Improving Lives

  1. Funding
  2. Funding programmes
  3. Improving Lives

This fund is closed.

We're not accepting new applications to our Improving Lives fund.

Many people experience challenges at some point in their lives. This fund aims to support activity that helps people overcome these difficulties and become more resilient.

We want to support activity that means people:

  • are better able to identify ways to take control over their lives and build resilience
  • are able to shape the activities and services they use to better meet their needs have more access to support and opportunities to improve their lives.

We'll fund projects that:

  • support children, young people and families currently experiencing challenging circumstances
  • support people that have experienced abuse
  • tackle loss, isolation or loneliness
  • support people that experience discrimination and/or work to challenge discrimination
  • support people facing financial hardship.

We will consider activity which aims to prevent as well as respond to these issues.

We're also funding work that is people-led, connected, and strengths-based. These three approaches are vital to help us achieve our mission and address inequality in Scotland. Find out more about our three approaches.

We offer funding from £20,001 to £200,000, for up to 3 years

Area
Scotland
Suitable for
Voluntary or community organisations, public sector organisations
Funding size
£20,001 to £200,000
Application deadline

This fund is closed.

If you applied

This fund closed at 12pm on 21 August 2024

If you’d like to talk to us about your application:

Information you needed to apply

You can access a:

What happens after you apply

As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you provide us. You can find out more about the checks we'll carry out on your information.

What we expect from the organisations we fund

Keeping people safe

If we give you funding, we expect that you’ll:

  • promote a culture of safeguarding
  • keep people safe
  • respond to safeguarding incidents.

These expectations apply to all organisations we are giving funding to, as well as partners doing any part of the activities we’re funding. We’ll consider these expectations when we make decisions about who to fund. We may use them when we ask for updates on your funding. They’re also written into the terms and conditions for all of our funding.

Read our safeguarding expectations for the organisations we fund.

Reduce your environmental footprint

The National Lottery Community Fund cares about our environment and are always striving to manage our environmental impact. We encourage and support projects and communities to do the same. Learn more about how you can make your project or event more environmentally sustainable and perhaps save money at the same time.

Paying your staff the UK Living Wage

We’re a Living Wage Friendly Funder. This means that we encourage our applicants to pay their staff the UK Living Wage. Visit the Living Wage Foundation to find out more about the Living Wage.

If you’re getting money from elsewhere

Your application may have a better chance if you can demonstrate some level of match funding. However, we can fund up to 100% of the costs of your activity including staff, equipment, premises costs and overheads. We refer to these types of costs as 'revenue costs' and would expect these to be the main focus of your application.

You can also include up to £50,000 of minor capital costs as part of your overall activity for items such as building refurbishment or adaptations.

We cannot fund:

  • anything you spend money on before you get a decision from us
  • activities outside the UK
  • activities that actively promote religion
  • mainstream employability activity, like job search support.

If you would like more information about what we cannot fund, contact us by:

Who could apply

Who could apply

Most organisations were eligible to apply but we were particularly keen to see applications from smaller organisations working at a local level that we haven’t been able to fund previously.

You could apply if you had other funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. But you can usually only have one Improving Lives grant at a time.

However, there are restrictions on how many Improving Lives grants you can hold at any one time.

You need a board or committee with at least 3 members who are not related

Related can mean:

  • related by marriage
  • in a civil partnership with each other
  • in a long-term relationship with each other
  • related through a long term partner
  • living together at the same address
  • related by blood.

All companies who apply must have at least 2 directors who are not related in any of these ways. This also applies to companies that are also registered as charities.