Scottish Crown Estate funding available

Crown Estate Scotland’s Sustainable Communities Fund, set up in 2020, has already distributed £1.8 million.

The fund comprises two separate grants:

• Environment Grants of £5,000 to £20,000, available to Crown Estate Scotland tenants for projects achieving demonstrable environmental benefits within eighteen months of award
• Community Capacity Grants of £20,000 to £50,000, available to support early-stage development of community enterprise projects situated within five miles of Scottish coastline (or one of Crown Estate Scotland’s rural estates).

Projects across Scotland have benefited from previous awards, with recipients including:

• Arran Development Trust, which received £47,000 to tackle the coastal community’s depopulation through the provision of housing for key workers and young professionals.
• The Three Hares Community Woodland, on the Whitehill Estate in Midlothian, received £12,846 to establish a community orchard to provide more biodiversity and educational opportunities around tree growing and importance of fruit trees in nature.
• Scourie Community Development Company, which received £33,000 to explore the feasibility of a community seaweed farm in the Sutherland coastal community.
• Devon Angling Association, tenants of our salmon fishing rights, which received £19,975 to control invasive non-native species (INNS) plants in locations along the River Devon to improve conditions for native plants and river salmon.
• Tobermory Harbour Association, which received £28,000 to progress redevelopment of the Aros Waterfront site to improve marine and coastal leisure amenities.

The latest round opened to applications on Tuesday 2nd September.

The Community Capacity Grant fund has proven extremely popular in previous rounds, with Crown Estate Scotland reporting that the total value of applications in Round 5 exceeded available funds by almost 18:1.

To reduce the volume of unsuccessful bids, the funder has announced additional criteria that applicants must meet, primarily through the introduction of project themes. Applicants will now be required to demonstrate how their projects would address at least one of five themes relating to the Scottish Crown Estate and its key sectors:

• Sustainable Rural/Coastal Housing
• Climate-Resilient Communities
• Community Infrastructure
• Skills, Enterprise and Circular Economy
• Sustainable Tourism, Recreation and Heritage

A total of £475,000 will be available across the two funds, marking an increase of £50,000 on the previous window.

Penny Coles, Head of Sustainable Development and Delivery at Crown Estate Scotland, said:

“We are delighted to be taking forward a refreshed round of our Sustainable Communities Fund and hope to continue building on the success of previous years. The fund has become more and more popular with each new window, so we have had to refine the fund to give eligible applicants a greater chance of success. The new themes will help to prioritise projects with the biggest impact for the communities most closely involved in management of the Scottish Crown Estate.”

Full details of the new criteria and how to apply can be found on the Crown Estate Scotland website. Crown Estate Scotland will also announce details of informational webinar sessions in the near future.

The deadline for Expressions of Interest for the Community Capacity Grants Programme, which is administered by Foundation Scotland, is Monday 6th October at 12pm.

The deadline for the Environment Grants Programme, which is administered by Crown Estate Scotland, is Monday 27th October at 12pm.

Pic credit: Tobermory Seagull by Rixie (Canva)