Transition Fund | ILF Scotland 

About this fund

The Cambusbarron Community Fund supports community projects benefiting those living in in the Cambusbarron Community Council area in Stirling local authority. The fund is provided by Nadara, which owns Earlsburn Wind Energy Limited (Earlsburn Wind Farm) and Kingsburn Wind Energy Limited (Kingsburn Wind Farm);

An annual amount of £28,000, inflation-adjusted, will be paid into the fund each year for the operating life of the wind farms.

Grant size: £500 - £10,000

Purpose of this fund

Applications should usually be linked to the priorities identified in the Cambusbarron Community Action Plan. These include:

• Schemes or activities which protect, conserve or improve the environment.

• Schemes or activities which promote rural regeneration through increasing opportunities for local enterprise and vocational training.

• The development and improvement of infrastructure including transport, broadband, community-owned property and access routes.

• Proposals which seek to maintain, improve or expand community services and facilities, including health, welfare and education, particularly with regard to young people and the elderly.

• The development and improvement of community facilities and activities, including the arts, heritage, culture and science.

• The development and improvement of leisure/sport facilities and activities and tourism opportunities.

• Activities which support capacity building for new and existing community organisations, in particular to help promote citizenship and community development.

Additional Criteria

• Match funding - Ideally, applicants should demonstrate that a percentage of the total project cost will be sourced from other funding sources such as local fundraising, the group's own resources or other external grants. In exceptional circumstances, 100% funding may be considered. Awards from this Fund should not displace funding that could be obtained from other sources.

• Helping to fill gaps in the local provision of services or facilities or provide new/innovative services. Where 'filling a gap' equates to developing a post, please ensure that you have consulted with other organisations and groups that may benefit from paid staff. The panel is unwilling to fund duplication of posts in the community.

• Using local suppliers to provide goods and services, where possible and appropriate (e.g., quality of products/services available/ value for money).

• Capacity building - providing opportunities to build the skills and knowledge of group members or other local people, including promoting voluntary activities.

• Fostering partnership working - where project delivery with other groups will add value (financial, capability, or other). This could involve working with voluntary, private or public-sector bodies at local, regional or national levels.

• Groups seeking to undertake capital projects regarding land or assets must generally either own the property or have a minimum ten-year lease.

Who can apply?

Groups and organisations working to benefit people in Cambusbarron can apply. You don't need to be a registered charity to apply, but your group/organisation must meet our                                     https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/common-eligibility-criteria

Applications from groups/organisations located out with the fund area will be considered on a case-by-case basis but must demonstrate a clear benefit for residents within the fund area.

A group will generally only be awarded a main grant up to once in any 12 month period.

What can't be funded?

Information on what the fund cannot support is provided here https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/what-we-cant-fund

How are decisions made?

A Community Panel, made up of people who live, work or volunteer in the area, makes recommendations on grant awards from the fund. The panel advises on overall fund strategy and is governed by Terms of Reference.

The panel of up to eight members including two members of the Community Council, one representative of Cambusbarron Development Trust and other members of the community. If you would like to find out more about joining the Panel, please contact the Community Funds Adviser.

Coming soon…

🚀 Launching at noon on 8 September 2025, Thrive is a bold new multi-year grants programme offering unrestricted funding to charities supporting people living in vulnerable circumstances through:

• financial advice

• financial education

• building financial resilience

• promoting good financial health 

🌟Developed in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group and our sister Foundations across the UK, Thrive aims to strengthen financial resilience in communities - helping people anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and adapt to changes in their personal or household finances.🌟 

This programme is open to:

• charities with an income between £50k - £300k per annum

• charities directly addressing financial hardship

• charities whose core mission lies elsewhere (e.g. homelessness, disability, mental health, domestic abuse) but who offer financial resilience support as part of their broader services.

Thrive grants provide £75,000 over three years (£25,000 per annum) in unrestricted funding, which can be used for core costs, delivery costs, project costs and/or general running expenses.💷 

For more details of the Thrive grants programme,
visit: https://bankofscotlandfoundation.org/funding-programmes/thrive 

Dear Chamber member, 

Fellow Chamber Member, the Robertson Trust offers grants to help registered charities and constituted community groups.  

Wee Grants

• For constituted community groups and charities in Scotland with an annual income of less than £30,000.

• Funding of up to £5,000 for one year only.

• Unrestricted; can cover revenue or capital costs.

Transport Grants

• For registered charities working in Scotland, with an annual income of £30,000 to £2 million, that support people who are experiencing (or are at high risk of experiencing) poverty and trauma.

• Funding of between £5,000 and £20,000 per year, for 1-3 years, to contribute towards the costs of transport to support your work.

• If you are already in receipt of a Small or Large Grant from us, you can still apply for a separate Transport Grant. However, we will take the fact that you already hold funding from us into account. In these cases, we are likely only to award a one-year Transport grant or, if we award you a 3-year grant, we are likely to cap this at a maximum of £20K in total.

Applications are now open.

Over the past year, our Work Pathways team has been exploring how changes to the world of work in Scotland can deliver big change that lasts on poverty and trauma in Scotland. Our Programmes and Practice Officer, Lyndsay Fraser Robertson, looks at how this work has helped inform our spending plans in this theme across 2024-25, with approximately £2 million available through our open call.

Please DOWNLOAD the January issue of the STP Funding Finder above.

There is currently 2 pilot projects running in Stirling in partnership with Stirling Council.  They are working across all the Local Authority Areas but normally with Employability Services so she was very pleased to meet and are keen for our input and support. 

They have funding over the next 3 years from Scottish Govt to recruit 1000 Child Minders across Scotland and this will be delivered in partnership with Local Authorities, their offer includes ensuring that individuals are fully supported, which includes a start-up grant of £750, learning and training, start up support and both group and one to one mentoring support.

The 2 pilots in Stirling are a Respite Pilot Child Minding Service and a Rural Pilot, They have 3 places remaining for this financial year if anyone is interested in working in this area. 

The Respite Child Minding Pilot is aimed at offering Child Minding to parents who have an emergency situation and have no support or who need a break.  This service is being managed by the Family Well Being Team and I have a meeting with their Team Leader next week, so I will find out how we access this support for our families if they need it.

The Rural Pilot is in partnership with Education and aimed at increasing Child Minders in the rural areas, going forward they will be focusing on the priority areas as well.

If anyone has any clients who may be interested, their website is the best place to get further information and there is a leaflet that can be downloaded.  They did mention that people do not need to own their own home to become a child minder but would need permission for the home owner / landlord, you also don’t need to have a large property or a garden as some of their Child Minders live in flats.

The hours can be flexible to suit and some Child Minders only offer Before and After School Care.