Multi-year investment to support women and girls.
More than a hundred third sector organisations that work to
address violence against women and girls have received a
multi-year funding agreement from the Scottish Government.
Funding of £43.28 million over two years through the Delivering
Equally Safe Fund will support organisations to deliver projects
across Scotland. These will provide direct services to victims
and survivors of gender-based violence and carry out vital
prevention work.
This two-year funding agreement marks a significant step in the
Scottish Government's commitment to developing a more sustainable
funding model for the third sector in line with fairer funding
principles. It follows a multi-year commitment of £3.5 million a
year over the next three years for disability organisations as
set out in the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27.
In addition to the Fairer Funding pilot announced last year, this
means that almost 50% of the value of third sector grants in the
Social Justice Portfolio in 2025-26 are now covered by multi-year
funding agreements. This approach aims to protect the sector's
future by providing the certainty organisations need to plan
ahead, retain specialist staff and sustain their vital services.
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice said:
"We have listened carefully to the third sector about the
challenges they face. This includes the impact of single-year
funding settlements on their ability to plan ahead and retain the
specialist staff who are so vital to delivering these services.
"This multi-year investment demonstrates that we have heard and
responded to those concerns. It will give organisations the
stability and greater certainty they need to continue their
essential work to protect victims and survivors of gender-based
violence across Scotland."
Background
The Delivering Equally Safe Fund
supports the work of the Equally Safe strategy, which underpins
Scotland's approach to preventing and eradicating violence
against women and girls. The list of funded organisations is
available on Inspiring Scotland's
website.
The Fairer Funding Pilot, which commenced in April
2025, provides over £130 million in multi-year funding over
2025-26 and 2026-27 for 51 separate third sector grants. This was
the first step towards mainstreaming multi-year funding
agreements across the third sector.
All multi-year funding agreements are subject to annual budget
processes.
