£315k in ‘Levelling Up’ funding
THREE Borders organisations have been successful in securing Levelling Up funding amounting to £315,834 from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
Eyemouth Harbour Trust has been awarded £95,000 towards feasibility work required to take it through Stage 2 of Scottish Government’s Structural Investment Model.
This could provide the opportunity to attract large scale development funding for Eyemouth Harbour to become a strategically important port for fishing, leisure and commercial marine traffic, in turn boosting income potential for local businesses in the area.
South of Scotland Enterprise has also been successful in securing £190,000 to deliver a programme of entrepreneurship skills development and activities for women in enterprise and youth-led enterprise which will build capacity for growth of more local businesses currently under-represented.
Capital City Partnership has been awarded £30,834 to undertake feasibility work in partnership with Scottish Borders Council and five other local authority areas which will research and collect data to improve cycling, cultural and cruise tourism potential across all six local authority areas.
This has potential to improve income generation for local businesses across the Scottish Borders.
Councillor Scott Hamilton, SBC’s executive member for community and business development, said: “These three projects being awarded funding through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund are exciting for our area and have the potential to provide a boost to our local economy.
“As ever, I’d encourage local organisations and community groups to get in touch if they have project ideas and a need for funding, as there are a range of opportunities, not just this fund, which the council may be able to assist with.”
Community groups interested in funding for new projects can find out more about some of the opportunities available and access a simple expression of interest form at www.scotborders.gov.uk/ projectfunding.