Sport Facilities Fund

Sport Facilities Fund

Sport Facilities Fund

Sportscotland has issued new guidelines with a greater focus on increasing participation within underrepresented groups. The fund supports capital projects that create or improve places that people take part in sport and physical activity. Awards of up to £100,000 are available for sports facility projects within club & communities, school & education or performance sport environments. In clubs and communities they will support: new, upgraded or extended sports facilities; Inclusive changing facilities; facilities that provide or improve access for outdoor sport and adventure activities; floodlights that increase capacity at appropriate sports facilities; major items of sports equipment. They will provide enhanced support to projects within or serving the most deprived communities, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Deadline is 1st May.

Creative Economy Fund. This fund is intended to provide opportunities for the creative and local communities to develop artistic activity which will reinvigorate, unearth and promote the distinctive stories of the area. The purpose of the funding is to: engage and involve artists and communities across Aberdeenshire to celebrate the region’s cultural distinctiveness; promote the unique cultural identities of communities across Aberdeenshire; and support participation and development in local cultural activity which helps to put their location on the map, and collectively raise the cultural profile of Aberdeenshire as a whole. A total fund of £70,000 is available in 2018/19. The maximum awards available is £5,000. Match funding is not required. First closing date is 31st May. http://host1.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/leisure-sport-and-culture/capacity-grants/capacity-grants-creative-economy-fund/

Scotch Whisky Action Fund Now Open. The Fund is looking to support and develop a range of projects/initiatives which will deliver targeted interventions designed to tackle alcohol-related harms across three themes: Young People: Families; Communities. Awards of up to £25,000 for a one year period are available.and this year's closing date is 29 June. Visit for more information.

I’m emailing to let you know about an exciting opportunity for young people aged 16-25 primarily based in the Cairngorms area and would be grateful if you could circulate to any young people you know who might be interested. This year the Cairngorms National Park will be hosting the EUROPARC conference (18th - 21st Sept). Before the conference, we will work with young people from across Europe to co-design a Youth Manifesto that will outline the ways in which protected areas can meaningfully engage young people in their activities. We are now inviting young people to apply to take part in this project. Successful applicants will attend one or two planning workshops – one in the Cairngorms in May, one in Finland in June – and can then attend the EUROPARC conference in September. All costs will be covered as we have been successful in our application to LEADER. More information, including application form can be found here:

Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme (also known as Energy Redress Scheme) is a fund that comes from fines that Ofgem has placed upon energy companies who have breached the rules. The first fund has just opened, with the further funds to be issued through the course of this year.

Registered charities from England, Scotland and Wales can apply to Redress to fund their local or national projects. The funds can pay for anything from making a home more energy efficient, to providing advice that helps consumers keep on top of their bills. The minimum grant amount is £20,000 and in some instances could be as large as £2mln. Information about the scheme, including eligibility criteria and the registration process can be found here:

Option for improving broadband.

CASH BOOST FOR RURAL TOURISM

New fund invites applications to enhance visitor experience

in Scotland’s rural areas

A new fund designed to help rural areas in Scotland invest in the quality of their tourism offering opens to applications today (30 March 2018).

Administered by VisitScotland, the Scottish Government Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund will support sustainable, well planned, inspiring and collaborative infrastructure projects to enable more visitors to enjoy Scotland’s rural communities.

Last month, Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop revealed three pilot projects on Skye and Orkney were to be among the first to benefit from support. The famous Fairy Pools and Neist Point on Skye and the Standing Stones of Stenness on Orkney have received up to £480,000 towards the completion of urgent works ahead of the main tourist season.

Now, local authorities or National Park authorities have been invited to submit applications on behalf of their communities for a share of the £6m fund, which was announced by the First Minister last year and will run for the next two years.

It follows the growing popularity of Scotland’s scenic areas, as well as increasing interest in film tourism, and successful initiatives like North Coast 500, which has led to an influx of visitors to some of the country’s more remote destinations.

In order to secure funding, successful applications must demonstrate the following:

  • An enhanced visitor experience – through the provision of improved visitor facilities and infrastructure, particularly in areas that have experienced pressure from increased visitor numbers, leading to a positive impact on the local visitor economy.
  • A sustainable approach – take a strategic and long term approach to planning, use of materials, impact on the environment and legacy implications of the asset created after project completion.
  • Community capacity building – creating more resilient communities, more able to cope with peak tourism demands and the creation of new local business opportunities.
  • Effective partnerships and collaboration – engagement with local community groups, destination organisations and tourism businesses, demonstrating how partnership working can increase awareness, advocacy and the quality of the final project.
  • Project viability and deliverability – provide a clear strategic rationale for their proposed activity as well as a delivery plan, timescales, details of experiences and a budget outline.

The deadline for final applications is 27 July 2018. For a full list of criteria, conditions and guidelines to apply to the Scottish Government Rural Tourism Infrastructure fund, go to visitscotland.org from 5pm today (30 March) or contact