Rural services

The Forth Valley & Lomond (FVL) Youth Local Action Group (YLAG) is now running their inaugural Youth Impact Fund.

It is a Fund run by young people, for young people, with funding from the Scottish Government.

This year, FVL YLAG is responsible for a fund of around £15,000, with the purpose of empowering and supporting young people in their living, learning, and working, within the rural area of Forth Valley & Lomond.

The Scottish Government’s Social Enterprise Census 2024 is open. This is the fifth official review of enterprising charities and social enterprises in Scotland.

Every two years, this official study helps inform policy and funding, and shows the impact of the sector in your area.

A recent Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW) project led by The James Hutton Institute, in collaboration with Scotland’s Rural College, the University of Aberdeen, and the British Geological Survey, highlighted a pressing issue for Scotland: the increasing likelihood and duration of water scarcity events due to climate change.

Zero Waste Scotland is administering funding, to aid private landowners towards interventions that will prevent flytipping on private land. 

The fund aims to support innovative projects that will:

Proposals to introduce a strict licensing framework for canine fertility businesses have been announced.

New guidance to empower schools to take action on mobile phone use and next steps in ongoing work to improve relationships and behaviour in schools has been published.

The ‘Behaviour and Relationships in Schools’ action plan, and targeted guidance for teachers to manage mobile phone use in schools, set out steps to be deployed at the national, local and school level over the next three years in response to concerns about relationships and behaviour in schools, including:

This week saw the publication of a report evaluating the Capital Grant Schemes funded by the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020.

Dumfries and Galloway College (DGC) has proudly launched its new Net Zero Skills Centre, a significant step towards promoting sustainability and supporting local businesses in transitioning to a greener future.

This initiative, funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), aims to provide businesses with the essential skills and knowledge required to adapt to the evolving demands of a low-carbon economy.

Following the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society Ltd (SAOS) recent AGM (13 Aug), Rory Christie has been appointed as their new Chairman, with Andy McGowan taking on the Vice Chair role.