About this funding
The Creative Breaks programme provides 12 month grants to third sector organisations to develop and deliver short breaks projects and services for carers of adults (aged 21 years and over), and young carers (caring for children or adults), and the people that they care for.
A total of approximately £600,000 is available for the 2020-21 round of the Creative Breaks funding programme. Grants are for one year and will be awarded in October 2020. The maximum grant award is £35,000, and for unincorporated organisations the maximum grant award is £5,000. The average grant award in previous years has been around £13,000.
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Thursday 4th June 2020. LATE OR INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
For further details, please see the guidance notes for applicants.
Who can apply?
If you can answer ‘YES’ to the following four questions about your organisation, then you are eligible to apply for a Creative Breaks grant:
- Is your organisation a third sector (voluntary) organisation operating in Scotland?
- Is your organisation a registered charity OR a constituted organisation that has only charitable purpose(s) and that delivers public benefit?
- Does your organisation have all of the relevant registrations, policies and procedures required for your work in place (e.g. PVG checks, safeguarding, Care Inspectorate registration etc.)?
- Does your organisation have appropriate and effective governance and financial management arrangements, and a bank account in the name of the organisation that requires at least two signatories?
For further details, please see the guidance for applicants.
Funded activities
Short breaks activities can take many different forms – including breaks away (i.e. overnight stays, residential breaks), days out, and/or shorter sessions (i.e. regular activities). Activities must be designed to enable carers to have a life outside or alongside their caring role, and to support their health and wellbeing. Short breaks should also benefit the cared-for person and others (e.g. family members) and help sustain the caring relationship.
Short break activities can be for the carers, for the people they care for, or for both the carers and the cared-for people to enjoy together. To be eligible for Creative Breaks funding, projects must be able to evidence how their activities will benefit both the carers and the people they care for, by providing a break from their normal routine.
Help available
The Short Breaks Fund team is here to help. We know that writing funding applications can take a lot of time and effort and we don’t want that to go to waste! We are happy to answer any questions you have about the fund, how to apply, and about your proposed projects.
We provide workshops for applicants and phone-in sessions with the Short Breaks Fund team.
We strongly advise that you make use of the support available before submitting an application. Experience has shown that applicants who participate in a workshop and/or contact the team for support, are more likely to produce applications that score highly at assessment. This support applies to both new applicants to the fund, and current/previous grantholders.
Applicant workshops
This year due to the COVID 19 situation we held four online support sessions via Zoom. These sessions have now all taken place however if you were unable to join one of them, you can now watch it in full here.
Phone-in sessions
Due to COVID-19 we are working remotely. If you want to chat to a member of the Short Breaks Fund Team on any of the dates and times below, please call the office on 01383 622462, leave a message on the answer machine, including your name and contact number, and a member of the team will call you back (please note that the call will show as a withheld number. Alternatively email us at SBF2020@sharedcarescotland.com indicating your preferred date and time and we will book that slot for you.
Call in Sessions:
Thursday 23 April 2pm-4pm
Wednesday 29 April 11am-1pm
Tuesday 5 May 11am-1pm
Tuesday 26 May 2pm-4pm
Resources
We have a range of free resources and toolkits to help you develop your application.
For more information on previously funded Creative Breaks projects visit our Short Breaks Stories website.
How to apply
To apply, complete the application form and budget template in full and send these with your most recent set of signed accounts, governing document, job descriptions (for any posts that funding is requested for), partnership agreement (where applicable), and supporting statement (where applicable) to applications@sharedcarescotland.com by 5pm on Thursday 4 June 2020
Click here to download…
Guidance for applicants (Word doc)
Guidance for applicants (PDF)