Videos highlight benefits of community development funding

To help share learning and inspire community organisations, Scottish Rural Network have published a trio of video case studies focusing on rural and island community resources and spaces.

The projects featured all received community led local development (CLLD) funding from the Scottish Governments Rural Development Programme with funding and support delivered through Inspiring Scotland.

CLLD gives local communities the power to tackle their own, local challenges. By building knowledge and skills, supporting new ideas and encouraging cooperation, CLLD helps to create viable and resilient communities.

With community spaces a vital resource for rural and island communities, it’s no surprise that all the case studies share a common theme of developing community spaces in shape or form.

Case Studies

Kilmuir Community Trust received £20,544 from the CLLD Rural & Island Communities Ideas into Action (RICIA) fund to support transformational improvements to their village hall.

The funding enabled the installation of new fire doors to increase safe access to multiple hall spaces, as well as kitchen upgrades and new benches for social events. The project has boosted the capacity and resilience of the hall, enabling the Trust to expand its programme of events, activities and learning for the local community.

The hall was originally the factory of Highland Home Industries Ltd which employed many of the local community and played a key role in the social fabric of the village and surrounding area. 

In this fantastic video case study, we hear from Eilidh Rankin, Gaelic and Community Officer and Stephen Varwell, one of the Board Trustees of Kilmuir Community Trust, about the regeneration of the community hall and opportunities and benefits it has brought the community. 

Glengarry Community Woodlands received £36,290 from RICIA. In this video Tom Cooper, Development Officer and Vince Mackintosh, Sawmill Operator with Glengarry Community Woodlands talk about how the community set about establishing there own sawmill and the benefits it will bring the community including housing and community wealth building opportunities.

Culbokie Community Trust (CCT) received £40,992 through RICIA help develop a community led project to develop a 'green lung' within the heart of the village of Culbokie. The ambition is that the new facility will ultimately include a café, a digitally connected health room, a flexi space for community activities and some business rental space together with a covered outdoor space, plus outside seating, play areas and gardens.

2024-25

The Scottish Government has made a budget commitment that it will invest a further £12.2 million in rural and island communities to continue to support Community Led Local Development (CLLD) and similar initiatives in 2024/25. The first tranche of funding allocations has been notified to Local Action Groups (LAG) and many have now opened their funding application process.

Check our LAG page for details of your LAG area.