£83,000 of funding for town centre projects

Fife projects aimed at breathing new life into town centres have secured more than £83,000 worth of Scottish Government funding.

Scotland’s Towns Partnership is administering a £1.7 million Towns and BIDs Resilience and Recovery Fund to support local Covid-19 resilience and recovery response initiatives across the country.

The largest tranche of funding, £50,000, will go to the Fife Council Town Centre Restart Group, which will pay for gateway and information signs, local promotional campaigns, hand sanitising stations, volunteer street marshals, and portable decks and gazebos to support businesses moving to outdoor trading.

It will also help fund a small business grant of up to £100 for business owners who need to purchase PPE, protective screens, hand sanitiser and internal signs.

Around £20,000 has been earmarked for the Love oor Lang Toun campaign in Kirkcaldy and the ShopAppy Digital Market Place, with that cash going towards improvements to the town’s digital infrastructure, click and collect digital lockers, and support for businesses using social media channels.

Visit East Neuk is to get £10,200 to develop a community-based digital platform and app, while £2,950 has been allocated to the Coalfields Regeneration Trust’s plans for physical distancing, hand sanitising equipment and a “Love Local” campaign specifically for Kincardine.

Roger Brown, acting chairman of Visit East Neuk, said: “This project will provide an opportunity for all East Neuk residents, community organisations and businesses to benefit from a single information source.

“It will provide a convenient facility for residents and visitors to tap into the wealth of services, interests and activities the East Neuk has to offer.”

Councillor Altany Craik, convener for economy, tourism, strategic planning and transportation, said: “Receiving this funding is an extra boost for Fife’s economy. It will support implementation of new measures for town centres, address immediate concerns and help communities recover.”