Funding
NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation is delighted to welcome you to the online funding application. This is a new development as part of the strategy which should make it easier to apply for the funding available. If you have any queries throughout the process please email us.
Our Autumn funding round is now open for applications.
- Please choose the correct application form below
- The deadline for this funding round is the 5th October 2026.
Application Form
It is essential that you read all the guidance notes before completing this application. Before you send us your application, check that you have done everything:
- You have answered all the questions on the application form.
- You have made a copy of this application to keep for reference.
- Check that you have enclosed all the documents we need in addition a copy of your recent Annual Accounts/Constitution.
Innovation
Prevention
“They believe in the project as much as you do”
Laura Henderson, Cake or Dice
Funding Criteria
NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation projects must link to the charities’ priorities in order to support the delivery of the vision ‘People live better and longer lives in Tayside’.
NHS Tayside Projects/Activities, Health and Social Care Partnerships Registered Charities*, Social Enterprises and Community Interest Companies
The funding application must link to the charity's vision, aims and objectives and includes: -
- Staff salaries up to 2 years*
- Staff expenditure: education of staff by providing non-core training and educational opportunities.
- Capital Equipment: purchase of equipment which is additional to that which would be provided in the course of normal service delivery and paid for out of core funding.
- Research: to provide funds in support of research projects which are supportive of the NHS objectives.
- Pioneering services: to introduce new styles of service provision or care, not currently funded by the NHS, on a pilot basis, to facilitate clinical evaluation.
- Environmental: to enhance and improve the environment within which healthcare is delivered.
- For NHS employees £500 per person maximum contribution to conference fee’s (includes travel and accommodation costs)
*Any costs incurred by employing staff above those in the funding application are the responsibility of the applicant.
Projects must be in and solely or primarily delivered in the Tayside area – Angus, Dundee & Perth and Kinross.
Every year there are 3 deadlines for funding. Funding applications under £50,000 are tabled at the management committee which meets once a month and anything above is taken to the Charitable Funds Committee. The maximum you can apply for is £100,000. The upcoming submission dates for applications include:
- 16th March 2026 - Submission deadline for April/May Assessment Panels
5th October 2026 for October/November Assessment Panels
8th March 2027 for April/May Assessment Panels
- Applicants can submit an application through the online portal but it must be within the timelines stated.
- Applications can cover a 2 year period with the maximum amount being requested for each year.
- Where an organisation intends to submit more than one application the initial project must be completed prior to the next submission or details given as to how the organisation will deliver more than one project concurrently.
We would like to fund organisations that focus on:
- Funding applications where other funders have been considered/matched will score highly under the banner of sustainability/impact.
- Organisations that work with others to deliver services or to change how services are delivered for people facing poverty, trauma or both.
The main thing NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation can’t fund is any activity, equipment or service that is a core NHS service (this includes services that are already funded by the government and are being delivered through the NHS and partners).
Other activities that are not eligible includes: -
- proposals from organisations that are run primarily for private gain or to generate profits for private distribution, or any activities that generate profits for private gain
- activities that benefit individuals, rather than the wider community
- political activities
- retrospective costs
- loan repayments
* Charities with an annual income or reserves of more than £2 million a year, housing associations and Arms’ Length External Organisations (ALEOs) must evidence why they cant fund a project from their own funds.
When we receive your application we go through all of the paperwork and make sure we have all of the required information outlined in the criteria. If you are a registered charity we will check the OSCR website (or Companies House if you are a social enterprise) to ensure all of your paperwork is up to date. As part of the assessment process we engage with key organisations like Health and Social Care Partnerships and Public Health to ensure there is no duplication of provision.
After this process your application is scored against our matrix which is shown in the Governance Plan on the website. If your application is under £50,000 this is then taken to the Management Committee which is made up of the managers of the charity. This group meets monthly to ensure there is a good turnover of decisions. If your application is over £50,000 it goes to our Charitable Funds Committee.
Throughout the process we may need to engage with you to get additional information, especially if you have applied for a large grant. This is standard practice for funders to ensure we have all of the required information to make an informed decision.
Application Guidance
Thank you for your interest in the NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation Funding Programme.
This guidance note has been developed to help you with the application process.
There are two application forms, so please choose the one which is most appropriate for you. There is a form for independent/external organisations, such as charities, community groups or social enterprises. The other form is for internal applicants, such as NHS Tayside services and Health & Social Care Partnerships.
Before you start, make sure that you have all of the information that you will need to submit your application as there is not the option to save and return at a later point.
If you are applying as an external organisation, you will need: your most recent annual accounts, your governing document (constitution/set of rules), safeguarding policy (if applicable), most recent bank statement, and a budget spreadsheet for your project (saved as a pdf).
If you are using the form for internal applicants, you may need to attach evidence of relevant management and committee approvals depending on the nature of your application.
We have arranged webinars for potential applicants, please check our social media channels for more information. If you have attended a webinar and have additional questions about the application process, please email us on tay.nhstcffund@nhs.scot
About you – contact details and information about your service/group
The information required here relates to the organisation that is applying for the funding and will be responsible for managing the grant if awarded. The applicant is expected to provide financial tracking and monitoring information on how targets are being achieved as the initiative progresses.
For external organisations, we need contact details for two people. The first person whose name should appear in this section is generally the person who has completed the application form and can answer any queries that may arise during the assessment period. They will be the person who will receive any requests for additional information to help us assess this application. The second person must be a member of the governing body for your organisation (board, committee, directors) and must be different from the first contact person.
For internal applicants, the person whose name should appear in this section is generally the person who has completed the application form and can answer any queries that may arise during the assessment period. They will also be the person who will receive any correspondence relating to the application for the initiative.
We also require information about the service or organisation which is applying for funding. The questions are slightly different, depending on whether you are an internal applicant or applying on behalf of an external organisation.
The information you provide in this section helps us to carry out the due diligence that is required for all applications for funding from the NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation. Failure to provide this information may lead to delays in assessing your application.
Tell us what the money is for and how you would use the funding
This section allows you to tell us more about your project and the organisation/ service that you work for.
There are a number of questions within this section that give you the chance to expand on your project’s aims, beneficiaries and activities. Each question in the application form is accompanied by a short description that outlines what you should include in your answers.
As well as telling us about your project, we are asking you to provide a short title for your project and to identify how your planned project or activity links with NHS Tayside Charitable Foundations priorities.
Funding evidence-based projects is important to the charity, so please provide any data, engagement activity or case studies to show there is a need for this project.
Financial breakdown
Please tell us the start and end dates for your proposed project. We don’t recommend a project start date of less than three months after the application deadline, and please note that the maximum funding period for Foundation grants is up to two years.
We need to understand the total costs of your project, how much you are applying to the Foundation for, and where any balance of funding will come from (if there is a shortfall).
To ensure the sustainability of your project, we encourage you to explore match funding your project with other funders or fundraising activity, and partnership opportunities with other organisations or services if appropriate.
You must upload your project budget. Please note that Excel spreadsheets cannot be uploaded into the online application form, so you will need to save a PDF version of your budget spreadsheet. Unfortunately, this issue is outside of our control.
To accompany your application, we need to see a detailed budget of proposed expenditure – please attach the budget/costings to the submission.
For NHS Tayside applications, we also need evidence of senior management sign-off – this can be an email or Word document outlining who has signed off this project.
Final checklist
Make sure that you have answered all of the questions on the application form and attached all of the documents that we have asked for.
We have tried to make it as easy as possible for applicants to see what additional information is required.
Only the following file formats can be uploaded onto the online application system – JPEG, PDF, Word, PowerPoint.
After submission
We are only able to take forward funding applications where all of the information we require has been received. If anything is missing or unclear, we may get back in touch to ask for this information.
Funding applications will not be assessed until after the funding deadline has passed on 5 October 2026.
Different decision making and approval processes apply to applications, depending on the amount of funding that we wish to award to projects. This means that we are unable to give an indicative timeline for when you might hear back about your project.