The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is to manage a new grants programme on behalf of the Scottish Government, to help charities implement the Carers (Scotland) Act in their local areas.
Launched today (Wednesday 20 June 2018), the
Carers Act Transformation Support (CATS) Fund will give third sector organisations involved in the local implementation of the Act the opportunity to apply for small grants to improve their capacity to do so.
The Scottish Government is investing around £500,000 in 2018/2019 to provide funding to third sector organisations to allow them to gear up for supporting the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 and help with funding for transformation costs. The main purpose of this short term funding is to develop local capacity and systems, rather than delivering support, which is funded locally.
It is expected that transformation costs will centre on systems such as IT, accounting, data collection, data protection and recording and associated templates, paperwork and procedures.
Applications for the fund are now open and eligibility criteria is detailed on our CATS fund page.
Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) said: “SCVO is delighted to be managing this fund on behalf of the Scottish Government as it recognises both the vital role that Scotland’s third sector has in the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act, and the need to financially support organisations to do this successfully. We want to help charities across the country develop their processes and procedures to ensure they have the capacity to meet the opportunities and challenges the Act presents in their communities. I would encourage eligible organisations involved in this work to apply.”
Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said: “Carers play a vital role in society and the new Act gives carers support to look after their own health and have a life alongside caring. The third sector plays a valuable role in helping carers at a local level and our funding will help charities improve their systems to help unpaid carers access their new rights.”
Last modified on 23 January 2020
