Thrive Programmes 2025
Programme Opens Closes Charities advised of outcome by
Thrive Noon Monday 8th Sep 2025 Noon Wednesday 17th Sep 2025 End November 2025

Thrive Grants Programme

Thrive is a targeted grants programme developed to support charities providing financial advice, building financial resilience, delivering financial education or simply encouraging good financial health with people living in vulnerable circumstances. This could include providing practical financial support, budgeting assistance, help with debt management, financial education, and personalised advice, to help people navigate financial challenges and build long-term resilience.

Unrestricted funding can be used towards core costs, delivery costs, project costs and/or general running costs enabling charities to use their funding in the way that helps them best and deal with challenges quickly and effectively.

In addition, this grants programme is open to charities who currently offer financial resilience related activities but for whom this is not their core purpose e.g. we know that many charities have a primary purpose such as homelessness, disability, ethnicity, mental health and domestic abuse and that financial resilience and support intersects with many of these issues. For these charities, unrestricted funding can be used solely on any reasonable costs associated with delivering the focus area of financial resilience e.g. core costs, project costs, delivery costs, salary costs.

Thrive is delivered in partnership with our sister foundations across the UK - Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales, Lloyds Bank Foundation for the Channel Islands, and Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland - and has been made possible thanks to an additional donation from our sole funder, Lloyds Banking Group.

Thrive will open to applications at noon on Monday 8 September 2025.

Further information, eligibility guidelines and sample application forms will be made available nearer the time. Thrive will be announced on social media before its launch, so keep an eye on our Facebook, LinkedIn and X platforms for more information.

Eligibility Guidelines

INTRODUCTION

Bank of Scotland Foundation recognises the extreme impact that the cost-of-living crisis is having on people across Scotland. To ensure our funding can reach those in real need, the Thrive grants programme will focus exclusively on supporting charities that help vulnerable people build financial resilience.

The Thrive programme is an innovative, joint grants programme with Lloyds Banking Group, providing charities with funding to support vulnerable people who need guidance, support or advice to become more financially stable. 

Thrive is a targeted grants programme developed to support charities providing financial advice, building financial resilience, delivering financial education or simply encouraging good financial health with people living in vulnerable circumstances. This could include providing practical financial support, budgeting assistance, help with debt management, financial education, and personalised advice, to help people navigate financial challenges and build long-term resilience.

We also welcome applications from charities whose primary focus is not financial resilience, but who offer financial resilience support as part of their broader services (e.g. homelessness, disability, mental health, domestic abuse). For these charities, our unrestricted funding of £25,000 per annum for three years can be used for any reasonable costs related to delivering financial resilience activities (e.g. core costs, project costs, delivery costs, salary costs).

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for this programme your charity MUST:

  • put people in vulnerable circumstances at the heart of everything it does.
  • operate in Scotland and benefit people living in Scotland.
  • be registered in Scotland with a charity number beginning SCO.
  • have a minimum of 2 years accounts lodged and checked at OSCR. (Please note these 2 years accounts must be for the charity number on the financial resilience grant application). 
  • have income between £50k and £300k as stated in your most recent accounts that have been lodged and checked at OSCR. 
  • have records at OSCR (and Companies House if applicable) which are not overdue on the closing date for applications.
  • Have an OSCR record which states “it carries out activities or services itself” for the types of activity undertaken and should not state “‘it does none of these”.

 You CANNOT APPLY if:

  • Your charity’s sole purpose is listed on OSCR as:
    • The advancement of animal welfare
    • The advancement of religion
  • Your charity’s sole type of activity undertaken is listed on OSCR as:
    • It makes grants, donations, or gifts to organisations
  • Your charity is a political organisation
  • Your charity currently has a live grant with us (check your grant Terms & Conditions email for the date of when you’re eligible to apply again)
  • Your charity has received a decline from us within the last 12 months (check your decline email for the date of when you’re eligible to apply again)

APPLICATION PROCESS

Stage One – Initial Application

Our online application process is simple and straightforward (please note we can only accept one application per charity). You’ll be asked to provide information about your charity such as contact details and highlight other recent funding applications. 

Our funding is unrestricted for core costs, delivery costs, project costs and/or general running costs.  If your charity offers financial resilience related activities but this is not your core purpose, unrestricted funding can be used solely on any reasonable costs associated with delivering the focus area of financial resilience e.g. core costs, project costs, delivery costs, salary costs.  You will be asked to provide an indication of what our funding will be used for, such as the examples highlighted above. 

At this stage of the process, we ask you to upload a MAXIMUM of one A4 page, and no more than 500 words, letting us know for example:

  • Your charity’s purpose (why you do what you do) and the vulnerabilities of those you support.
  • Your charity’s financial resilience activities and the difference your charity makes to the lives of the vulnerable people you support.
  • How your charity puts vulnerable people at the heart of everything it does.
  • Why your charity needs funding for financial resilience costs/projects/initiatives.

Along with your A4 page, you will also need to upload:

  1. Your charity’s most recent signed Annual Accounts (including Independent Examiner’s Report) which have been lodged and checked at OSCR
  2. Your charity’s Constitution or Memorandum and Articles of Association

Stage Two - Assessment

A Grants Manager will review your application and may contact you for further information. (Please ensure you provide an alternative contact in case of absence/holidays.)

Stage Three - Review

When the Grant Managers have made their recommendations, they have a detailed review and challenge session with the Chief Executive.

Stage Four – Final Decision

All decisions are reviewed and approved by our Board of Trustees. 

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Applications open: Noon, Monday 8 September
  • Applications close: Noon, Wednesday 17 September
  • Outcomes communicated: By end of November 2025

Decision Making Process

Every application we receive is unique however our approach during the assessment period is consistent regardless of the amount you are applying for.

Our overarching aim is to fund, support and champion charities that are making a difference with vulnerable people and improving their quality of life.

Initial Checks

All applications are checked to ensure that they meet our eligibility criteria and all supporting documentation has been uploaded.  Details can be found here. 

Assessment

If an application meets our initial checks, it will be assessed by one of our Grant Managers who will consider:

  • The purpose of your charity (why you do what you do) and the vulnerabilities of the people you support
  • Your activities and the difference your charity makes to the lives of the people you support 
  • Why you need funding and (if applicable) what unrestricted funding will help you to do?  
  • Your financial position – your current sources of income, your funding gap/need for funding, your unrestricted reserves

Our Grant Managers assess each application on a stand-alone basis.

Further Information

We may contact applicants to gather further information if needed.

Decisions

When the Grant Managers have made their recommendations, they have a detailed review and challenge session with the Chief Executive.

Trustees

All decisions are presented to the Board of Trustees who have final approval. 

Notification

All applicants are informed of their decision and advised of next steps.  Where an application is declined, we can offer feedback calls to explain the reasons why.

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