Thousands of pounds available in grants

Community organisations encouraged to check their the Scottish Government’s Recovery Fund.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is administering grants which start from £5,000 and go up to £25,000 for single incorporated organisations. Partnerships can apply for up to £75,000. Applications are invited from those ‘delivering, reshaping or reintroducing’ vital community services as a result of the pandemic, said HIE.

Nicola Ewing, of HIE’s communities and place team, said: ‘This fund is to support community organisations to address local challenges arising from the pandemic. It can either support organisations to provide community support services for the vulnerable or help them deliver or reintroduce core services which have higher demand, or higher costs, as a result of the pandemic.

‘So far we’ve distributed more than £460,000 to 28 projects across the region. These have included funding for activities including remodelling community-owned hub and café spaces to ensure the safety of customers and staff, reopening and reintroduction of services, helping cover increased staff costs, additional running costs for premises, additional cleaning and PPE.’

The fund is accepting applications to support costs arising from October 2020 for a period of up to eight months. It is open until February 2021 or until available funding is committed. It is open to groups registered as Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations with The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), or community companies limited by guarantee registered with Companies House. Community councils may also apply if certain criteria is met. For more information, visit scvo.org. uk/support/coronavirus/funding/scottish-government/community-recovery/ crf are being eligibility for Communities