CRT has always recognised that grants alone are not a solution for coalfield communities and has always been more than just a funder in our target areas.

We have emerged as a key player facilitating the development of community capacity, by encouraging small voluntary, charitable and other organisations to expand their scope, build new partnerships, and tackle more ambitious projects within their communities.

Finding the resources to fund projects and activities that are important in a community is challenging and complex.  CRT will provide useful information, advice and training on funding and fundraising to new social enterprises and community and voluntary organisations across coalfield communities in Scotland.

Our Team can provide capacity building support to build the systems, skills, people and resources in all 89 eligible coalfield wards. We manage demand and prioritise support through our tried and tested ‘triage’ system:

•   Level 1: All organisations that request support will receive an appropriate level of advice and/or e-mail support
•   Level 2: In those cases where we are best placed to make an impact we will organise a site visit or local ‘surgeries’ to assess needs and agree a programme of tailored support
•   Level 3: Based on an agreed plan, we will provide a variety of one-to-one support to an active caseload of organisations, including assistance with project development, funding strategies, grant applications, action planning, grant management and monitoring, etc.

Our approach involves mentoring, coaching and hands-on support, seeking at every point to transfer knowledge and skills to the coalfield organisation. This will be accompanied by access to relevant information, materials and learning resources.

The one-to-one support is complemented by a series of training workshops and seminars that are open to all coalfield groups and organisations. These will address common issues and techniques (e.g. committee skills, fundraising techniques, the use of ICT, etc.) and provide the opportunity to learn, network, and to share ideas.

Our focus is also on assisting the groups and organisations to explore opportunities for trading and to develop into social enterprises.

Finding the resources to fund projects and activities that are important in a community is challenging and complex.  CRT can provide useful information, advice and training on funding and fundraising to new social enterprises and community and voluntary organisations across coalfield communities in Scotland.