Rural Communities Testing Change: LAG Challenge Fund

Local Action Groups in rural and island Scotland are now able to apply for grants of up to £75k through the Rural Communities Testing Change (RCTC) Fund for projects which will test new approaches to delivering CLLD.

The fund forms part of the £3m fund announced earlier this year by the previous Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, to deliver CLLD test of change pilots before March 2022.

This application form is for use by LAGs who wish to apply for the £400,000 second stream of funding 'Local Action Group Challenge Fund' within Tranche 1 of the RCTC fund.

Bids will be welcomed from LAGs in conjunction with other delivery partners.

Applications open on 5th July and close on 13th August 2021.

An inclusive assessment board made up of both independent experts and SG staff will review bids and applicants will be advised of the outcome no later than applicants will be advised of the outcome no later than 3^rd September.

Grant payments will be subject to a monitoring and evaluation process to measure progress against objectives and outcomes. Successful applicants will need to provide an update report at agreed intervals after a grant payment is made.

Other funding streams can be utilised in addition to support project delivery e.g. crowd funding, windfarm grants. If you wish to use match-funding, a description of any additional funding sources that have been secured or applied for and what they will be used for and how they will provide additional value must be provided.

Projects must demonstrate that they advance equality, inclusion and diversity. Also;

projects must properly test change, linking specifically to evaluation and assessment of ‘what worked’ in previous LEADER funding and building on, or developing new approaches as a result;
projects must support Scottish Government priorities, particularly those set out with respect to existing community led local development work and net-zero/climate change ambitions;
projects must demonstrate that they support greater inclusion, equality and diversity in community led local development, particularly with respect to the range of ‘voices’ informing community development and local capacity-building; and
projects must be delivered by end March 2022.

Please contact the Scottish Rural Network at info@ruralnetwork.scot if you have any queries.

Contact name *

Phone number *

Email address *

Preferred email address

Local Action Group (LAG) area *

If your idea potentially covers more than one Local Action Group area please select one area from the dropdown above and enter the additional areas below.

Additional LAG area

Match Funding/Project Delivery Partner

Will you be using match funding or working with other local delivery partners on this project? If so - who and how?

Project name *

Project Overview *

Please give an overview of the project. You may want to include the project approach and methodology, evidence of demand or community support and details of partnership working where relevant.

Please describe how your project fulfils Core Criteria 1. *

Core criteria 1: Projects must properly test change, linking specifically to evaluation and assessment of ‘what worked’ in previous LEADER funding and building on, or developing new approaches as a result (max 300 words)

Please describe how your project fulfils Core Criteria 2. *

Core criteria 2: Projects must support Scottish Government priorities, particularly those set out with respect to existing community led local development work and net-zero/climate change ambitions (max 300 words)

Please describe how your project fulfils Core Criteria 3. *

Core criteria 3: projects must demonstrate that they advance greater inclusion, equality and diversity in community led local development, particularly with respect to the range of ‘voices’ informing community development and local capacity-building (max 300 words)

Is your project scheduled to complete by 31st March 2022? *

Yes

Your project MUST complete before the end of March 2022.

Estimated cost *

The total value of project

Once submitted, this form will be shared with an assessment panel which includes Scottish Government and external partners. The assessment panel will not retain, share or use personal data for any other purpose. If you need further information please contact us at info@ruralnetwork.scot. Please also refer to the Scottish Government Agriculture & Rural Economy Privacy Policy on how personal information is used and looked after. This can be found at https://www.ruralpayments.org/publicsite/futures/privacy-policy/. You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you; information on how to request this or to exercise your other rights can be found in the Privacy Policy.