The Childminding Workforce Support Fund has now re-opened for new applications from childminders in Scotland experiencing hardship due to COVID-19.
As you will be aware, the Scottish Government confirmed further funding of £330,000 towards the Childminding Workforce Support Fund (CWSF), and this will enable a further 940 childminders experiencing financial hardship to access small grants of £350.
New applications for this second round of funding are now invited – via our dedicated webpage.
We advise submitting your application as soon as possible since we anticipate that demand will far exceed the number of grants available and applications meeting the criteria for eligibility will be allocated by order of date received. The closing date for applications is Monday 19 October at 5pm.
Notes for applicants
If you are a new applicant to the Childminding Workforce Support Fund and have not applied previously, you are invited to submit your application as soon as possible.
Read more and
apply here. Priority will be given to applicants who can demonstrate that they are ineligible, or have reduced eligibility, for other external sources of financial support. Only one application per childminding setting may be submitted.
We anticipate that demand will far exceed the number of grants available and we would therefore urge you to
apply as soon as possible. There are only a limited number of grants available, so applications meeting the criteria for eligibility will then be allocated by order of date received.
If you have previously been successful and received funding from the Childminding Workforce Support Fund, you cannot re-apply, as only one grant is available per setting. This is to ensure as many childminders as possible are able to benefit. If you require additional financial support, there may be
other options still available to you.
If you previously applied and were unsuccessful in the first round of the Childminding Workforce Support Fund, you do not need to re-apply. Your application is still in the system as ‘pending’ and you will have received an email from SCMA to confirm this.
For further information and to find out more, please visit our dedicated webpage about the
Childminding Workforce Support Fund.
Background
Earlier in the year, SCMA recognised childminders were falling through the cracks between different potential sources of government funding or grants. We took the initiative, released funds from our own financial reserves and asked the Scottish Government to ‘match fund’ this. This enabled us to establish the Childminding Workforce Support Fund to help provide small grants for childminders experiencing financial strain due to COVID-19.
Due to overwhelming demand within 24 hours, SCMA paused applications to allow us time to review the applications received. The first round of the Fund enabled 170 childminders to receive grants of £350 to assist with financial hardship.
Following intervention from SCMA, the Scottish Government confirmed further funding of £330,000 towards the Childminding Workforce Support Fund, and this next round of funding will enable a further 940 childminders experiencing financial hardship to access small grants of £350.
We recognise this won’t be a ‘cure all’ and that these small grants will only offer some financial support to those childminders experiencing extreme financial difficulties, nonetheless, SCMA is proud that our intervention has established this funding stream.