Funding

A £970,000 fund designed to support projects and ideas to benefit the environment and local communities has opened for its third round of applications. 

Crown Estate Scotland’s Sustainable Communities Fund, which started in 2020, has already delivered around £620,000 in valuable support to people across the country. It consists of two grant programmes: 

Longer-term projects that aim to transform Scotland’s natural environment can apply for a share of funding in the latest round of the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund.

Grants of over £250,000 are available to larger-scale initiatives that restore and protect habitats and species, including freshwater and coastal and marine areas, control invasive non-native species, and reverse the loss of lowland biodiversity in urban areas.

Testing Actions for Sustainable Farming (TSF) survey now open to farmers and crofters with a £50 participation fee payable. You can complete it here.

Paths for All’s new £1.5 million Ian Findlay Path Fund for accessible communities will enable more people to walk, wheel or cycle for their everyday journeys to improve air quality, reduce CO2 emissions and improve physical health and mental wellbeing.

If you're a Scottish resident aged 25 or over you can participate in a huge range of fully funded learning via Skills Development Scotland.

The Social Innovation Challenge (SIC) funds and supports innovators to kick-start solutions that tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time. The programme is centred around a theme each year. Building on the legacy of COP26, the 2022 theme is: innovative solutions to climate change issues faced by rural communities in Scotland. 

The SCVO Community, Capacity and Resilience Fund is open for applications.

The fund is provided by Scottish Government and managed by SCVO. The main objective of the fund is to provide up to 2 years funding to community-based voluntary organisations enabling them to:

Community Land Week will return this year from the 8th to the 16th of October for the fourth Scotland-wide celebration of community landowners. Expression of interest deadline is Friday 29th July.

Any geographic community that owns land or another asset, from an estate to a woodland to a community centre, can apply to run an event as part of the week.

A state-of-the-art shed which will use cattle waste products to power a methane capturing system and grow indoor crops has received nearly £3 million from the UK Government through its Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).