Shedloads of Opportunities

• Capital & Equipment

Grants are being invited from community groups, charities and cooperatives throughout Aberdeenshire (excluding the Cairngorms area) and can fund specific activities aimed at benefitting rural communities in the region.

There are two types of grants available:

Capital grants for new projects to support expenditure on assets which will last longer than one year, for expenditure such as:

The purchase of equipment over £6,000
Improvement to buildings and property
Construction of paths
Retrofit upgrades to properties
Revenue grants to support new projects, which are not capital and not part of the core running costs of the organisation, such as:

Feasibility studies
Alleviation of poverty measures
Access to services
Supporting children to gain new skills
Applications will be assessed and approved by the Aberdeenshire Local Action Group (LAG), a cross-sector partnership which represents rural communities throughout Aberdeenshire.

Grants will be targeted towards capital expenditure which can be delivered before 28th February 2027 and supports one or more of the following priorities:

An inclusive and connected Aberdeenshire – Enabling better connections within and across rural Aberdeenshire Communities
Accountable and Fair Aberdeenshire – Ensuring no one community is left behind or exposed to the devastating effects of inequality and poverty.
Sustainability of Places and Planet - Achieving a just transition to net zero through reducing emissions and regenerating the local environment

• Community Development
• General & Misc
• Health & Wellbeing

Supports local Tayside community projects by providing goods and services to transform and improve the lives of local people.

If you are a charity or a constituted community group, and you think Tayside Contracts could provide a service to you, then you may want to consider our Community Fund. We do the work for you, and the Community Fund picks up the cost up to the maximum of £500 for Fast-Track applications and up to £3,000 for Full applications.

Some of the things we could do for local communities include:-

Carrying out roads/footway improvements and repairs to community facilities such as community hall car parks, or a local pathway
Digging trenches for rural community broadband schemes
Providing food or catering for a community or charity event
Provision of signage via our Sign Shop for a range of community needs
Provision of Traffic Management for a community event.

• Community Development
• Environmental/Green Infrastructure
• Health & Wellbeing

Volunteering Matters Action Earth - offer grants to help urban communities to respond to our nature and climate crises. Any group of volunteers in urban areas are able to apply for Volunteering Matters Action Earth nature grants up to £250 to run environmental activities in
green spaces in built-up areas and centres of population. Applications should make major environmental impacts and/or involve mass participation. Applications prioritised from volunteer groups that do any of the following:

• Work in areas where there is substantial social or economic deprivation
• Improve and develop the health and wellbeing of their local community
• Involve disabled people, vulnerable people or those at risk of exclusion
• Encourage and involve people under 26 in practical outdoor conservation

Projects must be completed by 28 February 2027

• Community Development
• General & Misc
• Health & Wellbeing
• Social Connection Projects

Each of Persimmon Homes 30 offices across the UK make a donation of up to £6,000 every three months to local charities and organisations in their communities.

One-off grants are available for local community organisations and charities for local community initiatives across England, Scotland and Wales in communities where Persimmon has a presence.

Scotland locations:
Edinburgh and the Lothians
Glasgow and Strathclyde
North Scotland
Scotland South
Tayside, Central and Fife

The community champions scheme is open to all and does not have a specific focus.

• General & Misc
• N/A

Just Enterprise is a Scottish Government-funded programme for the Third Sector in Scotland. It provides fully-funded support to social enterprises and enterprising charities in Scotland.

Their expert network of advisers provide the support, training and information you need to start up, develop, grow and lead your social enterprise. What’s more, the majority of their services are entirely free.

The Just Enterprise programme is delivered by a consortium of Third Sector partners.