Guidance

Table of contents

About the Fund

Taic Freumhan Coimhearsnachd is Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s primary fund for supporting community organisations in delivering projects to promote and increase the usage and learning of Gaelic at community level (both in-person and online).

The fund is flexible in supporting most types of projects that seek to bring people together to use Gaelic, but we are particularly looking to support projects which:

  • Promote the use of Gaelic between speakers of different ages
  • Provide young Gaelic speakers with the opportunity to use the language outwith school, college, or university
  • Focus on supporting people’s wellbeing through using Gaelic
  • Encourage or support families to use Gaelic together at home
  • Create opportunities for adults to learn Gaelic
  • Promote Gaelic as part of local, national, or international events and celebrations

For the first time, this year’s fund offers the opportunity to apply for up to 2 years’ worth of funding, for longer-term projects or those that are recurring annually.

In your application we expect you to expand on how your project meets one or more of these aims as well as how it supports the actions of Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s Corporate Plan 2018-23 and the National Gaelic Language Plan 2018-23:

  • Increasing Gaelic usage
  • Increasing the learning of Gaelic
  • Promoting a positive image of Gaelic

In assessing your application, we will be primarily looking at:

  • How clearly your project shows that it will promote the use of Gaelic in your community and achieve the specific aims we have for this year
  • The ability of your organisation to deliver the project successfully
  • The strength of your plans to assess the impact of your project
  • The value for money demonstrated by the project

Detailed guidance as to how applications will be assessed can be found on Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s website.

Project requirements

Who can apply?

This fund is open to constituted organisations based in Scotland, or working in Scotland, that hope to deliver a project to promote the use of Gaelic within a given community. Examples of projects that have previously received support through this fund can be found via the GrantNav website.

Organisations may submit a maximum of one application in this funding round.

Who cannot apply?

  • Individuals
  • Public or local authorities (including ALEOs)
  • Commercial or for-profit organisations
  • Bòrd na Gàidhlig Delivery Partners

Project Timeframe

The fund will support projects which will start between 1 April and 31 December 2024 and will be fully completed by 31 August 2026.

It is expected that the next funding round will run from November 2024 to January 2025.

What costs are supported?

The estimated budget allocated to this fund is £100,000 per financial year. You may request up to £5,000 for projects lasting up to 12 months, or £10,000 for projects lasting over 12 months.

You can apply for a maximum of up to 80% of project costs as long as this is below the maximum sum stated above.

You must ensure that no other part of the project’s budget is funded by money from other Bòrd na Gàidhlig funding schemes, the Gaelic Arts Fund or Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s Delivery Partners.

Projects should aim to have income from participants where possible (e.g. fees for Gaelic classes, parental contributions towards school trips, tickets for concerts) and we may set conditions on our funding that a minimum level of income is received through such contributions if your application is successful. In-kind contributions are accepted but need to be clearly budgeted as both income and expenditure.

All projects that pay wages or fees to those delivering the project must pay at least the real Living Wage (currently £12 per hour).. If using industry rates in your budget, please include information about where the rates were found.

In-kind/volunteer costs are permitted as part of a contribution towards total project costs. Any in-kind support for volunteered time can be calculated with a minimum value of the real Living Wage or an appropriate industry rate, if available

 We will not support project costs relating to:

  • Organisation start-up or ongoing running costs
  • Costs relating to attending or taking part in the Royal National Mòd
  • Air travel (please consider lower-emission options)
  • Equipment costs (over £500)
  • Competition prizes
  • Activities taking place in school during class time

If your application is successful, if your project is expected to complete within 12 months, you will typically receive 80% of the total grant after returning the signed funding agreement and any outstanding reports for other projects, with the final 20% payable after you have submitted a satisfactory end of project report.

How will we be paid?

For projects expected to run for over 12 months, you will typically receive 40% of the total grant after returning the signed funding agreement and any outstanding reports for other projects. 40% of the grant will be payable after completing a progress report around half-way through your project’s expected duration, with the final 20% payable after you have submitted a satisfactory end of project report.

Please note that projects are funded on a break-even basis, so that any Bòrd na Gàidhlig funding that is not utilised in completion of the project is returned to us.

Acknowledgment

As a public body it’s important to us that the public know where our funding is spent, and that’s why it’s important that you acknowledge where appropriate that Bòrd na Gàidhlig provided funding for your project. We’ll ask you in the application how you will acknowledge our support throughout the project if your application is successful and you must evidence how you have acknowledged our support in your final report.

For further information please read our Acknowledgement Guidance and our Brand Guidance on our website.

Project monitoring and evaluation

If your application is successful you will need to monitor and evaluate your project delivery and show the impact of the project in reports requested from you.

All funded projects will be required to submit a final report and if your project is expected to last for over 12 months, you will be required to complete a progress report approximately halfway through your project’s duration.

At a minimum we will ask all projects to note how many people take part in the project and to ask participants (or a sample of participants for large events/projects) how the project benefitted them in terms of:

  • Their opportunity to use Gaelic more often
  • Developing their Gaelic skills
  • Improving their wellbeing

In the application form we’ll ask you how you intend to monitor the project, how you’ll assess whether the project is successful, and how you will gather feedback from participants.

Reports will be available to submit via the Fluxx application portal at https://bng.fluxx.io, and will be viewable if your application is approved.

Environment, Equalities, Diversity & Inclusion and Fair Work

Bòrd na Gàidhlig has a responsibility to promote good practice in:

  • Reducing impact on the environment
  • Promoting equality of opportunity for those with a protected characteristic under the Equalities Act 2010
  • Promoting opportunities for young people who are, or have been, in care under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

We would like the organisations and projects that we fund to also consider how their work can contribute to these aims and will ask in the application form how your proposed project will seek to do so.

For further information, please consult the links below:

Fair Work

Organisations in receipt of public funding in Scotland are required to adhere to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy, and as such must:

  • Pay at least the real Living Wage; and
  • Provide appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, such as trade union recognition

And are strongly encouraged to:

  • Invest in workforce development
  • Take action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace
  • Offer flexible and family-friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment; and
  • Oppose the use of fire and rehire practice

You will be asked as part of your application and reporting to confirm that you are adhering to the policy and provide evidence of doing so.

Further guidance as to how Bòrd na Gàidhlig is implementing the Fair Work First policy is available here, and guidance from the Scottish Government on the policy is available here.

Submitting an application

Applications should be submitted via our Fluxx application portal at bng.fluxx.io. An account can be registered for free on the website and it is possible to save the progress of an application whilst working on it. All supporting documents can be submitted via the portal.

The application portal will close at 3pm on Tuesday 16 January 2024 and it will not be possible to submit an application after this date unless permission has been provided prior to the deadline by Bòrd na Gàidhlig officers.

Detailed support is available on our website as to what information we are looking for from each question.

If you have any issues with the portal or have any questions about the application please email us at tabhartas@gaidhlig.scot.

When submitting your application, you must include the required supporting documents, as follows:

Essential

  • Constitution or Memorandum and Articles of Association
  • Most recent annual accounts, three most recent bank statements or, for recently constituted organisations, a letter from your bank to confirm an account has been opened
  • Child Protection or Safeguarding policy (if the project involves children or vulnerable adults)
  • List of board or committee members

Recommended (if available)

  • Latest annual report
  • Gaelic policy
  • Equal opportunities policy or Equalities, diversity and inclusion policy
  • Environmental policy or statement

Applications which do not provide the required supporting documents (unless on behalf of a school) will be declared ineligible and will not be assessed.

It is also essential that your organisation has an active UK bank account, in the name of the organisation, at the time of submitting the application. If your organisation is in the process of applying for the opening of a bank account, your organisation is ineligible to apply.

How we will assess your application

You will receive an automatic email acknowledgment from the Fluxx portal to confirm that we have received your application.

After the closing date for applications, Bòrd na Gàidhlig officers will then screen applications to ensure they comply with the rules of the fund and have provided necessary information. If your application is deemed ineligible, you will be asked to correct this within 5 working days, or your application will be declined.

All eligible applications will be assessed by a panel of Bòrd na Gàidhlig officers according to the assessment guidance, and they will make recommendations to the Bòrd na Gàidhlig Senior Management Team who will decide on the outcome of applications.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig may request additional information or clarification of project details as part of the assessment process. If this additional information is not submitted within 5 working days of being requested we reserve the right to decline your application.

You will be informed of the result of your application via email in late February or early March 2024.

Thereafter, a funding agreement will be sent via Docusign to your nominated signatory (or signatories if you are an organisation with staff and required to complete a Fair Work Declaration) via Docusign. You will have up to 30 days from the date of issue to sign and return the funding agreement or the offer shall lapse.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your application, while we do not offer an appeal process you may make a complaint if you believe your application has not been dealt with in accordance with this guidance and the assessment guidance. For more information, our complaints handling procedure is detailed online here.

More information

For more information about this fund, please visit the Bòrd na Gàidhlig website or contact Bòrd na Gàidhlig at tabhartas@gaidhlig.scot.

You can also find answers to frequently asked questions about our funding on our website.

Privacy information relating to our funding schemes can be found on our website.

Alternative forms of this guidance and application forms can be made available on request and may be published at: https://www.gaidhlig.scot/en/funding/funding-schemes/taic-freumhan-coimhearsnachd/