Health and wellbeing

The Scottish Government has announced further funding of £25,000 to support Rural Wellbeing - the National Rural Mental Health Forum.

The Forum is run by Support in Mind Scotland and brings together 30 rural and mental health organisations. It launched in April 2017 and campaigns to raise awareness of mental health issues facing rural communities.

Announcing fresh investment at the Royal Highland Show, Minister for Mental Health, Maureen Watt said:

Scottish Rural Action have announced their membership of the recently-formed National Rural Mental Health Forum and welcomed the focus on mental health in rural areas.

The National Rural Mental Health Forum was announced in March this year and set up as part of the Scottish Government's new ten-year Mental Health Strategy.

A walking initiative in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park has received a Certificate of Excellence from Age Scotland.

In a new report you can get the findings of the first rural Scotland-wide survey focused on people's experiences of living with mental ill health.

In 2016, hundreds of people responded to a survey run by Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) and Support in Mind.  

The Woolfords, Auchengray and Tarbrax Improvement Foundation (WAT IF?) has awarded its first driving lesson grant.

Residents in the area can apply for a grant of up to £250 from the development trust to help cover the costs of learning to drive.

The first grant has recently been awarded to 18-year-old Rebecca Black. She said:

A new forum to improve mental health provision and awareness in rural Scotland has been backed by Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing.

The National Rural Mental Health Forum aims to raise awareness of mental health in rural areas and brings together organisations including NFU Scotland, RSABI and the Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Clubs (SAYFC).

Community researchers, University of Stirling researchers and Age Scotland want to hear your views on quality of life in later years.

They are currently carrying out online surveys to gather the views of people in Scotland who are aged over 50 years.

Rural Health Conference

Demands are increasing on health and social care services across the UK, often as budgets are tightening.  These circumstances, coupled with the distinctive difficulties rural healthcare providers face, make for a uniquely challenging environment.

Now more than ever we need strong leadership and collaboration across the public sector to reduce demand on acute care services and deliver better health outcomes for more citizens.  

Tyne Esk LEADER approved six projects in their first round of funding.

A total of £267,000 was awarded to the six projects, which include community, farm diversification and enterprise projects. The Tyne Esk LEADER programme covers Mid- and East Lothian.

You can find information on the approved projects below.

And you can find out more about the Jerba Campervans' project in their Case Study.

Six projects to benefit Orkney's communities and economy have secured support from the latest rounds of Orkney LEADER funding.

So far, the current Orkney LEADER programme has awarded grant funding of over £460,000 to eight community driven, innovative projects, with a total value of over £1 million of project investment.

The latest six projects to be awarded funding are:

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