LEADER funding boost for Cairngorms projects

Two projects about sports and enjoying the outdoors are the latest to benefit from funding from the Cairngorms LEADER programme.

A total of £106,913.20 has been awarded to the Kingussie 2017 project for major improvements to the facilities at Kingussie Shinty Club. Facilities at the pitch will be upgraded to the standard expected of a 21st century modern day sports club and to a high enough standard that in the future Kingussie could apply to host major occasions such as National Shinty Finals and International matches.

In 2010, Kingussie Shinty Club purchased their shinty pitch and surrounding land. The purchase creates the first opportunity that the club has had in over 100 years to improve their infrastructure. The purchase of the land in 2010 and the 2017 upgrade of the facilities would not have been possible without funding from LEADER.

A total of £20,084 has been awarded to Community Orienteering and Protection of the Environment (COPE). This project will provide an exciting opportunity for the local community to get involved in two major orienteering events being hosted in upper Deeside in 2017 (Scottish 6 Days) and 2018 (British Orienteering Championships).

The project will work with schools in Braemar, Crathie, Ballater and Strathdon as well as youth groups at the heart of the community to introduce the sport through staging activities and also training leaders to sustain activities into the future. Orienteering is a sport that can be enjoyed at every level from a recreational adventure through the woods to a high intensity physically and mentally challenging race. At every level the sport has environmental appreciation at its heart and one of the big attractions is an opportunity to explore hidden and wild places, with different routes set at every event. Learning generated through introducing people to a recreation that has environmental appreciation at its core offers a mechanism for protection and enhancement of the environment. By initiating these activities at an early age we will be fostering a generation that will have a desire to care for and protect the environment into the future.

Visit the Cairngorms LEADER website for more information about the programme.

You can find out more about LEADER across Scotland in our LEADER section. If you have an idea for a project, you can also submit an Expression of Interest form.