Community Grants Scheme Deadline Approaches
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The deadline for the fourth and final round of the Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape Partnership Scheme (CALLP) Community Grants Scheme is fast approaching. Individuals can apply for up to £1,000 and organisations can apply for up to £5,000 to support natural, cultural, and built heritage in the Coigach & Assynt areas. The deadline for applications is 12 noon, Monday 2nd March 2020.
Over the last three years that the Community Grants Scheme has been running, grants totalling over £72,000 have been awarded across 10 individuals and 18 local organisations. The grants are boosted by in kind contributions, volunteer time, and match funding, giving the projects a combined total worth of over £225,000, allowing these heritage projects to have significant impact.
Last year eleven projects were awarded funding to implement projects in the CALL area. These awards included heritage conservation, promotion of access to local heritage, and research. The Community Grants Scheme is funded thanks to players of the National Lottery through the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Scottish National Heritage.
The Assynt & Coigach Creatives (ACC) Creative Trails leaflet project created and distributed 10,000 leaflets to showcase the work of local creative people using local materials as well as local recorded music, work by local writers, ceramics, art, photography, and sculpture. The work of these local producers all heavily reference the flora, fauna, landscape and cultural heritage of the CALL area. ACC Chair Lesley Muir highlighted that “money from the scheme for leaflets and roadside banners has enabled support and publicity for the group’s very first Open Studios Days in September which the group hopes will become a well-known annual event.”
The Assynt Development Trust eBike project aims to show how electric bikes could take the place of car transport for local journeys. Willie Jack, ADT Chair, said “Ensuring that we can reduce the carbon cost of living in remote rural locations is a good investment for the future. The bikes have all been well-used and the project has proved a great success as several people have gone on to buy their own eBike.”
Jan Kilpatrick, a local textile artist and who has lived in Elphin for 14 years applied for the grant to coordinate the design and creation of a 2.5 metre by 1.2 metre textile wall hanging through the local Elphin Craft Group. Jan was delighted when other members of the community became involved and noted “The creation of the wall hanging stimulated wider interest in the community to record the stories of Elphin. The ensuing legacy from the project is the creation of a website where community members can send images of their mementos and stories to document the history and traditions of Elphin for the wider community.”
The deadline for this year’s awards is 12 noon, Monday 2nd March 2020. If you are interested in applying the application form with guidance on eligibility can be downloaded from the CALLP website at www.coigach-assynt.org/communitygrants or for more information contact Boyd Alexander on 01571 844638 or balexander@coigach-assynt.org.