Newly created Community Benefit Fund awards over £50,000 to local projects
Ardersier Port Community Benefit Fund, which launched in August of this year, has made its first round of grants, with £50,000 awarded to twelve local projects in the Community Council areas of Ardersier and Petty, Cawdor, Croy and Culloden Moor and West Nairn and Suburban.
The fund, which is administered by Foundation Scotland, will provide £100,000 each year to local community groups and activities, for the next decade. The fund is provided by Haventus, the owners of the Ardersier Energy Transition Facility (Ardersier Port).
All funding decisions are agreed by a local panel, made up of community members whose local experience and familiarity with the places they live are vital to ensure the Fund remains community focused, and that decisions are made with knowledge and insight.
In early November, two projects received the very first awards from the fund. Nairn Academy Parent Council was awarded £980 to support weekly excursions for pupils with complex learning needs to the Haven Centre, while Ardersier Primary PTA received £1,000 to fund a Christmas pantomime performance.
Later in November, ten additional projects were awarded funding. The largest grant of £10,000 went to MCR Pathways, an organisation that provides vital mentoring services to young people to help address the gap between poor life-chances and educational outcomes. The funds will be used to support the activities of the mentoring coordinators at Culloden and Nairn Academies.
Caroline Purves Head of Schools North Region of MCR Pathways said:
MCR Pathways is absolutely thrilled to receive a grant from the Haventus Fund and be powered up to support more Highland young people on their journey to success. This generous contribution allows us to work in partnership with the teams of dedicated staff at Nairn and Culloden Academies and bring our transformative mentoring programme to young people in the communities they serve. MCR Pathways highly values every chance to work in partnership with businesses and organisations in each local area to ensure every young person has someone to help them find their right path. The opportunity to work with the Haventus Fund, to welcome them into the MCR family of supporters, and to extend our Highland offer to bring more and lasting support and opportunities to local young people has brought such excitement to our team. We can't wait to get started.
Croy Primary Parent Council also received £9,268 for extra-curricular activities for children, and The Highlanders Museum was awarded £7,500 for interactive display screens to enhance visitor experiences.
Other awards included £5,760 to Blue Space Highland to deliver wellness sessions, and Team Hamish received £5,000 for improving accessibility in Nairn's links area. Nairn Parkrun was awarded £3,800 to establish a local Parkrun, and Connecting Carers received £3,000 for supporting young carers through play therapy.
Additional awards included £1,910 to Albyn Housing Society Ltd for a communal garden project, £1,000 to Ardersier Community Hub for path maintenance and food bank supplies, and £899 to Highland Bowhunters Archery Club for equipment replacement.
Jonathan Milne, Haventus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer said:
It is great to see the first tranche of awards from the fund benefiting such a wide range of organisations. We are grateful for the hard work of the panel in selecting the recipients of these initial awards, and to all the organisations that applied for funding.
The next closing date is the 31st January 2025 for applications over £1,000. Small grant applications for under £1,000 can be received at any time.
More information about the Haventus Ardersier Port Community Benefit Fund can be found here.