Haventus Ardersier Port Community Benefit Fund

About this fund

Ardersier Port Community Benefit Fund supports community projects benefitting those living in the areas covered by the Community Councils of: Petty and Ardersier, Cawdor and West Nairnshire, Croy and Culloden Moor and Nairn West and Suburban.  

The fund is provided by Haventus, the owners of the  Ardersier Energy Transition Facility (Ardersier Port).

The fund opened in August 2024. An annual amount of £100,000, rising in line with inflation, will be paid into the fund for ten years. 

Purpose of this fund

The Fund will support charitable activity that helps improve people’s quality of life.  Applications will focus on an activity or project that has the ambition to result in one or more of the following outcomes:

• Enhances quality of life for local communities
• Promotes community spirit and encourage community activity
• Contributes to vibrant, healthy, successful and sustainable communities 

Who can apply?

Groups and organisations working to benefit people in any of the four communities can apply.  Your group/organisation must meet our standard eligibility criteria. It does not need to be registered charity to apply.

Applications from groups/organisations located out with the fund area will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must demonstrate clear benefit for residents within the fund area. 

What can be funded?

Grant requests to support a wide range of costs and activities will be considered, such as equipment costs, running costs for local groups, staff or sessional worker costs, consultations, and maintenance or refurbishment of community facilities.

Applicants are normally expected to provide evidence of value for money, such as quotations, in line with Foundation Scotland’s Evidencing Value for Money policies. Foundation Scotland’s guidance at the moment requires three quotes for an item over £3,000 and one quote for anything between £300 and £3,000. However, we are aware that post the pandemic, sourcing reliable quotes has become challenging, so we do apply some flexibility around this.    

What can’t be funded?

Information on what the fund cannot support is provided here.  

How are decisions made?

A Community Panel, made up of people who live, work or volunteer in the four communities, makes recommendations on grant awards from the Fund. The Panel also advise on funding strategy and help to promote the Fund locally.

The Panel has up to twelve members (three from each community council area). One member from each of the four areas will be nominated by the area’s community council.  

Each member of the wider community serves a minimum of one and a maximum of three years, with members retiring on a phased basis to ensure knowledge and expertise are retained. Opportunities to become a Panel member are openly advertised when these arise, both locally and on this website, and are selected through a fair and transparent process. Previous Panel members may stand again.  

Recruitment of the panel is currently underway and will close on the 1st September 2024. If you are interested in being considered as a Panel member, please contact Debbie Herron at Foundation Scotland for more information (Contact details below). 

Minutes of the latest Panel meetings will be available on request from the Community Funds Adviser. Contact details can be found below. More information on the award making process is available here.