Dementia grants recipients announced

12 projects have been awarded funding through the Encouraging and Supporting Grassroots Activity (ESGA) Fund, which aims to support the growth of community-led support for people living with dementia, their carers and family members.

The ESGA 2023 fund has awarded a total of £170,000 to help sustain and develop existing activity and develop new activity.

The application process was highly competitive, with the fund receiving 94 applications requesting a total of £1.4 million. Applications were carefully assessed by the About Dementia team alongside a lived experience panel made up of people living with dementia and unpaid carers.

The 12 successfully funded projects are:

• Boleskine Community Care (Stratherick and Foyers, Highland)
• Cosgrove Care (East Renfrewshire)
• Cowal Elderly Befrienders (Argyll and Bute)
• Developing Potential (Oban, Argyll and Bute)
• Dolphin Arts/ An Talla Solais (Ullapool and Gairloch, Highland)
• Evanton Wood Community (Dingwall, Highland)
• Heart of Newhaven (Edinburgh)
• Islay and Jura Senior Citizens Association/Bowmore Lunch Club (Islay and Jura, Argyll and Bute)
• Networking Key Services (Edinburgh)
• Shetland Community Connections (Shetland)
• St Andrews Dementia Hub (Carluke, South Lanarkshire)
• Winchburgh Community Development Trust (Winchburgh, West Lothian)

Age Scotland’s Head of Dementia, Dr Kainde Manji, said:

“We were blow away by the number of applications for this round of funding and delighted to be able to support the establishment and growth of such innovative projects.

“The work of community-led organisations can be life-changing for people living with dementia, their families and carers - playing a vital role in ensuring they feel supported and have access to the resources they need.

“This round features an equal split between awards for sustaining and developing existing activity, and developing new activity, and all are committed to ensuring people with lived experience play an active role in developing and delivering their work.

“We look forward to seeing the funding in action and are confident the projects will have a welcome positive impact for people affected by dementia in the communities they serve across Scotland.”