About ILF Scotland
Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland
is a company limited by guarantee, fully owned and accountable to Scottish Government. The core principle of ILF Scotland
is that disabled people have the same rights, freedoms and abilities to lead the fullest lives they can, free from discrimination and on an equal basis with others.
Our vision
is for independent living to be a reality for all disabled people living in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Our mission
is to enable disabled people to achieve their independent living outcomes by the dignified assessment of needs and the distribution of discretionary awards. Focused on supporting disabled people, empowering them to lead their fullest lives, we have been providing funding support since 1st July 2015, for disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland to enable independent living, giving recipients control, choice and dignity.
In late 2017, and after an extensive process of co-production, the ILF Transition Fund
was launched to support young disabled people aged between 16 and 25 with the transition from school or children’s services. The Transition Fund is designed to encourage young disabled people to be more active and engaged in their communities, and to build and maintain relationships with other people.
In September 2023, the Scottish Government announced in its Programme for Government that ILF (2015 Fund) would re-open to new applicants in April 2024, with an initial year-one investment of up to £9 million to support up to 1,000 new recipients in Scotland. It is anticipated that this funding will increase in subsequent years.
This marks a significant step for ILF Scotland
with the re-opening of the Fund enabling us to assist more of Scotland’s most disabled people overcome the barriers to independent living that they face on a daily basis. ILF Scotland, as an organisation, is privileged to have this opportunity, but do not underestimate the responsibility that accompanies it as we continue our work to positively impact the lives of many disabled people across Scotland in the years ahead.
We were recently awarded the Best Small Employer award at the 2024 Working Families Best Practice Awards and Top 10 UK Employer in the annual benchmark with the judges stating that “ILF Scotland continually strive to enhance their ways of working, and with a genuinely supportive culture and leadership, they epitomise walking the talk”. Everyone at
ILF Scotland is delighted to be recognised as being a truly flexible and life-friendly employer.
We believe that good outcomes for disabled people are our most important goals, and this can only be achieved by creating the right conditions for our people to enable them. We are not driven by targets or sales goals but have a values-based approach that relies on everyone agreeing to the same shared philosophy of “being the best we can be for the good of others.”
At the heart of
ILF Scotland are our core values of trust, dignity and respect and putting disabled people at the heart of everything we do.
ILF Scotland has made a positive difference to the lives of thousands of disabled people, their families, friends and communities. We have directly supported nearly 10,800 disabled people to live independently in Scotland and NI and support more than 7,370 young disabled people in successful transitions.
To learn more about our impact and the positive difference for recipients our funding makes, please view Joan's Story and 2015 Fund | ILF Scotland as well as our Strategy - 2020-23 | ILF Scotland.
