All 59 CABs will receive £50,000 this year and £50,000 in the next financial year, with the same amount going to CAS.

The award is part of Foundation Scotland’s £12m fast-tracked ‘Response Fund’, designed to support organisations which serve the hardest hit communities across the country. 

The funding programme comes in response to increased pressure on charities and community groups, many of whom are seeing a surge in demand for services while they themselves are facing reduced capacity and soaring overheads, such as utilities, staffing and National Insurance costs. 

Half of Foundation Scotland’s Response Fund has been awarded to CAS and the network of almost 300 service points and CABs across Scottish communities. 

This network delivers free, confidential, life-changing advice to thousands of people each year, while CAS advocates for change to ensure the best outcomes for people within both the Scottish and UK governments.

In the past year alone, advice was sought more than 190,000 times by people through their local CAB. In the past five years, the network has seen an 18% increase in people coming to their local CAB for support. This includes a 75% increase in people seeking support on energy, a 38% on housing, and a 37% increase in financial advice.

Advisers work with and support members of the local community to provide tailored and often life-changing advice. However, CABs themselves are individual charities that depend on annual funding cycles to continue their work. This funding represents an incredible boost for the essential service the network provides in in Scotland. 

Derek Mitchell, CEO of Citizens Advice Scotland, said: “Our network is seeing record levels of demand from people across all corners of Scotland. The advice we provide is fundamentally about bringing stability to volatility, but the people behind the network, the ones working tirelessly to help communities are facing increasing pressures. 

“CABs own livelihoods are often marked with uncertainty and at the mercy of short-term funding cycles. Funding like this is a game-changer. It will allow CABs to take a breath and plan the next two years with more of a safety net around costs. 

“I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Foundation Scotland for the support, and to everyone at CAS and the network that continue to work each day to better the lives of people across Scotland.”

Giles Ruck, CEO of Foundation Scotland, said: “CABs are often the first point of contact for people in crisis. Advisers and volunteers work tirelessly to provide the support and solutions needed to alleviate peoples’ worried but as charities themselves, CABs face their own set of pressures. 

“As Scotland’s Community Foundation, we’re acutely aware that people across the country are continuing to face ongoing financial hardship, struggling to keep their heads above water or pay their bills.

“We’re committed to using this fund as a stepping stone from which we can better support communities and work with others to create a stronger, more resilient Scotland.

“Foundation Scotland would like to thank the many donors who trust us with stewardship of their funds, pooling them with our own to ensure the greatest impact on our communities.”

The Response Fund package will also support a cost-of-living adjustment to all organisations funded last year to help with rising operational costs and a payment to those awarded in autumn to support with the increased National Insurance costs – a total of £650,000. 

The Corra Foundation’s ongoing Boost programme, a small grants fund for local community organisations supporting children and families hardest hit by poverty, will receive £500,000. 

Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS), the member-led organisation that promotes and supports development trusts across Scotland, will receive funding to help support local development trusts across the country. This award will total £5m and represents the biggest single award Foundation Scotland has ever made. 

Giles Ruck said: “Although Foundation Scotland is providing a total of £12m through this Response Fund package, we know that we are scratching at the surface.

“But we want to support communities and individuals where we can - we want to go at least some way to help those affected by financial crisis, as well as help organisations and charities to stabilise and rebuild, and we will continue to look for ways to do this, listening to what people say that they need, now and into the future.”