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The Childcare Support Fund is a single-year grant for 2026 to 2027 designed to support low-income families who are living in poverty or at risk of living in poverty by helping them manage the cost of childcare and reduce financial pressures at key times.This grant funds short-term, flexible childcare through registered childcare providers, to support low income families living in, or at risk of, poverty at key times when childcare costs create financial pressure or are a barrier to employment, training or learning.Funding will be used to fund flexible, short-term childcare through registered childcare providers at key points of transition or challenge. This includes circumstances such as disruptions to existing childcare arrangements, changes in working or family circumstances, or where support is needed to access education or training.You can use this funding for: - paying a childcare provider who is registered with the Care Inspectorate, for services provided to families who are participating in this project. This payment will result in a subsidised or fully funded place for a child - some staff costs, including those required to engage and support families, agree childcare requirements, and co-ordinate provision of and payment for childcare services- other reasonable project delivery and equipment costs All funding must be spent by 31 March 2027.

Crossdykes Community Benefit Fund can support a wide range of charitable activities providing benefit to the five community council areas of Langholm Ewes & Westerkirk, Lockerbie and District, Middlebie & Waterbeck, Eskdalemuir, and North Milk. In particular, priority will be given to applications that align with the findings of the East Dumfriesshire Community Consultation (2020). Funded activities must align with the charitable purposes laid down in Crossdykes Community Benefits Limited’s own Articles and Memorandum of Association. These purposes are focused principally on the fund area and include community development, rural regeneration, the prevention and/or relief of poverty, the advancement of education, health, arts, heritage, culture and science, public participation in sport, the provision of recreational facilities, projects which improve the quality of life or wellbeing of residents, environmental projects, specifically those relating to climate change, the relief of those in need due to age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage and animal welfare.

The fund aims to build the capacity of the community energy sector and deliver impactful renewable energy projects. It seeks to demonstrate how a just transition to net zero can benefit everyone.The priorities of the scheme are to support energy consumers in vulnerable situations, develop innovative products or services and empower consumers to reduce their carbon emissions.The scheme will fund new projects in the following funding streams:- The Small and Main Funds: aimed at projects that will support energy consumers in vulnerable situations.- The Impact Fund: aimed at projects monitoring the impact to households, of energy advice and other interventions.- Innovation Fund: aimed at projects that will develop innovative products or services to benefit households.- Carbon Emissions Reduction Fund: aimed at projects that will reduce UK carbon emissions and empower households to reduce their carbon footprint.- Just Transition Fund: aimed at projects that will develop community renewable energy which will benefit vulnerable energy consumers.

The Foundation supports civic voices to share their stories, learn and act together and influence the institutions that shape people’s lives. They support projects that seek to facilitate constructive engagement between civil society and decision makers, including civil society participation in policy development and decision-making. Applications must address one or more of their three priority themes:1. Health justice2. Climate justice3. Freedom of expression All applications are required to demonstrate how they intend to integrate considerations of gender into their project design and implementation.

The Victim Surcharge Fund (VSF) is available to organisations who provide direct support to victims of crime. It can be used to provide emergency household, food, utility, or clothing expenses for those escaping domestic abuse, or for installation of alarm systems to help victims feel safe, in line with published Guidance.The VSF is intended to supplement and enhance support services that Victim Support Organisations (VSOs) already provide to victims of crime and is primarily intended to help victims who are already accessing the services of VSOs.

This Scottish Government-funded programme was set up to support the development of co-produced, person-centred, self-management activity across Scotland. Learning from people’s lived experience of living with long-term conditions, and their unpaid carers, is at the heart of what the Fund is designed to achieve.The Self Management for Life cycle of the fund aims to support project that put people and communities at the centre. In the 2026 round, we hope to focus more clearly on two specific points of a person’s journey with a long-term condition as well as health inequalities. Applications must demonstrate their project supports, guides and enables self-management in one of the following ways:- Work that aligns with secondary prevention by working to embed self-management soon after a long-term condition or disability is identified, or early in someone’s unpaid caring role.- Work that seeks to address health inequalities while increasing the self-management capacity of people with long-term conditions, disabilities and/or unpaid caring responsibilities who experience these inequalities- Work that develops the self-management capacity of people living with long-term conditions, disabilities, and/or their unpaid carers, whilst awaiting health or social care support

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (CMHWF) for Adults was established in October 2021 and to date, it has distributed grants to community initiatives supporting mental health and wellbeing across Scotland. Local TSIs have their own version of this fund.The priorities are:- 1. Tackle mental health inequalities through supporting a range of ‘at risk’ groups.- 2. Address priority issues of social isolation and loneliness, suicide prevention, poverty and inequality with a particular emphasis on responding to the cost-of-living crisis and support to those facing socio-economic disadvantage.  - 3. Support small ‘grass roots’ community groups and organisations to deliver such activities.  - 4. Provide opportunities for people to connect with each other, build trusted relationships and revitalise communities. 

The Climate Hub offers small grants to community groups for community engagement or seed funding for a community climate action project. The Fund is available to existing and emerging community groups who are members of the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub. They will prioritise projects which: - Aim to create long-term change.- Build the skills and capacity of groups or organisations and communities. - Support and encourage collaborative working across groups or organisations, communities and areas.- Encourage sustainability through reusing, recycling and upcycling goods and products. - Encourage climate action and a just transition- Mitigate climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce environmental impact- Help communities adapt to and build resilience to climate change- Protect or enhance local biodiversity through conservation and promotion

Funded by the Scottish Government and Foundation Scotland, this fifth round of grants from the Forth Valley Climate Action Hub will enable more groups to engage in climate action for the first time; and will support communities already delivering climate action to achieve even more. Alongside grant funding, members will continue to benefit from climate hub support, including a packed programme of talks, workshops and events. Members can also engage with FEL's climate leadership programme and growing peer network. The aim of this grant is to help communities test and develop practical responses to local impacts of climate change. This could include projects such as rainwater capture systems, natural flood management solutions, community resilience planning, local weather monitoring, and other small-scale adaptation activities. They are keen to hear your project ideas and how they contribute to climate adaptation. Example projects include:- Nature based solutions to flooding including planting to slow water flow - Community flood resilience including flood warden programmes - Climate-resilient food growing including with composting or water-efficient irrigation- Community preparedness plans or place plans focus on community climate resilience- Rainwater harvesting including permeable surfaces or community rain gardens- Tree planting for shade and cooling or combined with seating- Ecosystem resilience including wildflower meadows and native planting.Applications not previously funded by the Climate Action Hub will be prioritised.

The Digital and Technology Adoption Capital Grant can provide organisations based in the Highlands and Islands region funding to support digital transformation ambitions. Introducing digital technology into your business has many advantages, including cutting costs, speeding up processes, improving customer insights, creating the ability to make faster business decisions, reduce carbon emissions and increase revenue.HIE recommend that organisations applying for this fund should have a digital action plan or feasibility study in place before making an enquiry.Community and Voluntary Organisations in the Highlands and Islands can apply for a capital grant based on their requirements.Digital technologies that may be supported with a capital grant include:- Robots / robotics / cobotics- Sensor technologies- Internet of Things- Data innovation- Artificial intelligence- Cyber security- Software development- Augmented reality / virtual reality / 3D visualisations- Additive manufacturing and laser machining- Cyber security solutionsProjects that have an element of ‘deep tech’ will also be considered, for example, blockchain, photonics, aerospace and space technologies, electronics, cyber threat intelligence and quantum computing.