Impact and Insights: Financial Security

We are pleased to share our second thematic Impact and Insights Report, focused on Financial Security.

Through this theme, we want to see a Scotland where people are financially secure and able to live free from poverty and poverty-related trauma.

This report provides an update to our first Financial Security report, with a focus on food insecurity. It highlights the growing challenges of food insecurity in Scotland against a backdrop of deepening poverty and rising food costs, the impact our grant holders are having, and the patterns of practice emerging across Scotland.

You can view the report here.

What are we learning about food insecurity?

Analysis of grant holder reports, evaluations, external evidence and highlighted several important insights:

• There is an increase in deep poverty and food insecurity. The increase in deep poverty means that more people are struggling with essential costs and experiencing food insecurity. Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Cost-of-Living Tracker for Winter 2025 showed that around 700,000 families in Scotland have gone without essentials in the last six months; the most common of which is food.
• 'Food deserts'. We know that the rising cost of food is exacerbated in certain areas where there is a lack of choice and access to food. These are known as 'food deserts' and are most likely to be found in rural areas where there is further to travel between shops, and in urban areas where housing developments lack necessary amenities. 
• Rising food costs. Although it is predicated that flood inflation will slow over 2026, structural pressures including energy and labour market costs in the supply chain, and climate impacts affecting harvests will mean that prices continue to rise in the shops.
• Groups disproportionately affected by food insecurity. Groups that are more likely to be affected by food insecurity largely map onto those at risk of poverty more generally. This includes disabled people and people from racially minoritised communities. 

What is making a difference?

Despite increasing pressures on services, organisations across Scotland are making a significant contribution to preventing and reducing poverty and trauma.

The report highlights several patterns in practice that are supporting positive outcomes:

• Cash-first and additional support. While impact evidence tends to focus on the longer-term impact of additional support, there is some evidence that cash-first might be more impactful than an emergency food provision.
• Co-location of services. Where different services are co-located on the same site, we are seeing evidence of greater impact than referrals or signposting to other services. 
• Strengthening community. The reports we reviewed gave a strong indication that food provision projects and organisations provide a focal point for the community within which they operate.

Together, these approaches are helping to meet immediate needs while supporting longer-term, financial security and stronger, connected communities.

What's next?

The evidence reinforces the importance of approaches that go beyond emergency food provision alone. Cash-first approaches, wrap-around support and co-located services can help tackle the drivers of food insecurity and reduce the risk of future crisis. The report also highlights the wider role that food provision projects play in strengthening communities, reducing isolation and connecting people to additional support.

Our Impact and Insights Framework guides how we learn from our funding and wider work. It helps us understand the difference we are making through our funding, support and influence activities, the outcomes achieved by funded organisations, and our contribution to long-term social change.

We welcome feedback on this report and are always keen to hear from organisations and individuals working in this space. If you have further insights to share, opportunities for collaboration, or examples of effective practice, please do get in touch with us at TRTComms@therobertsontrust.org.uk.