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How to Apply

Applications must be made using our application form, which can be completed online or downloaded from this website. It can also be obtained from the Assessor by phone, post or e-mail.

Please read these guidelines carefully.

The Cattanach Charitable Trust has adopted the following theme which will influence its grant-making for the next few years:

The Cattanach Charitable Trust believes that improving the well-being of young children can bring about healthier and happier communities. The Trust will focus, for the five years from 2007, on organisations and projects which offer hope of a better life to children, especially those under 10 years of age, and to their families and communities. By targeting its grants in this way, the Trust means to address the needs of young children living in difficult or deprived circumstances, and to help them make the most of their talents and opportunities.

Who can apply

The Trustees will consider applications from charities working in Scotland. Organisations should be registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, or, if registered with the Charity Commission, should be in the process of registering with OSCR. If this is not the case, please telephone the Assessor to discuss. The Trustees will not fund individuals, or organisations which are not registered charities.

What we will fund

Your organisation must be working with children, preferably those under 10 years of age, and their families. We will consider projects which work with children only, but we prefer to see a link to the family and to have the needs of the parents taken into account; similarly we will consider applications focussed on parents of young children, provided the needs of the children are also considered.

We prefer to make grants which make a sizeable contribution to a project. We are unlikely to make a grant which is only a small proportion of a large project. Most grants are between £2,000 and £10,000, although applications which are exceptional, innovative, and based soundly on need, may be awarded a larger amount. Grants are initially for one year only, but we may offer further funding on the basis of satisfactory reports. We will make grants for revenue or capital funding, and for project or core funding. As a general rule, we prefer you to say what you need and we can then make a decision about what the grant might be.

We welcome appeals from charities working in both urban and rural communities. Applications should give a brief summary of the nature of the community, especially with regard to need, population, deprivation etc. You will be expected to show that you know your local area, that you are familiar with other organisations and services within your area, and to show how your efforts fit in with other provision and do not duplicate what other people are doing. We want to know why you think the work needs to be done, what evidence you have of the need from the organisation’s own experience, and how you go about setting a baseline from which you can see what your work achieves.

We want to fund organisations which work with the young children who are most in need, whether because of isolation, poverty or other disadvantage. We expect users or local community representatives to be involved in the organisation in a suitable way, and we recognise the extra demands that this can make on staff and volunteers. We recognise that some groups and individuals need long-term help before they can move on in their lives, but we expect clear and realistic outcomes to be set, and these should include numerical targets and real change over time.

The Trust wishes to encourage appropriate training for staff and volunteers, and may recommend specific training as part of a funding package, e.g. with Evaluation Support Scotland. This will be discussed at the assessment stage.

Please do not send documents by recorded delivery, as the Trust does not have a full-time office. Applications will not be acknowledged, but you will be told the result of your application, whether successful or unsuccessful.

What we will not fund

We will not fund individuals, hospices and palliative care, appliances for illness or disability, organisations concerned with specific diseases, or animal charities.

When to apply

The Trustees meet 4 times a year, normally in March, June, September and December. You may apply at any time. The specified deadlines are usually around 6 weeks before the meeting. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application as soon as possible after the meeting, usually within 3 weeks. This means that, depending on when you apply, it may be up to 4 months before you receive a response. If circumstances change, or you need to know urgently about an application, it is best to e-mail the Assessor.

Whether successful or not, you cannot re-apply within 12 months of your original application, unless the Trust asks you to do so. We will not at present commit to funding for more than one year. We may invite you to re-apply but we will expect you to show that the needs are continuing and that you can adapt to changing curcumstances.

Help with the form

If you have read these pages and consider that you are eligible to apply, please complete our online application form, or click here to download a copy of the application form. If you apply online - and we encourage you to do this - you can attach supporting documents such as accounts, annual report and budget, provided they are accessible on your computer. You do not need to send a paper copy of the application form in addition, although you will need to post supporting documents if you do not have them in electronic form.

Answers can be in the form of bullet points.

Under "Organisation Details", the question about investigation by OSCR refers to investigation because of complaint, suspicion of malpractice, non-compliance or other legal reasons. This question does not refer to the normal process of registration with OSCR, or to OSCR's routine reviews of charities.

"Outcomes" are not what you do, or want to do, but what you expect the results or effects of your action to be. They are different from "targets" although you will want to include targets in the form of numbers of people you will work with. For example, a target might be the number of training sessions you wish to run; the outcome would be the changes in the specific number of people attending these sessions, how they felt, what effect that had on their lives. Outcomes have to be demonstrated, and to do this, you will need a way of assessing people at the beginning of the activity. Ideally this will involve the people themselves at all stages. Outcomes must also be specific to your own work, and show how you have helped particular people in a specific way. It may not be enough to say that the activity "increased confidence in young people"; you want the young people to do something with this increased confidence. We are also interested in unexpected outcomes! Letting us know about these may be educational for the Trust and for other organisations undertaking similar activities.

You should keep a copy of your application so that you can answer questions about it. It does not matter whether you send the original or a copy, as long as it is clear. Applications completed on the website will automatically store a copy for you. The Assessor is happy to be contacted by telephone or e-mail to discuss a possible application.

Application Checklist

When sending your completed application, please ensure that:

The Application form is submitted online, OR downloaded and e-mailed, OR downloaded and printed off, OR handwritten and mailed.
your Annual Accounts, the most recent, audited or examined, and signed, are sent to the Assessor.
If you do not yet have annual accounts, 1 copy of recent bank statement and list of board/management committee members, is sent.
If you produce a separate Annual report, 1 copy is sent.
A budget for the project, or for the organisation (if you are applying for core costs) is enclosed