New Scottish Government funds to tackle child poverty and food insecurity

The Scottish Government is inviting applications for two bid-in funds: the Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund (CPAF) and the Cash-First Fund (CFF).         

The funds are open to applications from local areas who want to test approaches to accelerate their action to tackle child poverty (CPAF) and/or food insecurity (CFF) – learning about what works best in their communities, and sharing this to inform national policy and practice.

Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund (CPAF)

The Scottish Government’s second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan - ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ – commits to delivering differently for families, including through place-based tests of change.

CPAF is to support local areas to test innovative approaches to tackling child poverty including testing new approaches to a known problem, adapting an approach from elsewhere to work in a new area, and evaluating promising approaches. The fund is open to Local Authorities and Health Boards and offers up to £80,000 per grant.

Information on how to apply to CPAF can be found here: Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund: form and guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Cash-First Fund (CFF)

Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland sets out the Scottish Government’s approach to food insecurity and collaborative action to reduce the need for emergency food parcels.

The Cash-First Fund will support up to eight local Partnerships to collaborate and deliver activities that improve urgent access to cash in a crisis, and will generate evidence that can be shared to inform future policy and practice. The fund is open to local authorities, health board and third sector organisations and offers up to £200,000 per Partnership, over 24 months.

Information on how to apply to CFF can be found here: Cash-First Fund: form and guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Applications to both funds opened on 31 July and will close at 5pm on Friday 1 September.