Our Grants
Learn about About Dementia's grants programmes, our funding development group, the projects we have funded so far and our currently open funding opportunities.
Our Grants
In 2022, About Dementia took on a new role as a funder and grants facilitator. In partnership with Scottish Government and Age Scotland, we were appointed to deliver the following grants programmes, following a £1million Scottish Government investment to support the growth of Dementia Friendly Communities and Meeting Centres across Scotland:
- Empowering Dementia Friendly Communities Fund
- Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity Fund
- Meeting Centres Seedcorn Fund
We were also separately appointed as facilitators of a £260,000 funding pot from Life Changes Trust. This was used to develop the “Peer to Peer Grants Programme”, which offers grants to people with dementia and unpaid carers so they can create their own peer support activities and projects. This grants programme is currently open for applications.
In 2023, we will be opening the Small Grants Legacy fund, which will offer small grants for grassroots groups and organisations.
Funding development group
Listening to the voices of people with lived experience of dementia is at the heart of About Dementia’s ethos. As funders, we want to ensure that any funding decisions affecting people with dementia and unpaid carers are made by those with lived experience, the true experts. To achieve this, we developed an innovative model of co-production for grants programmes, establishing an assessment panel comprised of people living with dementia and current or former unpaid carers. This panel co-produce the criteria for all grants programmes and make all final funding decisions alongside About Dementia’s two Grants and Learning Coordinators. This coproduction model creates a sense of shared ownership and ensures the funding is focused on the outcomes that people with lived experience want to see.
We took the decision to compensate panel members for their time as a recognition of their valued input and expertise and to demonstrate our appreciation for their work in evaluating assessments. This approach was taken for all three of the Scottish Government partnership funds and is being continued for the ongoing Peer to Peer Grants programme assessment process. The decision to offer compensation was greatly appreciated by panel members, with one unpaid carer commenting:
“I am so honoured to be invited to do this and wish to accept, with pleasure. It is a rare occurrence to be offered to be paid and I cannot tell you just how much that means to me, for which I thank you most sincerely.”
Panel members let us know that they wanted to act in more of a supportive role for applicants and so the decision has been made to evolve the funding panel into a funding development group, where members will take a central role in shaping how we deliver ongoing and future grants programmes across About Dementia.
Peer-to-Peer Grants Programme
About Dementia and Age Scotland's Peer-to-Peer grants programme is a funding opportunity for people living with dementia and unpaid carers in Scotland. The programme offers grants of between £500 to £10,000 to current or former unpaid carers, or individuals or groups of people living with dementia. The purpose of these grants is to empower people with dementia and unpaid carers to create their own peer support activities and projects, and to enable ordinary activities that improve the quality of everyday life for people living with dementia and unpaid carers.
Our Peer-to-Peer Grants Programme is currently paused, which means we are temporarily unable to accept any new applications.
Due to a very high volume of funding requests, we have paused our peer-to-peer fund for the time being. This will ensure that we can support current applicants and grantholders and are able to work with them to deliver their projects in the best way possible. This pause will also help us to manage the waiting times that new applicants may experience.
This is a temporary measure, and we will open to applications again as soon as possible. We will be reviewing the current pause in the New Year (January 2024). If you would like to be notified when we are open to applications again, or have any other queries about our peer-to-peer grants, please get in touch with us at DementiaGrants@agescotland.org.uk
Peer-to-Peer Grants Programme
About Dementia and Age Scotland's Peer-to-Peer grants programme is a funding opportunity for people living with dementia and unpaid carers in Scotland. The programme offers grants of between £500 to £10,000 to current or former unpaid carers, or individuals or groups of people living with dementia. The purpose of these grants is to empower people with dementia and unpaid carers to create their own peer support activities and projects, and to enable ordinary activities that improve the quality of everyday life for people living with dementia and unpaid carers. We have paused accepting applications for the Peer-to-Peer Grants programme for a short time and will update this page when the grant re-opens.
Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity Fund
The 'Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity Fund' was designed for smaller, grassroots organisations looking to provide community-led support for people affected by dementia. In 2022, a funding pot of £145,921 was available to groups and organisations across Scotland, with fourteen projects announced as the successful recipients. In 2023 we have £170,000 available, although the application period has passed. This grant is now closed to new applications and we are currently working towards creating a shortlist.
Meeting Centres Seedcorn Fund
The third strand of the Scottish Government, Age Scotland and About Dementia partnership fund, the Meeting Centres Seedcorn Fund was set up to support community groups and organisations to develop Meeting Centres for people living with dementia, unpaid carers and families. This was a limited fund with £50,000 available (five awards of £10,000 each). The five successful recipients, who each received £10,000 to establish their own Meeting Centre, were announced in early 2023.
Empowering Dementia Friendly Communities Fund
The Empowering Dementia Friendly Communities Fund was established to support the development of Meeting Centres and Dementia Friendly Communities across Scotland. A total of £166,632 was made available for distribution through this strand. Five projects across the country were awarded funding. This grant is no longer running.
Dementia resources
Find out more about Age Scotland's work and services to support people affected by dementia.