Finalists 2024
We are pleased to announce this year's Scottish Charity Awards finalists. The shortlist includes 39 inspirational individuals, projects and organisations from across Scotland’s voluntary sector.
All finalists
Special Olympics Grampian Area, Special Olympics GB and Inclusive Skating
In partnership with Special Olympics GB and Inclusive Skating, Special Olympics Grampian delivered the first ever Special Olympics GB National Winter Games. Held in Folgaria Italy, the event, predominately delivered by volunteers, provided 5 days of competition for 74 athletes...
Cancelling School Meal Debt - Aberlour Children's Charity
Our campaign persuaded the Scottish Government to write off £1.8 million school meal debt for 30,000 children in December 2023. Aberlour funded research, conducted by Professor Morag Treanor of Heriot-Watt University, revealed that over £1 million school meal debt was owed by...
Feeling Strong
What started as an idea in 2018, has developed into a community-led, recognisable and credible source of support for young people in Dundee. Last year was special because we launched our 2023-2026 Strategy, which was developed from feedback from young people surrounding mental...
Michelle Robertson - Fallin Community Voice
Michelle deserves this awards because she is an inspirational woman who rallies the village to help deliver our projects, by volunteering and grassroots donations, all while holding down a full time job and significant caring responsibilities. She is selfless, resilient...
Mary Hepburn - Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre
FRASAC has made me want to live again and look forward to my future […] this is the safest I have felt since I was raped.” “The counselling service is first class. I feel safer within myself and understand better why I think and feel certain ways.” Mary’s strong ethics and...
Edinburgh Women's Aid
In 1973, Edinburgh Women’s Aid successfully lobbied for a property from Edinburgh Corporation to run as a domestic abuse refuge. In 2023, we marked our 50th Anniversary and bought our first property to run alongside our other refuges. EWA supports around 2000 women and 25...
Janice Lee - Ardgowan Hospice
In 2002, Janice commenced her role as an assistant cook at Ardgowan Hospice. After a significant personal loss, she devoted herself to aiding grieving children and young adults. With unwavering dedication spanning 22 years, Janice has since spearheaded projects like...
Ken Brown - Bridge Community Project
Ken's unwavering dedication has been the backbone of the Bridge Community Project's success. He co-founded the charity, identified service gaps during its formative years, and championed its core values. As a mentor, he empowered the leader with confidence and strategic...
Creatovators CIC
Creatovators is applying for the Community Impact Award. Over the past year we have seen an incredible expansion of our projects. We have moved into premises, developing more links with the local community. Our Playschemes, providing a safe space for the whole family, have...
Lauren Boag - Scottish Huntington's Association
Lauren Boag, who is facing the onset of Huntington’s disease, is an outstanding volunteer fundraiser - there’s no stopping her when it comes to making sure Huntington’s families have the specialist support they need. In January 2023 she set out to raise £5000 in 12 months to...
Our Kids Won't Wait - The Yard
Our Kids Won’t Wait campaign was launched with our children and families in 2023. Fronted by our toughest negotiator, Eilish, aged 5, and her dad, Lawrence, we presented a petition with over 2000 signatures asking for a better funding deal for The Yard. The Yard supports 270...
R:evolve Recycle
This year has been an absolutely stunning year for R:evolve Recycle, smashing all our previous benchmarks and striving to grow the project, ensuring more people have easy solutions to help them reduce their carbon footprint. We circulated 45,000kg of preloved clothing back into...
Amanda Fleet - Highlands and Islands Students' Association
Amanda Fleet, HISA's Sports Development Coordinator for UHI, sparked a profound shift in sports engagement. She has expanded active clubs from 9 to 24, with membership quadrupling to 400. Amanda's emphasis on inclusion broke down barriers for marginalized groups, including women...
Mary Osei-Oppong - African and Caribbean Elders in Scotland
This year ACES published a book of oral histories of our members. One Life Two Cultures is a collection of experiences – both good and bad – of African and Caribbean Scots over the past 50 years. It establishes African and Caribbean peoples’ experiences as integral to Scottish...
Vicki McGrain Rae - Asthma and Allergy Foundation
Vicki is our head of services & health promotion and she is the beating heart of everything we do. Vicki embodies the essence of leadership and consistently fosters an environment where every member of our team thrives. Her commitment to our collective goals is matched only by...
Simba
Simba has overcome profoundly challenging circumstances. In January 2023, we faced closure within months, meaning thousands of bereaved families would not have received our support at their critical time of loss. However, our committed Trustees, Volunteers and Staff pulled...
.png?alt=media&token=4e2b8dab-061e-4f20-985e-1aaf42fcffe2){kind=avatar}
Fischy Music
2023 was an extra special year for Fischy Music as we celebrated our 25th Anniversary. Highlights included: • Singing with over 14,000 children at Fischy School Day Events throughout central Scotland. • Resourcing over 500 Scottish primary schools, representing more than 75,00...
Lead Scotland
Our brilliant Cyber Project has been making it easier for over 3000 disabled people, carers and practitioners from 28 local authorities to learn how to stay safe and secure online through tutor supported courses, self-study courses, resources and strategic work! Three disabled...
Never Allowed - Amina Muslim Women's Resource Centre
93 BME and Muslim women in Scotland were interviewed about their experiences of extended family abuse and the findings were compiled in a report and a short film, funded by Rosa UK. The report details the types of abuse that BME and Muslim women experience from their in-laws...
.png?alt=media&token=e5618c66-3e0f-451d-a870-123d235d7ac1){kind=avatar}
David Corstorphine - RNLI
David Corstorphine is a Volunteer Water Safety Officer in Anstruther who has dedicated a huge amount of his time and efforts into making his local area a safer place by spreading crucial water safety messaging. During 2023 David was involved in a huge amount of activity in his...
Equi-Power Central Scotland RDA
In 2023 Equi-Power Central Scotland RDA worked with 150 people with disabilities and alongside horse care, horse riding and equestrian vaulting activities, diversified to launch new initiatives supporting refugees with disabilities, individuals with dementia & teenagers with...
Jen Hardy - Cancer Card
Jen Hardy MBE is an inspirational leader, Trustee and Founder of Cancer Card. She is a highly respected "voice of cancer patients" on many cancer groups throughout Scotland. Jen has driven the development of Cancer Card over the last year into a invaluable resource and her desire...
National Ugly Mugs (NUM)
In 2023, we welcomed 281 sex workers through our doors at NUMbrella Lane, our drop-in space in Glasgow. Our unique space places sex workers first, being led by and for members of the community. Here, our members are able to access harm reduction supplies, a food bank, a clothing...
The Why Not? Trust
We offer unique support to care experienced parents. All new and expecting parents require support. But what if support isn't readily available within your social circle? That's where The Village comes in - an online platform developed by and for care experienced parents. Through...
St Vincent's Hospice
Under new leadership, the organisation has expanded services, including a successful Day Services relaunch and a digital platform for remote participation. With growing demand, they've added new roles and services like a Carers Group and Talking Therapies. Record-high occupancy...
Fersands and Fountain SCIO
We launched a Cost of Living Project responding to the current financial crisis, this project was developed from local people for local people. We have over 30 local volunteers running this vital service through a community cafe providing free and low cost meals, a woodside...
Larkhall & District Volunteer Group (LDVG) & Heart of Africa (HoA)
LDVG Lunch clubs were previously catered by local authority kitchens. We were faced with regular complaints about the poor standard of food and lack of choice. Funding enabled LDVG to partner with Heart of Africa (HoA) to pilot a new lunch club from 2021-2023. HoA prepare...
.png?alt=media&token=35f4aa0d-172b-4748-aef4-86657f4a974a){kind=avatar}
SOHTIS (Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland) and Simon Community Scotland
SOHTIS and Simon Community Scotland have joined in an innovative partnership committed to reducing human trafficking in Edinburgh. Evidence shows a strong correlation between homelessness and human trafficking and this joint post is seeing transformational change in the lives of...
Playlist for Life
Our work has always focussed on the person beyond the dementia, and our 10th anniversary year showcased this. We marked the occasion with a string of events and successes that cemented the simple but profound power of meaningful music for people living with dementia. In just 1...
Edinburgh Tool Library and LGBT Health and Wellbeing
ETL’s mission is to ensure everyone in the city has affordable access to tools, and the knowledge to use them. As they approach their 10th birthday, the library now boasts an inventory of over 2000 tools, and provides over 50 hours of community outreach teaching per month. LGBT H...
Forth Rivers Trust
The Allan Water project aims to restore and enhance the Allan Water, focusing on building positive long-term landowner engagement to deliver habitat improvements. The project engages communities, landowners, and stakeholders to implement nature-based solutions. By working with...
.png?alt=media&token=26799718-c95d-490f-9f29-0121041ddcdb){kind=avatar}
Fife Young Carers
We provide holistic support to tackle the profound isolation, poor educational attainment and mental health challenges faced by young carers. With our holistic support young carers aged from just five years old, say they feel more positive about their future, more confident, and...
Strathearn Arts
Our growing organisation became detached from our volunteers resulting in low engagement. We diverted our Smartsheet software skills to build our own bespoke volunteer portal, delivering a single place to access news, view upcoming events & book volunteering opportunities...
Michael Craig - Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans
Michael Craig has been a Trustee for over ten years at Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, most recently spending over four years as the Chair of both charities. Over the past year, Michael has had a big impact, stepping in as an Interim Chief Executive during a time of...
Diabetes Tech Can’t Wait - Diabetes Scotland
Diabetes Scotland launched Diabetes Tech Can’t Wait as too many people in Scotland are unable to access diabetes technology that people tell us is life changing. With a group of people passionate about access to tech, we united campaigners across Scotland to call for fair and...
Kevin Radzynski - Grassmarket Community Project
Everyone knows and loves Kevin at GCP, not just because he has made a huge difference as Volunteer Manager increasing volunteer numbers to more than 150, but because he is a reliable, friendly and supportive presence for everyone. He has brought a high level of professionalism...
Perth Theatre and Concert Hall
Over the past few years, we have been increasingly aware of the of the challenges faced by event providers across communities in Perthshire in encouraging the return of existing customers, whilst also aiming to attract new ones. We have been working to address these challenges...
Dates-n-Mates
In 2023 Dates-n-Mates became an independent charity following fifteen years as a project of C-Change. We have expanded our offering of exciting and meaningful opportunities for people with a learning disability to form friendships and relationships, with over 630 events across...
The Volunteer Tutors Organisation
With a view to educate the children in our Learning Hubs, we created our Sustainability and Climate Crisis Programme with the help of a field specialist and launched it across our 26 Learning Hubs from September 2023. The programme has taught our 315 pupils about what is...
