The Agnes Hunter Trust SCIO was established in 1954 to support registered charities delivering health and social welfare projects in Scotland. The Trust now focuses on one key area of funding support: offering grants to charities that support disabled people in Scotland.

Disabled people are those who have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities (Equality Act 2010). Service provision will focus on providing opportunities and enabling people to lead fulfilling lives. This may include activities that offer advice, information and support, or life-skills, volunteering and employability training.

Applicant charities may assist with a wide range or specific groups of people, for example those living with mental ill health, cancer, physical and sensory impairments and long-term health conditions, as well as people with learning disabilities, autistic people, and other neurodivergent people.

In addition, the Trust is particularly keen to receive grant applications from the following:

• smaller charities meeting a demonstrable ‘need’ from their local community
• causes that do not have a strong public profile, including new Scottish charities
• charities developing innovative approaches, including pilot projects

Fund type

Type of funding:

Grant

Type of cost:

Revenue, Core costs

Fund award sizes

Minimum:

£3,000

Annually awarded:

£600,000

Notes on award amounts:

Figures from 2024/5 accounts. Received grant requests of £1.4 Million and awarded 42 grants totalling £612,069. 16 of these grants supported core costs and 16 were from first-time applicants.

Grants can offer support for 1, 2 or 3 years. The Recent Grants webpage provides information on the levels of grants awarded at recent Board meetings. Whilst most grants are between £3,000 – £10,000/year, the Trust reserves a degree of flexibility on these award values.

Your grant request must fund at least 10% of the delivery cost of your service/ project (if project-based, not core costs). Grant requests can be for core costs or direct project costs, including staff salaries and overheads.

Who can apply

Applicants must:

• provide a service that supports disabled people
• be a charity registered with OSCR
• deliver a service in Scotland
• have an annual income of less than £1 million

Applicants should hold reasonable but not excessive free reserves, unless there is a particular reason for holding a higher level. In the case of new charities with limited reserves, applicants can provide evidence of their likely sustainability over the duration of the grant.

Maximum annual income:

£1,000,000

When to apply

The Spring/Summer 2026 round of grants is now open as of Thursday 15th January 2026. Applications must be submitted before 5pm on Thursday 5th February.

The Trust operates two rounds of grants per calendar year:

• a Spring/Summer round – with applications submitted in January/February, and taken to the Board meeting in late May/ early June
• an Autumn/Winter round – with applications submitted in August, and taken to the Board meeting in late November/early December.

Next deadline: 5 Feb 2026

How to apply

The Trust operates an online application process. Full guidance can be found on the Trust’s website.

Exclusions

They specifically exclude services/projects that:

• primarily promote political or religious beliefs
• are normally provided by organisations such as local authorities, hospitals, schools, universities and colleges
• are capital projects (buildings, refurbishments and landscaping etc.)
• centre on the purchase of vehicles or large scale equipment, or are equipment-only grants
• provide holidays, including holiday camps, for disabled children
• offer expeditions, overseas travel or international work
• provide grants to individuals
• are general advisory services, such as those provided by Citizens Advice Bureau
• are general services for the elderly (e.g. transport in remote locations)
• are transport-only services
• are medical research, clinical work within hospitals, or services in hospices
• are animal welfare, or the breeding and training of assistance/guide dogs
• support very limited numbers of people with rare disabilities/illnesses