The Scottish government has launched a fairer funding pilot worth more than £60m, as the first step towards mainstreaming multi-year funding agreements across Scotland’s voluntary sector.

The pilot will provide multi-year funding in the form of 45 grants to organisations across Scotland, in a bid to deliver on the Scottish government’s mission of eradicating child poverty.

The funding, which is subject to budget approval, will distribute a total of £61.7m in 2025/26 and £63.2m in 2026/27 to support projects in areas including health, education, poverty and culture.

Organisations that will benefit from the funding include the Scottish Refugee Council, Homeless Network Scotland, Poverty Alliance, Scottish Mountain Rescue, MCR Pathways, Dyslexia Scotland, Samaritans, Inspiring Scotland and Who Cares Scotland.

Scotland’s social justice secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said the pilot is the “first step in mainstreaming multi-year funding agreements more widely across the third sector”. 

Speaking at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ annual The Gathering event in Edinburgh, Somerville said: “I know many charities, faced with rising costs and falling donations, need more security and stability to enable them to plan and develop. 

“Child poverty, in particular, requires longer-term interventions to help achieve the solutions we want to see. For that, the third sector needs financial stability and certainty.

“That’s why I have prioritised delivering on our commitment to provide more multi-year funding where we can to support the vital work of the third sector in Scotland, as part of our fairer funding approach.”

Somerville said the pilot will give organisations the ability to plan for the future and make the most of their resources.

“The pilot’s focus on grants connected to tackling child poverty and the delivery of frontline services to our communities will maximise the impact of longer-term funding and support the delivery of our number-one priority, eradicating child poverty,” she said.

Anna Fowlie, chief executive of the SCVO, said: “Multi-year funding models are vital, providing security to voluntary organisations and, crucially, allowing them to get on and deliver for people and communities.

“We welcome the Scottish government’s commitment to piloting multi-year funding for a range of voluntary organisations across Scotland – a first step, we hope, towards rolling out Fair Funding principles to voluntary sector funding.”