Emergency funding given to Tayside and Fife during Covid

Foundation Scotland had dished out £1 million in just 12 days to keep charities afloat

A charity which has donated millions of pounds to help the coronavirus recovery has revealed an emergency response scheme was set up just weeks before the pandemic hit.

At the start of this year Foundation Scotland was preparing a partnership with the National Emergencies Trust (NET) to allow fast funding to be given following domestic disasters such as flooding.

But just weeks later bosses at Foundation Scotland, which delivers crisis grants to charities in need, had to spring into action when the pandemic hit.

In the first 12 days the organisation had dished out £1 million in just 12 days to keep charities afloat and help them support people in crisis.

Helen Wray, head of programmes at Foundation Scotland, said: We understood we had to be able to quickly distribute emergency funding to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable. Together [with NET] we could be ready to respond to any domestic disaster that might trigger a fundraising response and require funding distribution.

Little did we know that within weeks we’d be helping to tackle the effects of a pandemic together. Our dedicated response, recovery and resilience fund was the first source of community funding to open in Scotland, she said. We worked relentlessly to meet demand and quickly reached those that needed us most.

In the first five months of the pandemic, the charity had supported more than one million people. By the sixth, they had given out more money than the whole of the previous year.

The number of community groups contacting Foundation Scotland for help also soared by 92%.

Speed was also key and Helen said applications were process in 72 hours to ensure funding could be delivered quickly.

But she also praised the work of local volunteers, who dedicated themselves to the pandemic response.

More than 100 charities and community groups in Tayside and Fife have been among those to benefit from the £3.6m administered by Foundation Scotland.