- Guidance Notes For Applicants -

In February 2021, an additional £120 million was announced by the Scottish Government for a Recovery and Renewal Fund for delivery of the commitments set out in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan. The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults was developed as a means to enabling community groups to respond to local mental health and wellbeing challenges, and in Year 1 of the fund (£15m for 2021/22), 1842 community projects were supported across a diverse range of community initiatives. Year 2 funding (£15 million for 2022/23) was announced in May 2022, was distributed in Autumn 2022 by the Third Sector Interface (TSI) led local partnerships to 1458 projects and included an emphasis on responding to the cost of living crisis. In April 2023, a further £15 million funding for Year 3 of the fund was announced.

In 2021/22, AVA received 123 applications with requests for £1.813m of grants. We were able to make 73 awards and distributed our full allocation of £711,622.61 (initially £631,630.61 with a later addition of £79,992) to support a range of projects across Aberdeenshire. Of those awards, 33% were for under £2,000, 47% were for between £2,000 and £10,000, and 20% were for between £10,000 and £50,000. In 2022/23, 112 applications for £1.556m were received and 58 awards totalling £642,836 were made. 43% of awards were for under £2,000, 24% were for awards of £2,000 to £10,000, and 33% were for between £10,000 and £50,000. The same National Resource Allocation Calculation funding formula has once again been used to allocate £635,114.29 to AVA for distribution to groups and organisations across Aberdeenshire by the 31st March 2024. Projects supported during this round of funding must be complete and all money spend by 31st March 2025.

AVA’s Approach to Managing Aberdeenshire’s Fund
Building on the partnerships and processes developed since the fund launched in 2021, AVA has worked hard to acknowledge and incorporate the voices of people with lived and living experience of the effects of poor mental health and wellbeing. We are also seeking to democratise some of the decision making within the fund by introducing a public vote element to the awards process.

AVA is working in partnership with other organisations to deliver the fund, including third and public sector organisations. Whilst ensuring that governance of the fund is of a high standard, it is also AVA’s aim to make payments as quickly as we can once the application has been approved and the grant letter has been signed and returned to us so that the funding can get to work faster. Ongoing support delivered by our team of Development Officers will be available to groups and organisations who are eligible to apply for the funds, including assistance with completing the application form where this is required for legitimate reasons (such as not having access to the required digital means and capabilities).

Outcomes
The intended outcome of the Fund is to develop an infrastructure of good mental health and wellbeing, and prevention of poor mental health within local communities and across Scotland, with improved awareness of how we can all stay well whilst helping ourselves and others. The Fund has a strong focus on prevention and early intervention and aims to support grass roots community groups in tackling mental health inequalities and address priority issues of social isolation and loneliness, suicide prevention and tackling poverty and inequality.  There will be a continued emphasis in Year 3 on responding to the cost of living crisis and on those facing socio-economic disadvantage.

The Fund also seeks to contribute to the following national outcomes from the National Performance Framework:

• We are healthy and active.
• We will live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe.
• We tackle poverty by sharing opportunities, wealth and power more equally.

Fund Aims & Principles
In line with the Scottish Government’s long-term outcomes for mental health in communities, The Fund intends to provide stable investment to:

• Develop a culture of mental wellbeing and prevention within local communities and across Scotland with improved awareness of how we can all stay well and help ourselves and others.
• Foster a strategic and preventative approach to improving community mental health.
• Support the resilience of communities and investing in their capacity to develop their own solutions, including through strong local partnerships.
• Tackle the social determinants of mental health by targeting resources and collaborating with other initiatives to tackle poverty and inequality.

The overarching aim of The Fund is to Support community based initiatives that promote and develop good mental health and wellbeing and/or mitigate and protect against the impact of distress and mental ill health within the adult population (aged 16 or over), with a particular focus on prevention and early intervention, with a particular focus in 2023/24 to:

1. Tackle mental health inequalities through supporting a range of ‘at risk groups (as outlined in the ‘identified at risk populations’ section).
2. Address priority issues of social isolation and loneliness, suicide prevention and poverty and inequality with a particular emphasis on responding to the cost of living crisis and support to those facing socio-economic disadvantage.
3. Support small ‘grass roots’ community groups and organisations to deliver such activities.
4. Provide opportunities for people to connect with each other, build trusted relationships and revitalise communities.

The partnership consultation described previously elicited a range of responses relating to local needs and included reference to the differing needs of communities of geography as well as communities of at-risk groups. There were three primary categories of need that emerged from the responses which were:

1. Consequences of expected and unexpected hardship, including but not limited to lack of employment; addictions; and the rising cost of living.
2. Consequences of geographic and technological isolation, including but not limited to access to transport; digital technologies; and like-minded people in nearby locations to connect with.
3. Consequences of reduced access to medical services, including but not limited to diagnostic services; intervention services; and care-providing services.

The Fund will therefore be sympathetic to applications from groups and organisations that are specifically seeking to support people in their communities who are faced with these challenges. In particular, applications are welcome from groups and organisations that will be seeking to support people who are experiencing two or more of these challenges as those people are more likely to be unable to change their situation without additional support and may experience decline in their mental health and wellbeing at a faster rate. For each group that applicants identify as being a likely service user, applications will need to make it clear how each group will likely benefit.

The fund aims, principles and priorities set out the broad parameters for how funding should be allocated to community groups and organisations. Funding decisions will reflect the broad principles of these fund criteria as well as local priorities. The ambition of The Fund is to support initiatives which promote good mental health and wellbeing at a small scale, grass roots, community level. It will be accessible to all groups, no matter how small or inexperienced they are (including unconstituted groups). It can support both new and existing groups or projects, and it is AVA’s intention that new and unconstituted groups will be supported with governance, funding and volunteering advice that facilitates them to build internal capacity. These do not have to have mental health and wellbeing as their main focus, but their application does have to clearly benefit the mental health and wellbeing of people in the community that they serve, be that a community of geography or a community of interest.

Applications can be accepted from a range of community & voluntary, ‘not for profit’ organisations, associations, groups and clubs or consortiums/partnerships who have a strong community focus for their activities. The range of organisations that can apply are:

• Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIO)
• Unincorporated Associations
• Companies Limited by Guarantee
• Trusts
• Not-for-profit company or asset locked company or Community Interest Companies (CIC)
• Cooperative and Community Benefit Societies
• Community Councils
• Parent Councils*

Unconstituted groups will have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to £2,000, and where a group does not have access to a bank account for their organisation, constituted groups and organisations will be able to hold a grant for them (providing a letter of agreement is provided with their application). This is to enable smaller, ‘heart of the community’ type groups to benefit from The Fund and deliver their services/projects within their neighbourhoods.

*Please note that parent councils are eligible to apply, subject to the following conditions:

• The funded activities must meet the aims of the Fund and specifically must focus on supporting adults rather than their children.
• Any Parent Council applying to this fund must have a statutory duty to keep proper accounts, for which there may already be legal and regulatory requirements for them to do so depending on the status of the Parent Council, for example, some parent councils are registered with OSCR as a charity.

The Scottish Government has identified that evidence shows the pandemic has exacerbated existing mental health inequalities and has had a disproportionate impact on the mental wellbeing of a range of groups in society. Applications are strongly encouraged from groups and organisations that are delivering projects which are inclusive of (but not necessarily exclusive to) the following priority ‘at risk’ groups:

• Women (particularly young women, and women affected by male sexual violence).
• People with a long-term health condition or disability.
• People from a Minority Ethnic background.
• Refugees and those with no recourse to public funds.
• People facing socio-economic disadvantage.
• People experiencing severe and multiple disadvantages.
• People with diagnosed mental illness (applications that support people who have a Dementia diagnosis are particularly welcome).
• People affected by psychological trauma (including adverse childhood experiences).
• People who have experienced bereavement or loss.
• People disadvantaged by geographical location (particularly remote and rural areas).
• Older people (aged 50 and above).
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) communities.

A specific focus for this year of The Fund is the importance of initiatives that support people facing socio-economic disadvantage. Applications that are able to specifically describe how they will support this group will be considered favourably.

Where possible, applicants should outline how they will address intersectionality (i.e. multiple-marginalisation, such as women who are experiencing both poverty and disability) and how their project specifically benefits any given community in an intersectional way. Consideration will be given to applications from groups to support advocacy for people at a local level to access care and help with signposting of the community supports being funded.

AVA understands that much of the work carried out by groups within the community, voluntary and third sectors contributes in some way to supporting people in their communities, with outcomes that can loosely relate to promoting better mental health and wellbeing outcomes for people. However, because of the broad nature of community-based work, it is not intended to support delivery of specific clinical treatment services such as counselling or other therapy-based interventions. The following list outlines what can and can’t be supported by this fund; it is not exhaustive, and we encourage groups to contact AVA to seek further guidance if applications don’t easily fit into one of the categories that we can fund.

We can fund:

• Equipment
• One-off events
• Hall hire for community spaces
• Small capital spends of up to £5,000 (i.e. land or building projects*)
• Staff costs (noting this is a 1.5-year fund therefore one off or fixed term only)
• Training costs
• Transport
• Utilities/running costs
• Volunteer expenses

*Evidence must be provided that the applicant will have unhindered access to the land or building for 5 years after the funded project has ended. For any application involving any alterations to a building or land, confirmation of the planning permission having been approved before you submit your application must be provided. If it is believed by the applicant that planning permission is not required, confirmation of this by a representative of Aberdeenshire Council must be submitted with the funding application form.

We cannot fund:

• Contingency costs, loans, endowments or interest
• Electricity generation and feed-in tariff payment
• Political or religious campaigning
• Profit-making/fundraising activities
• VAT you can reclaim
• Statutory activities
• Overseas travel
• Alcohol

Any organisation applying for staff costs must be able to demonstrate that anyone directly employed to deliver any activity funded by the grant they are applying for is paid at a rate that is equal to or higher than the Real Living Wage level. At the time of writing, this level is set at £10.90 per hour. The new rate will be announced during week commencing 23rd October 2023 with the expectation that it is implemented by employers within 6 months of that date. Any staff costs calculations will be required to demonstrate that the rise in costs has been considered, along with the resultant changes to any employer national insurance contributions and employer pension costs. Information about the new level will be available via the Living Wage Foundation.

It is strongly recommended that no application that is to include staff costs is submitted until the new Real Living Wage level has been announced so that the increased costs can be included with the application.

To enable groups and organisations to manage any grant that they secure, and to facilitate access to smaller grants for small groups and organisations, the following levels are being applied to The Fund:

• Level 1 (inc. unconstituted groups)
  Funds available: £0 to £2000
  Maximum Income of the Group/Organisation: Usually £100,000 in the most recent financial year
• Level 2 (constituted groups only)
  Funds available: £2000.01 to £10,000
  Maximum Income of the Group/Organisation: Usually £500,000 in the most recent financial year
• Level 3 (constituted groups only)
  Funds available: £10,000.01 to £50,000
  Maximum Income of the Group/Organisation: £1m in the most recent financial year

Due to the ambition of The Fund being to support local community activity, it is anticipated that the majority of applications will be considered under funding levels 1 and 2. However, we understand that organisations and partnerships of similarly minded organisations may wish to apply for grants, so we do expect a smaller proportion of bids, for example, up to the maximum value of £50,000. Every effort should be made by the applicant to provide evidence of their audited/independently examined accounts for the most recent financial year as a part of their submission. For clarity, financial information must be supplied for the financial year 2022-23.

The Fund opens for applications on Wednesday 27th September 2023, and closes to all applications at 5pm on Friday 3rd November 2023.

This webpage is your applications portal and it provides the following for applicants:

• The application form (below). This has been designed using software called Jotform, but there is no expectation that any group or organisation requires any additional software to be able to access the application form. Applications will only be accepted online using the designated form. Whilst at first glance, the form looks to be long and complicated, most questions are about the organisation making the application or are check boxes. Only a small number of questions specifically relating to the substance of the project require a longform answer.
• Guidance on completing the application form. AVA understands that completing an application form is challenging, especially as every funder has their own criteria, and every funder asks questions in different ways. For that reason, we have created a set of application guidance points to help you write your application form which can be found here.
• A set of Frequently Asked Questions that will be updated as the need arises and will be available on the applications portal.
• A link to AVA’s Support Request Form where potential applicants can ask for the help of an AVA Development Officer should the need arise. During the application phase, and specifically for equalities purposes, a team of AVA’s Development Officers will be available to provide support to groups who, for legitimate reasons require additional help to complete the application form. They will be available to discuss applications with groups and organisations, although engagement in those discussions will not form any guarantee that applications will be successful during the assessment process. This team of Development Officers will not be involved in assessing any applications and will have no input to the assessment process to influence any decisions.

The Assessment and Fund Allocation Process*
Once an application is received, a member of AVA’s staff will be allocated to check it is eligible for consideration and check that the project is aligned with the overall outcomes of the fund. The project finances will also be checked for accuracy and eligibility to proceed. If any questions arise from this process, the named applicant will be contacted to seek clarity.

*Neither Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action, its staff, or any external member panel member will be liable for any loss (real or perceived) should a group or organisation’s application not be successful during the assessment process.

Level 1 and 2 Applications
Assessment of level 1 and level 2 application will be by designated assessment teams. The assessment teams will only meet on pre-arranged dates to assess any complete and eligible applications. All assessors will be required to declare any interests prior to any applications being considered during each panel meeting. Where there is a material conflict of interests, that assessor will not be able to assess the application and will be excluded from discussion of that individual application.

The Assessment Panel will be made up of the following as a minimum for all level 1 applications:

• The Chief Executive Officer or Head of Development of AVA who will act as Chair of the Panel.
• Two Development Officers from AVA who have not acted as a part of the team of officers to have advised any groups throughout the applications process.

The Assessment Panel will be made up of the following as a minimum for all level 2 applications:

• The Chief Executive Officer or Head of Development of AVA who will act as Chair of the Panel.
• Two external panel members from the available team who have received full briefing on The Fund and its assessment criteria.

Assessment of level 1 and 2 applications will be complete by Tuesday 28th November 2023 and applicants will be notified shortly afterwards with an outcome that will normally be one of the following:

1. Your application has been approved and a grant offer letter is sent for you to sign and return to AVA before we can make a payment to your group/organisation.
2. Your application is on hold because we need a clarification from you before we can proceed. We will ask for any specific information that we need, and your application will be considered again when we have received everything we have asked for.
3. Your application has not been approved, and we are not able to offer you a grant from this fund. If this is the case, we will provide some brief feedback on why this decision has been made.

Level 3 Applications
In a new move for round 3 of The Fund, allocation of funds for level 3 applications will be via a participatory budgeting process, meaning that the general population of Aberdeenshire will be asked to vote on the eligible applications to allocate any funds that remain after level 1 and 2 applications have been assessed. This will allow a democratic process to be used to allocate funds and enable residents to make decisions about how funds should be used by community groups to support adults across Aberdeenshire with their mental health and wellbeing.

Where a project is deemed to be suitable to proceed to the vote stage, the named applicant will receive a communications pack before the vote is launched, that they can use to help them promote their project across Aberdeenshire. An online support session will be scheduled where AVA staff will be available to answer any questions about the packs and how the information they contain can be used. Whilst AVA will promote the voting opportunity through its social media channels and other distribution methods, it will be the responsibility of the applicant organisation to promote the opportunity for its supporters to vote for its project. AVA will not be able to provide and individual organisation with direct support to promote its project during the voting process.

Voting will take place online using a tried and tested voting platform; it will open on Friday 1st December 2023 and close at 5pm on Friday 15th December 2023. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the public vote by 5pm on Friday 22nd December 2023.

The Payment Process
AVA is aiming to make payments for any approved grants as soon as possible. For level 1 and 2 awards, we would encourage a quick return of signed acceptance of grant letters so that payments can be complete before the Christmas break. For level 3 awards, payments will be made in January providing the acceptance of grant letters have been returned to us. For clarity, no payments will be made during the period between Thursday 21st December 2023 and Monday 8th January 2024.

All grants that are provided by The Fund will require an evaluation to be undertaken.

For all projects, the evaluation will be required to have been received by AVA within 30 days of the end date of the project. This end date will be assumed to be the expected end date as provided in the application form unless the applicant has notified us otherwise.

Interim reports will be sought for any project lasting more than 6 months in duration, at the 6-month point. This will be assumed to be six months after the start date as provided in the application form unless the applicant has notified us otherwise.

AVA will be required to report on fund activities to the Scottish Government (The Funder).

To access support relating to The Fund, the application process, or for any other reason, please use the following methods:

• Complete the Support Request Form here. Your enquiry will be passed to the most appropriate person, and you will be contacted via the method you have requested within the form.
• Phone 03718 110008 between 10am and 2pm, Monday to Thursday.
• AVA is running some online CMHW Fund Support Webinars for those interested in applying for the Community Mental Heath & Wellbeing Fund For Adults. These webinars will involve a Powerpoint presentation and a chance to ask any questions about the application process with some of the AVA support team. They will be on 18th October, 6.30-7.30pm, and 1st November, 12-1pm and you can register to attend one or more here.

*Any supporting files submitted with applications must have the organisations name in the title of the file*
*supporting documents must be emailed to grants@avashire.org.uk before your application can be processed*

• CMHW Fund R3 Partnership Letter - for naming partners
• CMHW Fund R3 Partnership Letter - for a hosted bank account
• CMHW Fund Unconstituted Groups - organisation aims
• AVA Data Protection & Privacy Notice
• CMHW Fund R3 Local Delivery Plan for Aberdeenshire
• National Performance Framework