Size doesn't matter says lottery distributor

Over the past two years. small groups account for 77 per cent of the awards made by the Community Fund in Scotland and organisations with an annual income of less than £25,000 had the highest success rate.

The distribution of money from the Community Fund also mirrors the patterns of disadvantage in Scotland. Data taken since the start of grant-making in 1995 shows that nearly a fifth of all funding has gone to the 100 most disadvantaged wards in Scotland (there are 1222 wards in Scotland). Forty per cent of the most affluent wards have received no large or medium sized grants.

The report "Size doesn't matter - but where has all the money gone" is published today alongside the latest package of funding for the voluntary sector.

The Community Fund is announcing £4.1m worth of grants to 40 organisations throughout Scotland. The profile of grants reflects the Community Fund's commitment to alleviating disadvantage.

The largest grant of £273,000 goes to Drumchapel Citizen's Advice Bureau and there is investment in two other CABs in disadvantaged areas - £211,000 to Parkhead CAB and £174,000 to Maryhill CAB.

Disabled people will benefit from the support (£100,000) given to an IT project Pass IT On, which distributes used IT equipment to people with disabilities who live within the EH postal district, and homeless people are to get new opportunities to participate in arts and other educational activities thanks to a grant of £137,000 to the Big Issue Scotland International.