Small grants

Round 1 – 2020

In March 2020, we launched a small grants programme and invited organisations to bid for funding to develop a climate change project with young people (aged 26 and under). The aim of this was to amplify children and young people’s voices on the impact of climate change on health and wellbeing, in anticipation of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in November 2020 (subsequently deferred to November 2021 due to Covid restrictions). Schools, non-profit organisations and community groups working with children or young people were encouraged to put forward ideas which explored these impacts through any form of artistic or creative expression. Eight organisations were awarded £2,000 to develop a climate-related project with young people. At the end of Round 1, we held an online event to showcase the creative outputs from each project. We invited artists and policymakers within the city and groups presented their work and spoke about the process of making it.

Round 2 – 2021

After the success of the first round of small grants scheme, a second round was held in 2021.  In this round, funding was reserved for organisations engaging with young people traditionally marginalised by society. Priority was given to groups with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and groups who, while not included in this legislation, also faced additional societal barriers. This included groups such as disabled young people, BME young people, LGBTQ+ young people, care experienced young people, refugee and asylum seekers and individuals experiencing homelessness. Non-profit organisations, schools and voluntary and community groups were eligible to apply. Five projects were funded £2,500 per project.

Round 3 – 2022

Following on from Round 2, in June 2022, the University of Glasgow, in collaboration with GCPH launched a Glasgow Open Lab initiative, based on the small grants scheme, designed to empower local communities to identify needs and embrace opportunities around sustainability in their neighbourhoods. The GCPH, having previously run the first two small community grants schemes, was keen to explore pathways towards stronger community-academic relationships especially around research, and build shared learning about the needs and challenges facing the different bodies. The University, through its research strategy, is committed to embedding meaningful engagement with communities throughout the entire research lifecycle. The Open Lab helped build trust with a diverse network of community partners, testing systems and processes and spotlighting important considerations including power balance. The approach involved an enabling fund and complementary support network, and ten community organisations were awarded £2,000 each to deliver their projects.

The website Creative and sustainable Glasgow shows the different outputs from the small grants scheme for community-led creative and sustainability projects.