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‘Ask and Act’ are new duties proposed in the Housing (Scotland) Bill that requires public bodies to ask about a person’s housing situation early—and take action to prevent homelessness before it happens. The Scottish Government’s Homelessness Prevention Pilot Fund (up to £4 million) supports a range of bodies including, local authorities, Health Boards, the police service, registered social landlords, prisons, along with 3rd Sector Organisations experienced in preventing homelessness. The pilots will develop, test, scale and cost the new prevention duties in real-world settings. The fund is being administered by Advice Direct Scotland. It is designed to help public bodies, alongside third sector organisations experienced in preventing homelessness, prepare for and test the practical application of the new prevention duties with a particular focus on how ‘Ask and Act’ can be effectively embedded in day-to-day practice. It will also help relevant bodies and others to scope out the groups most at risk of homelessness, identify resource requirements, and best practice approaches.Examples of the types of approaches the fund will support are:- Early intervention and targeted prevention activity.- Multi-agency approaches to support people navigating housing, healthand social care services.- Partnership models and processes that can be replicated and scaled.- Collaborations involving shared resources, data and transitional orreferred services.- Initiatives that centre people at risk of homelessness and/or people with direct experience of homelessness in the design and delivery of theservice.- Initiatives that target groups at risk of homelessness and critical points- in service pathways that have been identified as leading tohomelessness.

The Supporting Partners programme provides funding to projects that will improve support for Service partners and spouses regarding the skills and experiences they bring to the workplace. Projects should have a positive, lasting impact for partners of Serving Personnel or Reservists based in the UK or overseas.Your project will need to show that it will improve access to support, and will celebrate the skills and experiences spouses and partners bring to the workplace.Your project must meet one of the following aims.- Enable partners to access knowledge and information that’s relevant to employment opportunities.- Improve access to education, training, and qualifications for partners.- Communicate the skills and experiences that partners are able to bring to the workplace.Project ideas should be hands on, impactful and targeted. You could explore ways of upskilling partners of Serving Personnel or Reservists through training, education and qualifications. Your projects might support partners to access paid employment, by finding ways to connect more partners to existing support.

Go See Share is a small fund for individuals, organisations and creative businesses to explore new ways to expand their business activity and make them more financially sustainable. The aim of this fund is to help recipients undertake trips or remote meetings, allowing them to gain knowledge and insight, build relationships, and to share this knowledge back in Scotland.They are looking to support visits that will help you to consider the ways you could expand your business activity and increase your economic sustainability. This learning should also help the creative communities you will share with to do the same. Examples include:- Local, national and international trips to see examples of best practice or new business models in operation- Remote meetings which help you to research best practice or alternative business models- Relevant event, festival, and professional development opportunities that will support your business development, business practices or business sustainability- Visits to a person, organisation or business, to explore new ways of workingFunding can be used to support business sustainability, such as:- Travel and accommodation costs- Relevant event or conference tickets- Time to attend meetings with other businesses or individuals you feel you can learn from- Time to prepare presentations and materials for sharing Proposed activity should take place between May to October 2025.

The Trust wants to support pilot projects or new approaches that will support and improve the lives of specific communities of Veterans who have been negatively impacted by issues in relation to their Service. For projects lasting 12-18 months for grants between £50,000 and £100,000, you will need to achieve at least one of the programme outcomes. Grants up to £300,000 for projects which take place over three-four years are required to meet all following outcomes:- Veterans’ experiences are acknowledged and understood, enabling them to positively progress on their recovery journey.- Veterans’ isolation will be reduced and quality of life improved, through gaining access to effective support.- Veterans can build a positive connection with the wider Armed Forces community and access support in the future, should they wish or be able to access other support mechanisms that are most relevant to them.