We are delighted to share news of a new investment from the Scottish Government – a share of 15 million-pounds to support adult mental health at the heart of communities across Edinburgh.
This is a hugely welcome recognition of the role community and voluntary sector organisations have and continue to play in promoting and developing good mental health and wellbeing for citizens and communities in Edinburgh and across the country.
Bridie (our Chief Executive said)
‘The pandemic has put a spotlight on the need for community-based mental-health support for citizens and communities across Edinburgh and the country. We at EVOC are delighted that smaller organisations and grass-roots community groups across Edinburgh will have the chance to benefit from this investment from the Scottish Government, delivering activities and services that support and take a more holistic approach to people’s wellbeing. Building on EVOC’s enabling role, distributing funds like the Response Recovery & Resilience funding in 2020, our aspiration for this fund is to mitigate against the impact of the pandemic by reaching those community organisations who have trusted local connections.’
Maria Arnold, our Senior Development Officer for Adult Mental Health, added:
‘Unequal social and economic pressures have taken an inevitable toll on mental health and wellbeing, and this funding is an important step towards tackling health inequalities. Small community organisations are perfectly placed to support people holistically, to prevent mental health needs from escalating.’
We’re going to be collaborating with a number of partners – including the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, Edinburgh’s Thrive Collaborative, key voluntary sector organisations and the people who would benefit from this funding – and are focused on developing a funding process that prioritises what works at a grass-roots level and what the citizens and communities of our city really value.
Dr Linda Irvine-Fitzpatrick, Strategic Programme Manager for Thrive Edinburgh and SRO, Edinburgh Pact and Community Mobilisation said:
‘I am delighted to see this new money for communities and we will be able to action allocating it quickly, building on existing relationships. It’s an exciting opportunity to be bold and engage in dialogue with lots of people.’
APPLICATIONS
The fund will be open for applications by the end of November 2021, and in the coming weeks everyone involved will be listening to communities and providing our members, partners and colleagues with regular updates. This includes details of income thresholds for organisations who are considering applying – make sure you sign up to our e-mailing list to get the latest news.
MORE ABOUT THE FUND
The £15 million-pound investment for communities across Scotland, builds on the children and young people’s community wellbeing support currently being rolled out across Scotland. It also has strong links to developments in primary care through the establishment of dedicated Primary Care Mental Health and Wellbeing services across Scotland.
