By Vedat Mizrahi, Co-founder · 15 June 2026

Funding for Scottish charities: which grants are genuinely open right now (June 2026)

If you run a charity in Scotland, the national directories are an especially blunt tool. They lump Scottish funders in with UK-wide ones, rarely show whether a Scotland-only programme is taking applications this week, and routinely keep a closed round flagged as "open" for months. I'm Vedat Mizrahi, co-founder of GrantNest. On 15 June 2026 we re-checked the main Scotland grant-makers on their own websites. Here's what is genuinely open today, what's paused, and who each one actually fits.

1. The Robertson Trust — four programmes open (Scotland only)

The Robertson Trust is one of Scotland's largest independent funders, with a clear focus on tackling poverty and trauma. As of our 14–15 June re-check of its own types of funding page, four of its programmes are open to new applications, banded by your charity's annual income:

• Wee Grants — for organisations with income under £30k; grants up to £5,000.
• Community Spaces — income £30k–£500k; £5,000–£20,000 a year towards community buildings and spaces.
• Small Grants — income £30k–£200k; £5,000–£20,000 a year for core or project costs.
• Big Change That Lasts — income over £200k; £20,000–£500,000, rolling, now with a stated Financial Security priority.

Two Robertson programmes are not open, and a directory that misses this will waste your time: Large Grants is paused to new applicants until the end of August 2026 (it returns as a new two-stage process, with the income ceiling rising), and Transport Grants is paused with no new applications taken after 31 March. (If you see a 2024 news item announcing "Wee Grants and Transport Grants now open," that's stale — Transport is closed today.)

• Fits: Scottish charities working on poverty, trauma, community wellbeing or community spaces — with a programme to match almost any size of organisation.
• Doesn't fit: organisations outside Scotland, and anyone needing a Large or Transport grant right now — diary the Large Grants reopening for late August.

2. Volant Charitable Trust — Small Grants open, Large closed until July

The Volant Charitable Trust (administered by Foundation Scotland) is a classic timing trap this month. Its Small Grants Programme is open: around £120,000 is available, in awards of up to £5,000 for one year, with trustee decisions in April and October (the next decision point is October 2026). It funds work on poverty, and on women and children & young people.

Its Large Grants Programme, however, is currently closed and re-opens in July 2026 — a two-stage process, income cap around £1m, up to roughly £15,000 a year over three years. We had previously listed Volant's large programme as open; we pulled that the moment the funder's page showed it closed, because pointing a charity at a shut round is exactly the failure we exist to prevent.

• Fits: smaller charities working on poverty or with women and young people, who want a modest, quick one-year grant now — apply to Small Grants.
• Doesn't fit: anyone counting on the larger multi-year award today — that window opens next month, so diary July.

3. Foundation Scotland — a portal, not a single grant

Foundation Scotland is Scotland's community foundation, and it works differently from a single funder: it runs a rotating portfolio of funds, some Scotland-wide and many tied to a specific local-authority area or community. Each fund has its own criteria, grant size and deadline. The practical move is to use its "apply for funding" search, start by filtering to "All of Scotland" to surface the national funds you're eligible for, then check the local funds for your area. Volant (above) is one of the programmes that lives here; another current example is the Baillie Gifford International Fund, distributing tens of thousands in 2026. Because the line-up changes through the year, the only reliable answer to "is there a Foundation Scotland fund for me right now?" is to run that search on the day.

• Fits: almost any Scottish community organisation — there is usually something, but it depends on your area and cause.
• Doesn't fit: a "set and forget" approach — funds open and close on their own schedules, so a single check goes stale fast.

The point: in Scotland, "open" still has a calendar

Three of Scotland's biggest funders, and the same lesson as everywhere else: Robertson has four programmes open but two paused; Volant has one programme open and one closed until July; Foundation Scotland is a moving portfolio. A green "open" badge against a funder's name doesn't answer the only question that matters — do I apply this week, or diary it?

That's why every programme on our open-grants list carries a last-checked date and a plain-English status, and why we re-verify on the funder's own page rather than trusting last year's listing. If you're in Scotland, see our notes on community funding in Scotland — and before you write a word, read the funder's page and check the window, not just the badge.