A new report, published Monday 11th October, highlights the positive response received in an evaluation of the Response, Recovery & Resilience (RRR) Funding Scheme, which was distributed locally by Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface (CTSI).
The fund offered additional financial support to community groups, charities and third sector organisations, to enable them to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on their services and to help facilitate their work in supporting communities during challenging times.
Working in partnership with the TSI Scotland Network, Foundation Scotland piloted a new means of grant distribution for this fund, in the hopes of reaching local organisations who were on the frontline of the community response to the pandemic. In this first of its kind funding scheme, Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) were a direct facilitator for the funding, providing grants through a mix of open and closed funding processes.
Locally, CTSI was the distributor of the fund, being the support organisation for third sector activity in Clackmannanshire. In total, £292,000 of awards were made across Scotland with 11 different Clackmannanshire-based groups receiving funding.
The fund helped to support local third sector organisation in the response to Covid-19, some of the groups to receive the grant funding include: Clackmannan Development Trust, Menstrie Community Council, The Gate Charity, Hawkhill Community Association, Sauchie Active 8, Fort Valley Welcome and Transform Forth Valley.
Another recipient of the funding was Alva Development Trust, whose core activities centre around supporting the local community in Alva and the management of the Cochrane Hall.
At the start of the pandemic last March, the team at Alva Development Trust offered support to the local community, providing food provisions to those who were Shielding and anyone who had faced financial hardship. They received £500 from the RRR Fund, distributed by CTSI, with the grant money being used to cover some of the costs of their community response activities.
Reflecting on the funding, a representative from Alva Development Trust said “The funding allowed us to provide additional emergency foodbank support for families in crisis in the Hillfoots villages and beyond. This additional funding came at a time when this support was vital, we were grateful to receive the grant.”
The new report highlights a high-level of satisfaction from grantees towards this new method of funding delivery, with 80% of respondents agreeing that this opportunity saved them time, 95% stating that their local TSI was approachable and listened to their needs and concerns, and 98% saying that the application process was easy and proportionate.
Furthermore, 30% of grantees said they would not have been able to provide services had it not been for this grant.
“We are delighted that CTSI was involved in distributing this Covid-19 response grant along with the wider TSI Scotland Network. The findings of this report illustrate the important role that TSIs can play in supporting local third sector organisations” said Chief Officer of CTSI, Anthea Coulter.
“With the RRR Fund we were able to support eleven local organisations, enabling them to provide targeted and specialist support to people in real need and isolated during the height of the pandemic, ensuring our communities remained connected. I am delighted that the TSI Scotland Network is now being considered for wider distribution of funds by Scottish Government and funders, recognising that we can work with partners and within local communities to identify the real gaps emerging and target support to small grass roots organisations.”
You can read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3mpoD9p
