65 of Scotland’s charities are sharing £642,273 in the first awards of 2007 from Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland. Ranging from £985 to £30,000, the awards will be used for everything from buying kayaks to supporting new activity groups for older people and paying for salaries.

Mary Craig, Deputy Chief Executive, said: “The range of awards we’ve made reflects the huge diversity of work carried out by charities across Scotland. 25 of the awards will be used to pay for salaries, helping secure jobs and making sure essential services can continue to be delivered. In particular, the two and three year awards we make allow charities the confidence to plan ahead and spend their time and energy working with the people they support rather than trying to find money to keep things going.

“Another 11 of the awards will pay for charities to work with independent advisors to develop themselves in areas such as governance, strategic planning and fundraising. We know that it is hard for charities to spend money on themselves when they are often struggling to find the funds to keep their services going. These capacity building awards are particularly appreciated because the charities who get them can still apply for funding our other award programmes.”