can make. Our [Enquire service](https://enquire.org.uk/) has been funded annually for over 25 years by the Scottish Government. This has been challenging as outlined above and it has taken a great deal of energy to be able to continuously deliver a quality service. The Scottish Government’s recent move to two-year funding under the Fairer Funding pilot was a welcome and progressive step forward. It is reducing bureaucracy, improving staff morale and sense of purpose, allowing freedom of planning, and flexible and more efficient use of funds. It means we can focus better on what matters most, supporting children.

But it is only a first small step. Two years is still not enough. Imagine the impact of moving to 3–5 year funding with the appropriate inflationary increases built in.

**Dr. Judith Turbyne  
**Chief Executive  
[**Children in Scotland**](https://childreninscotland.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“CAN’T WE JUST PROVIDE WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE TELL US THEY NEED?”**

The wellbeing of our children and young people is a cornerstone of our society and the Children in Scotland vision of a Scotland where all children and young people have an equal chance to flourish is surely one that everybody can recognise, support, and pledge to work towards. And whether it is the implementation of [The Promise](https://thepromise.scot/), the [incorporation of UNCRC](https://childreninscotland.org.uk/news-article/uncrc-incorporation-in-scotland-what-it-means-for-children-services-planning-and-the-third-sector/), or the Scottish Government’s top priority to eradicate child poverty, the voluntary sector is a crucial partner throughout it all.

As highlighted in Children in Scotland’s manifesto for the 2026 elections, [_Being brave in the face of difficult choices_](https://childreninscotland.org.uk/manifesto-2026/)_, “Fair Funding will enable the third sector to plan ahead and to make the most efficient use of limited resources to deliver on Scotland’s promises and obligations to its children.”_ Without properly resourcing that sector, children and young people, and their families, simply will not have access to the vital support they require and that vision of Scotland as a truly equal and supportive place for the younger generations will remain merely an abstract ambition.

_“We receive two grants from the Scottish Government and both have been frozen for several years with no way of requesting an uplift to cover increasing costs,”_ explains a national centre supporting children and families with complex needs. _“But \[we’re\] still expected to deliver high quality services and meet increasing demands. It is becoming increasingly difficult to secure funding that provides long-term security.”_

_“It’s difficult to get funding for staff and running costs, particularly multi-year funding,”_ says a youth group based in rural Scotland. _“Tendency to chase project-specific funding can lead to priorities changing continually to fit available funding rather than building on expertise and reflecting need. Can’t we just provide what young people tell us they need without having to continually spin these needs to suit changing funding priorities?”_

_“We can’t cover costs and we are routinely reducing staff costs via redundancies,”_ adds a national organisation working with children and young people. _“This means we can’t provide all services.”_

The simple truth is that working towards a funding-landscape that closely mirrors SCVO’s Fair Funding asks would see drastic improvements for such organisations, and the children and young people that they support.

The rural youth group states: “_\[Fair Funding would mean\] more time spent on delivery and less on applying for funding, better staff morale and retention, better long-term planning with clearer focus and direction, \[and\] better maintained community buildings.”_

_“\[We\] would expect to see increased security for our organisation and ability to recruit skilled staff,”_ adds the national centre supporting children and families with complex needs.

**Case Study**

**Core Costs – Vital to Success** **(Anonymised)**

The work carried out by **Organisation D** is vital. Utilising funding from the Scottish Government, local authorities, and independent funders and trusts, with added income generated through its services, the organisation provides crucial support to children, young people, and families living in poverty across numerous areas in Scotland. However, as available funding often seems to be ring-fenced for locally-based community groups or bigger organisations covering large geographical areas, **Organisation D**, which occupies the middle ground, has faced barriers in applying for smaller pots of money as well as larger contracts.

Previously, the organisation was able to provide its services without receiving funding for core costs. At the time, **Organisation D** was running an increased number of services with the resulting management fees allowing core costs to be funded – a model that worked for several years until changes to the funding provided by the local authority led to downsizing which, subsequently, resulted in a decrease in income from management fees. Luckily, **Organisation D** was able to source some degree of core funding from the Scottish Government.

**Organisation D** was also able to source flexible funding from an independent funder, who was happy for the organisation to use the funds as they see fit. As a result, the organisationhas been able to plug gaps between funds and ensure a greater degree of security during often uncertain periods. In addition, the next instalment of this funding is set to remain flexible but with an inflation-based uplift specifically to allow the organisation to continue to pay the Real Living Wage.

This funding of core costs has allowed **Organisation D** to have a stable basis for levering in other funds and developing the work that is undertaken across communities, generating positive feedback, and achieving vital outcomes for those struggling in poverty. The organisation’s services have been cited in reports as being prime examples of good practice in the United Kingdom and have been recognised by the Scottish Government for the positive and hugely important impact that they continue to have – all of which would have been unlikely, if not impossible, without the receipt of funding for core costs.

Despite this, as the end of **Organisation D**’s current funding from the Scottish Government nears, there are fears that, without this ability to meet core costs in future, real problems will lie ahead. A loss of skills and expertise would be expected, severely hampering the ability to innovate and provide crucial support for poverty-stricken children, young people, and families. Only with the security and stability providing by core funding will **Organisation D** be able to continue providing its commended services that are crucial to many.

**Community Transport**

**Foreword**

More than 200 communities across Scotland now run their own transport projects and services in the interests of local people. Community Transport serves all kinds of places and every part of society. It utilises all kinds of modes, whether bikes, buses, cars or minibuses, and enables all kinds of journeys, whether commutes to work and school, trips to hospital or visits to family and friends.

From buses in Glasgow and dial-a-ride in Orkney, to car clubs in Ayrshire and patient transport in the Borders, they ensure everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, has access to local transport which meets their needs. But our sector faces a serious crisis.

CTA members tell us that they are struggling to keep up with rising equipment, fuel, labour, and vehicle costs, which are being compounded by rising demand due to an ageing population and shrinking bus network. Despite being critical partners in building community wealth, improving public health, and delivering a Just Transition to net zero, Community Transport operators do not receive the recognition or funding they need and deserve.

Most Community Transport operators depend on small annual grants or contracts from local or transport authorities to keep services available, accessible, and affordable. But these grants or contracts widely fail to keep pace with inflation, contribute to core operating costs, cover the full costs of service delivery or offer long-term stability, forcing our members to raise fares, cut back services or scramble for funding from elsewhere.

Our sector is trapped in a dysfunctional annual funding cycle of underinvestment. It undermines our efforts to deliver Fair Work – 14% of Living Wage-accredited CTA members tell us that they cannot afford to maintain this. And it even threatens our very survival – 26% of CTA members tell us that they are not confident that they will survive the next three years.

Fair Funding means fair funding for the community and voluntary sector, but also for all layers of government and all public bodies. It is essential that the Scottish Government ensures local authorities have the resources they need to invest in their communities – not least by devolving more powers to the local and community level, as well as finally grasping the thistle of local, progressive tax reform.

**David Kelly  
**Scotland Director and Head of Policy & Campaigns  
[**Community Transport Association**](https://ctauk.org/cta-scotland)

**Narrative**

**“WE DEPEND ON GRANT FUNDING”**

Scotland’s community transport sector is vital. It is community transport organisations that provide solutions to ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances or where they live, can access the transport that meets their needs. But funding is a significant challenge. The landscape is highly fragmented and competitive, and applying for funding is often complex and confusing. The lack of Fair Funding brings a variety of detrimental impacts, from preventing organisations from delivering the Scottish Government’s Fair Work agenda to making it simply impossible to plan for the future.

As the CTA’s 2023 report, [_Review of Network Support Grant_](https://ctauk.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/news/Review%20of%20Network%20Support%20Grant%20%28CTA%29%20%282023%29.pdf)_,_ states, the _“community transport sector has always involved a collaboration between paid staff and unpaid volunteers”_, with 73% of drivers being unpaid volunteers and 27% being part-time or full-time staff. But the ability for operators to even pay all of their staff at least the Real Living Wage continues to be restricted by a lack of Fair Funding. A lack of longer-term funding is also hugely impactful on the sector, particularly given the reliance on volunteers, staffing, and vehicles.

_“All funding seems to be short-term, six months to a year,”_ says a small community transport charity in the Scottish Borders.

_“The lack of longer-term funding makes it impossible for our organisations to recruit staff or make investments in fleets,”_ adds a medium-sized community transport operator.

And yet despite these challenging aspects, grant funding remains crucial for such organisations to supply the accessible and affordable services that people across Scotland rely on daily, from people with mobility issues to those living in more isolated areas of the country.

As a small rural based transport provider explains: _“We depend on grant funding to help cover travel costs for essential journeys organised by our voluntary car scheme, ensuring that costs remain affordable for residents of the town and the surrounding villages, hamlets and farms”._

This has created circumstances where such organisations, who provide services that communities are reliant on, are themselves reliant on a funding landscape that makes long-term funding and security incredibly difficult. But it does not need to be this way.

_“\[With Fair Funding\] we would be able to recruit staff for reasonably long periods and commit to fleet upgrades and procurement, it would enable us to develop our five-year strategy,”_ says a community transport provider.

_“The main benefit \[of Fair Funding\] would be being able to upgrade our fleet,”_ suggests another.

_“It is difficult to cope with rejection, especially when the need for funding is so significant,”_ says the rural based provider. _“We are very grateful when funders offer commitments of two years or more, as this reduces the number of applications we need to submit and provides us with security and sustainability.”_

**Case Study**

[**HCL TRANSPORT**](https://www.hcltransport.org.uk/)

**HcL Transport** is a charity providing supported accessible transport for people with mobility challenges in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Funded by local authorities across the region, **HcL Transport** supports people of any age who have mobility challenges, providing services 365 days a year, including Dial-A-Ride, Dial-A-Bus, door-through-door services, and three community bus services.

But such crucial community transport solutions are at risk as **HcL Transport** faces escalating costs and the impact of increases to employers’ national insurance contributions. Unlike private companies providing similar services in the area who seem to receive a cost-of-living increase each year, the charity can only rely on inflation-based uplifts from one local authority. For the rest**, HcL Transport** has not received any uplifts since approximately 2008, presumably with the expectation that vital services will simply continue to be provided for less.

The charity has attempted to navigate its way through such a difficult situation by embracing diversification, managing to generate additional revenue via additional services, such as school routes and community bus services, while also looking to cut costs and save money where possible. For example, the charity now focuses on buying second hand buses for its services rather than new.

However, as costs continue to rise, diversification can only stretch so far and the situation is unsustainable. With rising costs, now including the Scottish Government’s recent increase to the Living Wage which the charity has committed to paying, and no prospect of inflation-based uplifts from a majority of local authorities, **HcL transport** is facing an uncertain future. And if nothing changes in the next few years, that future could begin to look very bleak.

Without Fair Funding that ensures charities like **HcL Transport** can absorb the impact of mounting costs through inflation-based uplifts, the organisation will be faced with no other option than to scrap a number of the services that people with mobility issues across the Lothians rely on, while facing the inevitability of mass redundancies in the process.

**Crime & Justice**

**Foreword**

In Scotland, third sector organisations deliver critical services and support for people going through the [adult justice system](https://communityjustice.scot/community-justice/scotland-justice-system/) and to [children and young people in conflict with the law](https://www.gov.scot/publications/standards-those-working-children-conflict-law-2021/pages/3/). These services reach people in community settings, as well as in custodial and secure settings, and can play an important role in supporting people to transition between different settings and in preventing them from entering the justice system in the first place. 

Third sector organisations also support people who have been harmed by crime and families of those affected by the justice system, recognising that all of these different groups are not always mutually exclusive. As well as day-to-day service provision, they have played key roles in assisting statutory partners with recent crisis responses, such as prison emergency early release schemes, and in supporting individuals, families, and communities affected by those crises and the associated response actions. In addition to direct service provision, third sector partners also play an important role in advocating for people affected by the justice system and in campaigning for positive changes. 

To be able to play their role effectively, third sector organisations working on justice issues need to be fairly funded. Current funding practices, however, mean that many organisations do not have stable core or project funding. The recent series of crisis response programmes have further added to the sector's capacity challenges, without sufficient emergency funding being put in place to support the sector at this time. A lack of inflation-based uplifts and whole cost recovery contracts further compound the challenges that organisations face. The uncertainties created by annual funding cycles increase the risks for staff job security and for service operations.   

Organisations need to be able to plan their service delivery and ensuring sustainability of staffing roles is an important step for supporting and enabling the development of relationship-based practice that is so critical to delivering positive outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.  Without fairer funding models that cover core operating costs and the full costs of employing staff, there is a high risk that skilled staff will be lost and that more services will be forced to close. 

[**The Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector Forum (CJVSF)**](https://www.ccpscotland.org/cjvsf/)CJVSF is a hosted unit of the Coalition of Care & Support Providers in Scotland

**Narrative**

**“EVERYTHING FEELS LIKE IT’S BALANCED ON A KNIFE EDGE”**

The voluntary sector plays a crucial role in the justice system. Charities, community groups, and voluntary organisations across Scotland provide rehabilitation services, support offender desistance, and address unmet needs in communities. From mentoring individuals released from prison and providing emotional support to families of offenders, to facilitating restorative justice and strengthening local social and economic support, the voluntary sector is at the very heart of both preventing the circumstances that lead to crime and helping to ensure positive outcomes can be sought once a crime has been committed.

It is impossible to document the impact that Scotland’s voluntary sector already has every day in reducing crime in local communities by providing services that people rely on, such as helping to alleviate poverty or providing positive influences and direction in the lives of individuals. But that impact is undoubtedly crucial. Vital too is the incredible work undertaken by organisations directly linked to criminal justice. The support provided by these voluntary organisations in such circumstances can be truly transformational and, often, lifesaving.

But for as long as the funding landscape remains unfair and unsustainable, the voluntary sector’s impact in such hugely important areas will continue to be hindered.

_“When funding is insecure, we have less capacity for early help, fewer opportunities to work with families over time, and reduced ability to be present in every area that needs us,”_ explains a national charity supporting children and families affected by imprisonment. _“Families already feel overlooked in the justice system and inconsistent funding makes this worse.”_

_“The way we are funded has a detrimental impact on our creativity and our future planning,”_ outlines a small national justice charity. _“Everything feels like it’s balanced on a knife edge when we are caught in short twelve-month funding cycles.”_

As a charity supporting people with criminal convictions suggests: _“One of the key questions should be ‘what is the most effective and efficient way to ensure the available finances translate into the strategic objectives’?”_

The voluntary sector, however, can already point to a clear answer to this question: one of the most effective and efficient ways to ensure that the funding being allocated to organisations results in the desired and valued outcomes is to ensure that the funding itself is fair, sustainable, accessible, and flexible – to ensure that it is not just _Fairer_ Funding but Fair Funding.

_“Having the Fairer Funding model of two years funding has been incredible for us,”_ says the national justice charity. _“It’s bought time for us to sort things internally and be able to plan ahead in making savings. Fair Funding would change the way that charities can plan and think about how they deliver their work and look after their people.”_

_“Fair Funding would give us the stability we need to plan properly and keep support consistent for families affected by imprisonment,”_ says the charity supporting children and families. _“\[It\] would mean less time spent in crisis-mode and more time strengthening the quality and reach of our support, improving outcomes for families, and building a more stable organisation.”_

**Case Study**

[**Forces Employment Charity – NOVA Scotland**](https://www.forcesemployment.org.uk/programmes/nova-scotland/)

For over 140 years, the **Forces Employment Charity** has helped the military community succeed beyond service – building careers, shaping futures, and living with purpose. As the leading Armed Forces employment and justice charity, the organisation supports Service leavers, veterans, reservists, and families with tailored careers guidance, training, and job opportunities. Through **NOVA**, its justice service, the organisation provides dedicated, trauma-informed support for veterans involved with the criminal justice system.

While veterans are overall less likely than civilians to enter the criminal justice system, when they do, society has a responsibility under the [Armed Forces Covenant](https://www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/) to ensure they are not disadvantaged and that support recognises the complexity of their experiences.

Veterans in the justice system often face complex and intersecting challenges, including mental health difficulties, substance use, housing instability, social isolation, and barriers to employment. **NOVA Scotland** provides coordinated, person-centred support that addresses these underlying factors, helping individuals stabilise their lives and reduce the likelihood of further offending. That work contributes directly to reducing reoffending, improving employability, strengthening family relationships, and supporting long-term desistance - outcomes that align closely with Scotland’s wider priorities around community safety, prevention, and reducing inequalities.

**NOVA Scotland** relies primarily on grants from trusts that support Armed Forces charities. The service has secured some two-and three-year awards, which offer more stability than short-term funding and allow services to be planned and provide a degree of job security for frontline staff. However, the funding landscape remains fragmented. The service manages multiple grants with different reporting requirements and timelines that rarely align. Reapplication is frequent, and at any given time at least one funding stream is nearing its end. This creates a cycle of uncertainty that diverts time and energy away from service development, partnership working, and long-term planning.

Core costs present an additional challenge. Effective justice support depends on strong infrastructure - skilled leadership, governance, financial management, supervision, and workforce wellbeing. These functions underpin safe practice with individuals experiencing trauma and crisis, yet they are often the hardest elements to fund. Short-term funding limits **NOVA Scotland**’s ability to grow and develop services in line with criminal justice system needs. It makes it harder to invest in workforce development, embed partnership approaches, and contribute consistently to strategic priorities around prevention and community safety.

Veterans involved in the criminal justice system benefit from continuity, trust, and long-term support. Fair, multi-year funding would enable the service to provide that stability, strengthen collaborative working with statutory and third sector partners, and scale approaches that are proven to reduce reoffending and improve life chances. The voluntary sector plays a vital role in Scotland’s criminal justice landscape, particularly in early intervention and addressing the root causes of offending. If the sector is to continue contributing meaningfully to safer communities and better outcomes for veterans, funding must reflect the true cost of delivery - including the infrastructure and skilled workforce that make effective, trauma-informed justice support possible.

**Culture & Creativity**

**Foreword**

Culture Counts is Scotland’s advocacy network for the arts, heritage, and creative industries. We advocate for the promotion and protection of Scotland’s creative sector. Fair funding is, and always has been, critical to that mission. The cultural funding landscape is a knotty and complex ecosystem, incorporating investment from national government (delivered both directly and via [Creative Scotland](https://www.creativescotland.com/)), local authorities, trusts and foundations, and private and corporate donors, as well as commercial partnerships and income generated directly by the sector. That complexity means that Fair Funding for the sector is unlikely to ever be realised through a single mechanism.  

Our soon-to-be-published analysis shows that, in real terms, total public spending on culture in Scotland has failed to keep pace with inflation. While the cash figure has increased (£532.7m today compared to £399.6m in 2013), when adjusted for inflation each person in Scotland now receives £5 less a year from the government’s investment in cultural access and participation than they did in 2013. Nor do funding commitments necessarily translate to fairer funding practices. Increased investment from national government in early 2025 enabled Creative Scotland to grow the size of its portfolio of organisations receiving three-year funding settlements from 120 organisations to 251. Multi-year grants are vitally important in realising ambition, acting as a cornerstone of planning and stability to organisations, but the drive to increase the number of organisations saw many organisations funded at levels up to 30% lower than requested in year 1, limiting and at times directly contradicting their aspirations for more equitable employment practices. The importance of the freelance workforce within the culture sector places many workers outside the protection of employment legislation. The recommendations of the [2025 Culture Fair Work Taskforce](https://www.gov.scot/groups/culture-fair-work-taskforce/) emphasise the need for investment in Fair Work, and highlight the inescapable connection between Fair Funding and Fair Work.  

Fair Funding, in this context, looks like a long-term commitment to recognising the impact of culture across our communities, and the development of sustainable and collaborative approaches that understand culture not as separate to the needs of our everyday lives, but as an integral part of who we are. It is with that complexity of that cultural ecosystem in mind, that our network is calling for new measures that seek to enshrine longer-term, more holistic and sustainable support for the culture sector in legislation.  

**Kathryn Welch  
**Director: Network, Projects & Partnerships  
[**Culture Counts**](https://culturecounts.scot/)

**Narrative**

**“FAIR FUNDING WOULD PROVIDE THE SUPPORT WE NEED”**

_“The value of a strong culture and creative sector cannot be overestimated,”_ stated then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in [A Culture Strategy for Scotland](https://www.gov.scot/publications/culture-strategy-scotland/pages/2/), and this undoubtedly remains the case. It is a sector that inspires, enriches, and transforms people’s lives, their communities, and the places they live, work, study, and have fun, while providing opportunities that build connections and relationships, develop skills and experiences, and increase confidence and self-worth.

The Scottish Government’s approach to funding the culture and creativity sector does suggest that its value is recognised. From providing funding through [Creative Scotland](https://www.creativescotland.com/) to directly supporting [National Performing Companies](https://www.gov.scot/policies/arts-culture-heritage/annual-culture-funding/), there are a number of examples to show that the government acknowledges that vital link between this sector and the way in which it is funded. But while so many organisations remain reliant on funding that is yet to truly align with Fair Funding principles, their ability to contribute effectively to the culture and creativity sector continues to be hampered.

_“Heavy reliance on a single funder and year-to-year awards creates financial fragility, limiting our ability to plan strategically or invest in growth,”_ explains a small charity supporting live performances in the Highlands and Islands. _“Our micro-grants and development funds are a lifeline. Without this support, many events simply wouldn’t happen and rural communities \[would\] risk cultural isolation”._

_“In the last two years, finding funding has proved difficult,”_ says a SCIO providing music lessons. _“Unfortunately, less funding equals less provision of music lessons to vulnerable pupils. Although we have a good group of volunteers, we cannot call on their generosity at all times.”_

_“We are a tiny arts charity, we fundraise for every penny, every year,”_ states a small, rurally-based creative opportunities provider for young people_. “My colleague and I went for years without any pay increase until we provided the leadership ourselves to address this – we are now slowly closing the pay gulf.”_

_“Even when we have secured all funds required for the existing year, \[we are\] worrying about the future year and so on,”_ admits an Edinburgh-based arts charity working across Scotland to support health and wellbeing. _“Due to funding models, we still employ more than half of our staff on fixed-term contracts. This is not good for them, the services that we provide, volunteers, or the people that we work alongside.”_

_“We do not have long-term work planned because we don’t have long-term funding to support it and we do not believe in raising expectations which we cannot meet,”_ adds a tiny arts engagement CIC.

The value of a strong culture and creative sector cannot be overstated. But what can also not be overstated is the positive impact that Fair Funding would have on that sector.

_“We are looking for processes that are more open and transparent,”_ says the Edinburgh-based arts charity_._

_“Access to flexible unrestricted funding would be amazing,”_ adds the arts engagement CIC.

_“If we had \[Fair Funding\], then the stress of finding funding would be greatly reduced,”_ confirms the SCIO providing music lessons. _“This would allow us to plan further ahead and help provide the proper services required for our organisations.”_

A small writing and publishing charity supporting people from disadvantaged backgrounds concludes_: “Fair Funding would provide the support we need.”_

**Case Study**

[**INDEPENDENT ARTS PROJECTS**](https://www.independentartsprojects.com/)

**Independent Arts Projects (IAP)** is a registered charity in Scotland that works with artists to make performance projects for audiences and participants, on stage as well as in community, arts, educational, care, online and outdoor spaces. The organisation is driven by the belief that everyone, no matter their age, background, experience or identity, has a right to creativity, and projects often aim to make a space for people to explore identity and be themselves.

In 2020, **IAP** was able to obtain funding via the [Culture Collective fund](https://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/targeted-funding/culture-collective), a Scottish Government initiative delivered by Creative Scotland designed to support a network of creative practitioners, organisations and communities in creating a positive difference, both locally and nationally. This funding, which included a supportive approach to core costs and 50% of the grant being ringfenced specifically for employing artists, allowed the organisation to recruit a number of freelancers for two years, giving those artists the space required to be creative. **IAP**’s [Sensory Collective project](https://www.independentartsprojects.com/sensory-collective/) was so effective that many of the projects started in 2021/22 have continued to this day.

More recently, **IAP** has managed to secure 3-year funding. This has been described by the organisation as a “game-changer”, not only providing the resources to create a new full-time role and to organise events, such as the [Welcome to the Fringe, Palestine](https://www.fringepalestine.com/) festival, which has brought Palestinian artists to the Edinburgh Fringe, but also ensuring much-needed job security for all **IAP** staff. The positive impact of this stability, and an increased ability to plan for the future, has been immense, including on the physical and mental wellbeing of those working for the organisation. In addition, the capacity freed up by no longer being wed to an annual project funding cycle has allowed the organisation to focus attentions on successfully leveraging income from elsewhere.

While the future remains uncertain across the voluntary and arts sectors, there remains a real hope at **Independent Arts Projects** that the future can be bright. Over the past five years, it is an organisation that has been able to employ artists, coordinate projects, host events, ensure job security, plan for the future, leverage additional income, alleviate stress and anxiety for its staff, and continue to go from strength to strength, providing invaluable opportunities within the creative sector, while being supported by funding that, for the most part, works.

It is the direct correlation between the progress and success of the organisation and the funding that it has been able to access that shows clearly what can be achieved when grants are fair, sustainable, flexible, and accessible, designed with the needs of recipients in mind, leading to outcomes that can be truly transformational.

**Health**

**Foreword**

As the national membership body for third sector health organisations in Scotland, we are acutely aware of the funding challenges facing many in the third sector right now. Our members regularly share that they are not treated like an equal partner in the provision of health services which often results in unsustainable funding.

This situation is compounded by the complexity of the health landscape in Scotland. Several recent [Audit Scotland](https://audit.scot/) reports detail systemic issues with governance and accountability in Scotland’s health system, at both a local and a national level. In such a complex and opaque landscape, vital third sector services are often deprioritised or under-funded by public sector partners. 

Voluntary Health Scotland is a movement for health creation, and we champion the importance of preventative interventions to tackle Scotland’s health inequalities. In recent policy publications regarding public service reform and population health, the Scottish Government have recognised that a shift to prevention is no longer optional. They have also recognised the unique role of the third sector in delivering health services which are often community-based and preventative in nature. This is a welcome development and certainly cause for optimism.

However, much work is required to turn this policy narrative into practice, and to create a health system which truly prioritises health creation. Cyclical decision-making and short-term funding arrangements will not lead to meaningful change. Health inequalities often take years, even decades, to reverse and require a clear, shared commitment to long-term solutions.

A key step in realising the potential of the third sector in health creation is a clear commitment to Fair Funding. Collaboration and collective advocacy are key to bringing about meaningful change for our members, and the wider third sector. We therefore welcome this renewed focus from SCVO and will continue to do all that we can to champion long-term, sustainable, and accessible funding for Scotland’s third sector health organisations.

**Tejesh Mistry  
**Chief Executive  
[**Voluntary Health Scotland**](https://vhscotland.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“WE ARE ALWAYS AT RISK OF CLOSING DOWN IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS”**

Despite some measures undertaken by the Scottish Government in recent years to tackle major public health issues, such as the [2018 introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing](https://www.gov.scot/policies/alcohol-and-drugs/minimum-unit-pricing/) to reduce alcohol-related harm, and to prioritise prevention in the provision of public service, for example through the [Health and Social Care Renewal](https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-service-renewal-framework/) and [Population Health Frameworks](https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-population-health-framework/), there are still significant systemic challenges that need to be addressed.

As outlined in the [_Voluntary Health Scotland Strategic Plan 2025-2030_](https://vhscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/VHS-Strategic-Plan-2025-30.pdf)_,_ widening health inequalities remain one of the greatest challenges facing Scotland. The country has the lowest life expectancy, and one of the lowest healthy life expectancies, in Western Europe, with a 13-year difference in healthy life expectancy for men living in Scotland’s least and most deprived communities. 22% of Scotland’s children live in relative poverty, a key determinant of health, and 11.3% of Scotland’s people are now reporting a mental health condition, up from 4.4% in 2011.

Such public health challenges are further compounded by the projected increase in demand for health services in the years to come. And with 80% of activity affecting health happening outside the public sector health and care system, it is undeniable that Scotland’s voluntary sector already plays a crucial role in mitigating the impact of these challenges, a role that it must continue to play in future. But the unsustainability of the voluntary sector means that this is far from guaranteed.

_“\[A lack of Fair Funding\] is an issue with regards to reputation in places like GP surgeries,”_ explains an organisation working with Community Link Workers. _“They often feel that short-term funding means that it can be pulled at any time and are therefore less likely to engage with Community Link Workers in the practice because they do not want to rely on a service which they see as unreliable \[due to a lack of long-term sustainable funding\]. It is putting additional barriers in place which do not need to be there.”_

_“Our funding model creates issues with employee retention,”_ says a menstrual health and human rights organisation. _“\[It\] puts pressure on volunteer staff, impacts negatively on career progression, and generates uncertainty in service provision, which directly affects the people we support.”_

And as a rural-based provider of services that work towards positive mental health outcomes adds: _“It feels unstable – we are always at risk of closing down in the next six months.”_

Fair Funding would eradicate much of the uncertainty and insecurity generated by current funding approaches, giving the voluntary organisations that are so invaluable to improving public health in Scotland the tools required to provide the vital expertise and support that our communities rely on.

_“\[Fair Funding\] would mean better retention of staff,”_ confirms the Community Link Workers organisation. _“Reduced stress for staff in an already challenging role. Better reputation and support with the building of relationships with GP surgeries.”_

_“Fair Funding would improve staff retention, reduce pressure on volunteers, and bring stability to service provision,”_ adds the menstrual health organisation.

**Case Study**

**Public Money – Impossible to Access** **(Anonymised)**

**Organisation F** may be a relatively new organisation but it is one providing incredibly valuable work improving the mental wellbeing of, and providing positive destinations for, young people. The high demand of the city-based organisation’s services has resulted in growth year on year, as young people benefit hugely from the support provided and priorities of both the local authority and Scottish Government are achieved. Despite this, **Organisation F** has struggled hugely to access funding at either local authority or government level.

For **Organisation F,** there appears to be insurmountable barriers caused by the current culture that surrounds such funding. Whether it is Integration Joint Boards, Health & Social Care Partnerships, local councils, or the Scottish Government, the organisationhas found the funding on offer simply unobtainable, with a reluctance on the part of funders to take a chance on new, innovative organisations and projects, and a lack of feedback subsequently provided after processes that are usually complicated and bureaucratic. In fact, it is the void of communication from such funders that **Organisation F** pinpoints as a particular frustration.

Additionally, **Organisation F** does not just feel the strain from a lack of access to the funding provided at local authority and Scottish Government level, but also the social capital that it can provide - unlocking networks, unearthing opportunities, and creating connections within the funding landscape, something of particular importance to a new, growing organisation currently on the outside looking in.

In contrast to this inaccessible funding, the complex web of independent funders and trusts that the organisation relies on tends to provide far more cutting-edge approaches, a greater level of accessible funding, and an offer of both good communication and mutually beneficial relationships. However, despite these positives, such funding is also not without its issues – multi-year funding remains a rarity for the organisation, for example.

The inability to secure funding at local authority or Scottish Government level - or indeed from across the uniquely complex landscape of health funding, including the NHS, Integration Joint Boards, and Health & Social Care Partnerships - despite delivering the outcomes desired by local and national government, allied to a lack of secure multi-year funding, has resulted in a situation where the organisation has to channel vital time and resources away from services and, instead, into mitigating funding concerns. In addition, the uncertainty is such that an ongoing threat of ultimate closure is never eradicated.

If the door to this inaccessible funding was to be opened, **Organisation F** would be able to establish more security and sustainability, achieving more of the ambitions and goals that are shared across the organisation, the local authority, and the Scottish Government.

**Housing & Homelessness**

**Foreword**

[Stopover](https://www.quarriers.org.uk/blog/service/youth-homlessness/quarriers-stopover-homeless-accommodation/), one of our housing services on Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow, was designed as a short-term stepping stone for young people experiencing homelessness. Today, the service has extended its stays considerably because the housing to move on to simply does not exist. Our housing services like Stopover have become the frontline of the housing emergency, where demand vastly outpaces investment, and our staff absorb the consequences every day.

Short-term contracts, late confirmations, and underfunded agreements do not merely create administrative headaches. They have the potential to destabilise services, undermine the workforce, and importantly - they disrupt continuity for the people who depend on our social care services.

The current funding landscape asks the third sector to absorb risk that should sit with the system. We are expected to maintain specialist capacity, retain skilled staff, and deliver consistent outcomes - all while operating on contracts that would be unacceptable in any other part of the public sector. This is unsustainable if Scotland genuinely values the contribution that organisations like Quarriers make.

Fair Funding is not a technical ask; it is a statement about what kind of social care system Scotland intends to build. Multi-year funding, full cost recovery, and meaningful partnerships with providers are the conditions that allow good work to happen. Without them, we are managing decline rather than enabling transformation.

As a member of SCVO, Quarriers supports its calls for Fair Funding because it reflects what we see and hear every day: that the people we support deserve services built on solid ground, and that the organisations delivering those services deserve to be treated as genuine partners across public life.

**Ewan Carmichael  
**Policy & External Relations Manager  
[**Quarriers**](https://www.quarriers.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“THE POLITICAL CHOICE NOT TO IMPLEMENT FAIR FUNDING WILL CONTINUE TO HARM PEOPLE”**

As of early 2026, Scotland faces a housing crisis marked by [a 5.8% decline in new builds](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26003668.edinburgh-leads-scotland-new-build-homes-hit-10-year-low/#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Public%20Notice,dropped%20by%2015.4%25%20to%203%2C070.), the lowest since 2012/13, [alongside record homelessness](https://news.stv.tv/politics/number-of-live-homelessness-cases-in-scotland-surges-to-record-high). Social housing construction has dropped 15.4% and [affordable housing supply approvals fell 22% in the year to September 2025](https://www.gov.scot/publications/quarterly-housing-statistics-december-2025/pages/affordable-housing-supply-programme/). Such statistics simply outline an ongoing crisis two years on from when the Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency in May 2024. In the government’s resulting [Housing Emergency Action Plan,](http://www.gov.scot/publications/tackling-scotlands-housing-emergency/) published in September 2025, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing said: _“having a safe, warm and affordable place to call home is central to a life of dignity and opportunity – I know that significant pressure remains on local authorities, partners, and stakeholders to deliver Scotland’s ambitious housing and homeless services.”_

It seems clear, then, that the Scottish Government not only recognises the scale of the housing crisis, but the pressure being placed upon vital partners – including the voluntary sector – whose work is invaluable in ending this crisis. And yet, even when this pressure is recognised, there remains little improvement of the funding approaches and processes that are currently exacerbating that pressure.

_“We are running a service for those who are in great need,”_ says an organisation offering services to homeless people. _“\[And yet\] we have to keep applying for funding.”_

_“\[Sourcing funding\] is incredibly time consuming,”_ explains a charity partnering with a housing association to deliver affordable social housing. _“Day to day operations usually take a backseat.”_

_“As staff and volunteers, we are consistently losing people who are in search of job security, less stress and anxiety, or volunteering opportunities that aren’t constantly up in the air,”_ admits a local charity working on the frontline of the homelessness crisis. _“And our service users, whose lives are already filled with uncertainty and stress, see that regularly compounded by the services they rely on \[being\] on a constant cliff edge – the sector as a whole feels like it’s approaching breaking point.”_

_“We are continually sourcing funders, completing funding applications, and reporting after the year’s funding has ended,”_ adds an organisation focused on ending homelessness

The Scottish Government has itself declared a national housing emergency. We must then realise that the voluntary sector, a key partner in alleviating this crisis, has to be sustainable in order to support the government’s aspirations. And a sustainable voluntary sector can only be realised if it has access to fair and sustainable funding which, currently, is in short supply.

_“Fair Funding would be transformational for us and, almost certainly, the whole sector,”_ says the local homelessness charity. _“We need core costs to survive, we need to be able to plan for the future, we need to be able to recruit staff without knowing they’ll potentially be on annual redundancy notices. We help the homeless and our ability to do so is directly hampered by the way funders approach funding.”_

_“It would be great if funders provided more than one year’s funding to let us get on with the work we do,”_ agrees the organisation with a focus on ending homelessness.

_“These are political choices that are harming people,”_ adds the local charity. “_And the political choice not to implement Fair Funding will continue to harm people.”_

**Case Study**

[**West Granton Housing Co-Operative**](https://www.westgrantonhousing.coop/)

**West Granton Housing Co-Operative** is a fully mutual co-operative housing association registered as a social landlord. Formed in 1990 by residents in North Edinburgh, the organisation seeks to provide new rented housing in an area dominated by low demand council housing. Owning 372 properties and two play parks, the organisation’s mission statement is clear: “our tenants are paramount in everything we do.”

However, the support that **WGHC** provides to the local community extends far beyond its housing stock and facilities. From engaging in work around digital inclusion to tackling furniture poverty, the organisation is constantly providing support to local people, often in ways that offer preventative action and ensure savings for the local authority. And **WGHC** is more than even that. Primarily funded by rent income, the organisation utilises those finances to provide its own funding to those who require it, providing grocery costs to those in need in an effort to avoid the stigma of foodbanks, paying for the moving costs of tenants who have suffered from domestic abuse, and even funding local children’s football teams and athletes. On a consistent basis, the organisation is using its income to provide financial assistance in ways to improve the lives of those in the community.

It is the accessibility of this funding that **WGHC** provides to local people that stands in stark contrast to the funding the organisation itself has come across when seeking financial assistance for additional services. Be it inconsistencies in approach, baffling or complex eligibility criteria, or the constant moving of goalposts, **WGHC**’s experience of the funding landscape has been one entirely of inaccessibility. And at the same time, the organisation has witnessed other groups in the area, including charities that lease space in **WGHC**’s premises, experiencing a “funding nightmare”, as organisations find it impossible to achieve the security required to plan for the future, while simultaneously spending the majority of their time and capacity filling out application forms and scrambling to meet core costs, detracting from the crucial work and services they exist to provide.

As a social landlord primarily reliant on income from rent, the future of the organisation remains steady for now. However, the same cannot necessarily be said for other local organisations that **WGHC** works alongside or supports, nor can the organisation itself benefit from truly accessible funding that would allow it to provide even more crucial services in the community. Essentially, it seems clear that, in North Edinburgh and across Scotland, social inequality is not just perpetuated by the inaccessibility of funding for charities, voluntary organisations, and housing co-operatives like **WGHC**, but is often accelerated by it.

**Human Rights**

**Foreword**

A thriving third sector and civil society is essential if everyone in Scotland is to have their human rights respected, protected, and fulfilled. Our ability to amplify the experiences of those whose rights are most at risk and tell truth to power is essential to hold decision-makers to account.

A thriving third sector depends on fair and equitable funding. All too often public funding, when it is available, is short-term, insecure, insufficient, and frequently used to influence funded organisations. Telling truth to power is acceptable, but only up to a point. This is why I fully support SCVO’s campaign for Fair Funding.

Having worked in several organisations over the last 25 years, I know the issues the current public funding regime brings first hand:

*   Lack of awareness of voluntary sector business models and full cost recovery.
*   Procurement processes that are complex, resource-intensive, and inaccessible to many organisations.
*   Public bodies trying to influence outcomes and objectives in ways that jar with organisational missions.
*   Ridiculously short-term funding agreements (the worst I experienced was three months).
*   Our need to comply with employment law being viewed as an inconvenience or of little interest.

My current experience is different. By deciding to be independent from government, the HRCS Board has chosen not to seek public grant funding. This brings its own challenges, particularly in the context of intense and increasing competition for grants and trusts funding. However, working with our grants and trusts funders has shown what is possible: streamlined applications, flexible agreements that respond to a changing environment, multi‑year awards, and realistic monitoring.

HRCS’ experience demonstrates that funding can be managed in ways that empower third sector and civil society organisations to thrive and fulfil their potential. Better is not only possible, it is essential.

**Charlie McMillan  
**Director  
[**Human Rights Consortium Scotland**](https://www.hrcscotland.org/)

**Narrative**

**“WE LOSE GREAT PEOPLE”**

We should all strive for an inclusive Scotland where the internationally recognised human rights of people are protected, respected, and fulfilled, and where action is continually being identified and taken to strengthen people’s rights and freedoms. At a time when the human rights of particular groups are being threatened, while others see attempts to strengthen those rights being challenged, it is vitally important that the Scottish Government continues to further its human rights agenda in partnership with the voluntary sector and civil society in Scotland.

From [embedding human rights in Scots Law](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2024/1/contents) and defending the [Human Rights Act 1998](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/contents) from attempts to repeal or replace it, to publishing Scotland’s [Second National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP2](https://www.snaprights.info/)) in March 2023 and continuing to develop a new [Human Rights Bill](https://www.gov.scot/publications/human-rights-bill-scotland-discussion-paper/), the current Scottish Government has shown itself to be an active force in this crucial area but it needs ongoing, dedicated, and skilled support – including from partners across the voluntary sector and civil society.

Whether it’s supporting the victims of human rights abuses, raising awareness and education, or providing crucial advocacy work, our organisations are indispensable. But to continue undertaking that work effectively, change is needed in the way our sector is funded. Even the Scottish Government’s proposed Human Rights Bill underlines this, [with SCVO’s response to the Bill’s consultation](https://scvo.scot/p/62832/2023/10/04/response-to-a-human-rights-bill-for-scotland-consultation) highlighting that the proposals could impose additional burden, in terms of expectations and duties, upon a sector that is already struggling in the face of dwindling capacity and resources.

_“Lack of funding increases year on year making it incredibly difficult for us to pay our staff appropriately,”_ explains a national independent advocacy organisation. _“For some contracts, we have been providing the same number of staffing hours for the same amount of funding for five years or more. This is not sustainable.”_

_“The annual funding cycle affects the retention of staff,”_ says a small human rights advocacy charity. _“We lose great people. We also end up waiting for funding confirmation which affects our planning processes. This causes unnecessary strain on our staff capacity during those months and is something we see happening in other small charities.”_

Human rights are about fairness. We want a Scotland where everybody is entitled to be treated fairly. To successfully carry out that mission, the voluntary sector and civil society need to be treated fairly too. And that can only be achieved by implementing Fair Funding.

_“Accessible application processes would ease the strain on our small team who have to add this additional work on top of already difficult workloads,”_ says the small advocacy charity. _“Prioritising core costs over project-based funding would ease things considerably and allow us to programme the work that is necessary, rather than the work that is fundable.”_

_“Longer contracts mean less time wasted on tender processes and means staff feel more secure in their jobs and, therefore, more committed to the organisation,”_ agrees the national organisation. _“Many of the problems we face are with contracts with local authorities, so we need support from the Scottish Government to encourage change in their approaches to funding, as well as their own.”_

_“\[Fair Funding\] would also allow diversification of staff, ensuring a more representative and resilient workforce to better support the people we serve,”_ adds a menstrual health and human rights charity.

**Case Study**

The **Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance (SIAA)** is the national intermediary organisation supporting, promoting, and advocating the principles and practice of independent advocacy across Scotland. Independent advocacy plays an integral role in helping to ensure that an individual’s human rights are respected by supporting people to have their voices heard and addressing imbalances of power. As independent advocates, **SIAA** and its member organisations are human rights defenders, ensuring that human rights are integrated into procedures and processes, as well as embedded into the day to day running of organisations.

As an intermediary, **SIAA** is well placed to recognise the most pressing funding issues facing its members, perhaps one of the most prevalent being a lack of inflation-based uplifts in core funding over extensive timescales, including examples of funding remaining stagnant for up to 15 years. At the same time, the number of people requiring independent advocacy continues to increase exponentially. For instance, reported mental health conditions have risen from 4.4% in 2011 to 11.3% in 2022, while welfare guardianships have doubled in the last decade. This increase in demand is simply incompatible with real-terms cuts to funding, as organisations across the independent advocacy sector face a myriad of difficulties as a result. One resulting barrier is an inability to retain staff, with leadership roles being particularly impacted as the unsustainable funding landscape compounds ongoing issues around stress and burnout.

And if the sustainability of funding was not already a concern, more recently **SIAA**’s members, alongside others in the independent advocacy sector, have had to fight back against an Integrated Joint Board’s proposed defunding of collective advocacy in Edinburgh. Fortunately, organisations were able to rally together and pushback against these proposals with some success. Many collective advocacy projects were protected however a number were cut, and those organisations are left wary that further cuts could be just around the corner. And with the current funding landscape as it is, very few are able to build the long-term security and resilience required to navigate such financial shocks in future, should they materialise.

At the same time, Health and Social Care Partnerships continue to interpret legal rights to independent advocacy many people have under the 2003 Mental Health Act increasingly narrowly, with now only 5% of those with legal entitlement to independent advocacy having access to it. And, with no improvements to funding practices forthcoming despite escalating demand for services, the outcome begins to look inevitable – not only will that already tiny percentage of those with access to independent advocacy continue to diminish but, with it, so will the possibility for thousands of people across Scotland to see their human rights honoured and protected.

Organisations like **SIAA** and its members are clear. The current funding landscape is not only directly leading to circumstances which will see organisations continually struggling to provide the services that people rely on, but it has also created, and continues to exacerbate, the conditions in which the human rights of people across Scotland are not being recognised. If Scotland is to be a place where everyone’s human rights are honoured, then organisations like **SIAA** and its members must have access to Fair Funding that provides the stability and security needed.

**Social Care**

**Foreword**

The work of the social care sector may sometimes be hard for the public to see, but it is a powerful force in communities across Scotland. It transforms lives, boosts the economy, and eases pressures on other public services, including the NHS. Yet decades of underinvestment have placed the sector in a perilous position.  

We never know when we, our families or our neighbours may need social care support to continue living independent and fulfilled lives. CCPS’s members provide high quality, community-based services for adults with disabilities, older people, and children and families, alongside people impacted by addictions, or by homelessness and housing insecurity, poor mental health, poverty, and people involved in the justice system. This work is life-changing – yet chronic underfunding means people’s support is being squeezed ever tighter.  

At the end of 2025, surveys carried out among our membership found providers are being forced to reduce staff numbers, scale back services, and rely on reserves to reach financial balance. Fair Funding could inject desperately needed stability into the sector, creating the foundations for a sustainable future for people who need support. This aligns with the Scottish Government’s stated ambitions for our sector, yet its approach to social care investment remains far short of this: _“more investment has happened, but it has not been enough to outstrip increased costs, and certainly not to deal with increasing demand.” (_[_Fraser of Allander Institute, 2026_](http://fraserofallander.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/FINAL-for-publication.pdf)_)._

Fair Funding would support our providers’ long-term planning, helping them to meet need now and better weather future storms. What’s more, Fair Funding for our sector would lead to fairer work for its staff. CCPS has long been pushing for funding to ensure this qualified, highly-skilled, and professionally-regulated workforce – over 80% of which are women – receive appropriate renumeration. Their pay – which is in the hands of the Scottish Government – does not align with social care workers’ vital contribution to our society, making staff feel undervalued and creating recruitment and retention challenges for providers. 

Realising SCVO’s Fair Funding principles would be an essential piece of the puzzle to reverse the decline of our sector. It could ease immense financial pressures and support our workforce, helping build a Scotland where people and communities can thrive.

**Rachel Cackett  
**CEO  
[**The Coalition of Care & Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS)**](https://www.ccpscotland.org/)

**Narrative**

**“WE IMAGINE A DAY WITH FAIR FUNDING PROVIDING SECURITY, SUSTAINED SERVICES, AND EMPLOYMENT”**

Of the over 46,500 voluntary organisations in Scotland, almost a quarter – around 11,000 - are [involved in the social care sector.](https://scvo.scot/research/stats-size) These organisations can be found all over the country, rural and urban, providing a whole array of vital services to our communities. With a focus on prevention, innovation, and person-centred care, the voluntary sector thus plays a crucial, often foundational role in the social care sector, frequently filling gaps in statutory service provision.

The Scottish Government’s recognition of a need to improve social care support, social work, and community health in Scotland is welcome. Its desire to better support the estimated 700,000 to 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland through the [National Carers Strategy](https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-carers-strategy/) is admirable. And its commitment to forming [a new voluntary social care bargaining body](https://www.gov.scot/news/improving-social-care-pay-and-conditions/) to help improve pay and conditions for more than 110,000 workers is essential. But what is also crucial is recognising that, across the voluntary sector, a huge number of those 11,000 social care-related organisations are struggling within and because of the current funding landscape.

_“Delivering projects, in particular around individuals and community needs, are essential lifeline services,”_ states a small community-based organisation supporting those with additional needs. _“Funding isn’t secure, there is always a threat over the heads of the staff and volunteers, often a threat that doesn’t understand the impact they make on a daily basis to lives and communities.”_

_“The way in which payments are made in arrears by public sector bodies, local and national, is dreadful,”_ says a social care providing charity. _“To wait until the summer \[for funding\] is appalling.”_

_“For our service, it’s really about finding funding for core costs,”_ explains a provider of social care for older people. _“Most funders prefer to fund projects with a start and end date and don’t like to help out with maintaining a service.”_

_“It is virtually impossible to find funding for core,”_ adds a charity providing social care for children and young people.

We already know that the funding of the voluntary sector as a whole is unsustainable, in turn making the sector itself unsustainable. And we already know that the Scottish Government’s Fairer Funding commitment, while welcome, is yet to progress even close enough to improving the many aspects of sector funding that are required. But we also know that, with so many voluntary organisations across Scotland involved in social care provision, the urgency and need for Fair Funding within that particular sector is paramount.

_“A thriving third sector full of services, meaningful activities, and sustained opportunities creates hope and thriving communities,”_ suggests the young person’s care provider. _“Fair Funding would allow organisations to deliver day-to-day and prosper. \[It\] would allow us all to develop new and additional ways to progress and develop all and new services.”_

“_We imagine a day with Fair Funding providing security, sustained services, and employment where individuals can choose a career path in the third sector,”_ adds the small-community based organisation.

**Case Study**

**Inconsistent Uplifts – Differing Local Authority Interpretations** **(Anonymised)**

**Organisation G** is a regional organisation providing social care services on behalf of multiple local authorities. Thanks to the experience of staff and quality of services provided, allied to a conscious attempt to develop a knowledge and understanding of the funding landscape, the organisation has managed to secure inflation-based uplifts in a number of the local authority areas in which it operates. Where a closer relationship with funding officers exist, the organisation also tends to enjoy better outcomes.

For **Organisation G**, however, the inclusion of inflation-based uplifts has not been without its issues. With a different interpretation of how funding provided by the Scottish Government should actually be allocated at local level, local authority approaches to funding – and inflation-based uplifts – has differed from one area to the next. For example, with four local authority areas providing uplifts, the organisation has had to deal with huge variation – from receiving an uplift of 2% in one area, to over 5% in another. Given the rise of inflation in recent years, this has represented real term cuts across every area, albeit to differing degrees.

In addition, the need to submit annual uplift applications, even with regard to long-term contracts, has proven to be a challenge, leading to uncertainty over the likelihood of the uplift, with a knock-on effect on the ability to plan for the year ahead, and a need to devote vital time and capacity to said applications. With a need to match COSLA pay scales, the differing approaches to funding and uplifts from one local authority to the next creates ongoing uncertainty for both the organisation and staff employed in crucial roles.

As a result, the organisation has had to delay and postpone recruitment for posts, at a time when recruitment is already a challenge. While conscious that receiving uplifts at all can be something of a rarity and keen not to appear ungrateful for the uplifts it does receive, **Organisation G** remains at the mercy of inconsistent approaches to funding from local authorities, with the need for greater consistency laid bare by the organisation’s uplift arrangements from one area to the next.

**Sport**

**Foreword**

Scottish sports need fair funding. Years of standstill investment, and real-term cuts, have forced organisations across the Scottish sporting landscape to focus on fire-fighting and balancing budgets while still working to deliver and grow opportunities for sport and physical activity in our communities. 

Implementing multi-year funding would generate several key benefits for sports, including improving staff retention and recruitment, more efficient use of resources to focus on delivery rather than fundraising and managing risk, and providing the stability and capacity for innovation and investment in people and places that simply isn’t feasible under annual budget cycles. In practice, for Scottish governing bodies of sport to receive multi-year funding, the national agency for sport, [sportscotland](https://sportscotland.org.uk/), must similarly receive multi-year funding from the Scottish Government in order to give it the capacity and resource to achieve this ambition - in turn expanding the benefits of longer-term planning and funding structures to include the voluntary and public sector organisations working within and delivering Scottish sport.   

It is extremely important that funding provides the flexibility and core support needed to allow Scottish sports to most effectively respond to the needs of their clubs, communities, participants, and workforce. That includes being proportionate in reporting, balancing accountability for investment with trust, and empowerment towards shared objectives. 

Funding to sports should be considered an investment, not a cost. It provides incredible returns across a wealth of areas, from physical and mental health to community cohesion, skills and employability, justice, the environment, and more. For that investment to be as impactful as it can be, it should be underpinned by the principles of Fair Funding, and more resource can be focused on delivering a healthier and more active nation. 

**Gregor Muir  
**Policy & Communications Manager  
[**The Scottish Sports Association**](https://thessa.org.uk/)

**Narrative**

**“FAIR FUNDING COULD HAVE A TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR”**

As the Scottish Government [confirms on its website](https://www.gov.scot/policies/physical-activity-sport/): _“being physically active is one of the very best things we can do for our physical and mental health.”_ As well as the hugely beneficial impacts to our wellbeing, physical activity and sport can also help to transform communities, providing opportunities for connection, inspiration, and motivation, while developing confidence, helping to fight isolation, and building community cohesion.

Whether it is working with football organisations to ensure the sport is safe, inclusive, and helping to strengthen local communities; helping to transform lives through the [Changing Lives Through Sport and Physical Activity Fund](https://sportscotland.org.uk/media/oq2pxnr1/changing_lives_leaflet_august_2019.pdf); or increasing women and girls engagement in sport and physical activity through the [Women and Girls in Sport Advisory Board](https://www.gov.scot/groups/women-and-girls-sport-advisory-board/#:~:text=The%20women%20and%20girls%20in,of%20sport%20and%20physical%20activity.) and [Sporting Equality Fund](https://www.gov.scot/news/fund-for-sporting-equality/), the Scottish Government has shown itself to be very aware of the importance of physical activity and sport across Scotland. And, just like every other area of importance and priority, it is one that depends on the effective contribution of the voluntary sector.

Voluntary organisations across the length and breadth of the country do vital work to promote the benefits of physical activity and provide accessible, affordable opportunities to participate in sport in the very communities that the government recognises benefit from such support. As the [Scottish Sports Association outlines](https://thessa.org.uk/uploads/downloads/ssa%20publications/White%20About%20Us%20Booklet.pdf), many of the organisations responsible for the governance, development, and delivery of their individual sports are run on a not-for-profit basis and are managed by volunteers, providing coaching, competition, and participation opportunities within their local communities. But the current funding landscape continues to be problematic.

_“We have had some grant funding in the past,”_ explains a Lanarkshire-based charity providing football teams for all age groups and genders. _“But this has largely been for additional projects beyond our business-as-usual functions, largely due to this type of funding being erratic and unreliable in nature. It’s often not within the knowledge base or skillset of volunteers to both locate appropriate funding and navigate the application process.”_

_“One of our major funders pays us in arrears,”_ says a small sports-focused charity. _“This can make cashflow challenging as we pay staff, hire facilities etc on receipt of an invoice. We \[also\] don’t want to do ‘something new’ all the time, sometimes we just need an extra year to make something sustainable. There is so little opportunity for core funding, and many funders are no longer accepting a management fee as an eligible cost.”_

Unfortunately, the sport and physical activity sector is no different from any other. Wherever you find voluntary organisations, you will find organisations that are faced with an unfair and unsustainable funding landscape – a funding landscape that those very voluntary organisations acknowledge can be improved by implementing Fair Funding in full.

_“Longer-term funding of three years or more would allow us to plan \[and\] engage participants to shape our work for their genuine need,”_ says the sports-focused charity. _“Inflation-based uplifts and full costs would be an essential component of multi-year funding.”_

_“Fair Funding could have a tremendous impact on the voluntary sector,”_ adds the Lanarkshire football charity.

**Case Study**

**Scottish Government Funding - Delays & Inconsistencies** **(Anonymised)**

**Organisation H** works to encourage and provide opportunities for people across Scotland to be more active, improving their physical and mental health in the process. Through this work, the organisation also tackles climate change, reduces health inequalities, and benefits local economies – all vital aspects for communities across Scotland. Despite undertaking important work that falls within a number of the Scottish Government’s priority areas, **Organisation H** has struggled recently with the government’s funding processes.

With a proven track record of successfully accessing funding in previous years, **Organisation H** has been able to compare its experiences and highlight some of the inconsistencies and issues that have materialised more recently. For example, in recent years, despite usually receiving a letter of confirmation before the end of the financial year, the organisation was told that the issuing of such letters had been stopped completely, as had the ability for officials to issue letters of reassurance. As a result, **Organisation H** only received confirmation for funding for two of its three programmes almost two months into the new financial year, and with a third programme still being in limbo at that time.

It is these kinds of delays that **Organisation H** recognises as being the main factor in causing significantly negative impacts on the sector. With no confirmation of funding well into a new financial year, the organisation has had to use reserves to pay staff while pausing programme delivery. Within the same area of work, **Organisation H** has been aware of smaller organisations without the reserves to take similar action, instead issuing redundancy notices, further compounding issues with the recruitment and retention of experienced and skilled staff who are already looking for employment outwith the sector in hope of better job security.

In addition to delays with funding, **Organisation H** has found difficulties navigating the funding processes utilised by differing Scottish Government departments, suggesting that different departments provide very mixed messages with more flexibility and trust from some than others. The organisation has experienced real variation across the Scottish Government, with inconsistencies in decision-making processes across departments, and the use of different templates, including one for infrastructure business cases bearing no relevance to the voluntary sector or work the organisation undertakes.

Parallel to difficulties with inconsistency, **Organisation H** has experienced barriers put in place by civil servants themselves, suggesting that they are risk averse and lacking in the knowledge and understanding that would allow them to make decisions and design processes efficiently to build and maintain trust. The organisation believes that there has been a fundamental drop in confidence in the third sector from those responsible for allocating funding but hopes that the sheer level of difficulties of recent years’ funding will force finance officials into a “reality check”, realising that this is not an acceptable or fair way to approach funding.

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## About SCVO

SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the national membership organisation for Scotland's voluntary sector.

Our role is to champion the role of voluntary organisations in Scotland and to support them to do work that has a positive impact.

SCVO supports members and the wider voluntary sector with all aspects of setting up and running a voluntary organisation. SCVO represents the needs and concerns of the voluntary sector to the Scottish government in Holyrood and UK government and Westminster. Through our learning and events programme SCVO offers training and development opportunities to the sector.

Members access an extensive membership benefits package including specialist, in-depth, 1-to-1 guidance from our Information Services team and from professional service partners.

Access to exclusive membership networks (including comms, employers, governance and policy) supports members to grow their connections, stay up to date, exchange ideas and views with peers, and learn through tailored, learning opportunities.

SCVO members enjoy free access to Funding Scotland Premium to stay on top of funding opportunities to support their organisation’s financial resilience.

Discounts and savings savings on SCVO products and services (including our HR service, managed IT support, payroll service and events and training) and partner offers provide members with support to allow them to focus on delivering their organisation’s goals. Further SCVO products and services include [extensive digital support](https://scvo.scot/support/digital), a climate action resource [Growing Climate Confidence](https://climateconfident.scot), a voluntary sector publication [Third Force News](https://tfn.scot) and a voluntary sector jobs and recruitment service [Goodmoves](https://goodmoves.org).

For more information on SCVO membership, visit [SCVO membership](https://scvo.scot/membership)