Community development

The Investing in Communities Fund (ICF) is a streamlined communities fund that is delivered as part of the Empowering Communities Programme. Expected to reopen in April 2022, applicants should start preparing now.

Scottish Rural Network is providing funds to support the Scottish Community Pubs Partnership led by the Plunkett Foundation, which will allow more pubs to become community-owned in 2022. 

Health Lottery Scotland’s Active Communities is a funding programme for small and local projects, genuinely designed and run by local people.

It is currently open for applications from community groups and not-for-profit organisations in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, Fife, North Lanarkshire, Shetland.

Congratulations to Cormonachan Community Woodlands Ltd – the first group to successfully complete their project funded by the Rural Communities ‘Ideas into Action’ (RCIIA) Fund.

Funding available for private sector and third sector centres to help with running costs and enable staff to deliver more outdoor learning for schools.

The funding brings the Scottish Government’s support for the sector during the pandemic to £4.5 million.

After a three-year project collaboration, the international ViSEnet-team has gathered learning resources and best practices in an online free guide dedicated to rural social entrepreneurs: The Rural Social Enterprise Guidebook of Good Practice: Experience from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Romania and Scotland. 

The consultation on the draft second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) Summary Report is now open.

A review of the preparations for and response to Storm Arwen sets out 15 recommendations for the Scottish Government and its partners, the Scottish Resilience Partnership, local resilience partnerships, utility companies, the voluntary sector and national responders.