Welcome to the KDP Bulletin.
To allow us, Kincardineshire Development Partnership, to provide the best, targetted and relevant service to you, our members, we would be most grateful if you could take 5 minutes to complete this questionnaire.
The aim of the form is to better understand what we are doing at the moment that you find useful, the gaps we may be missing, and where we should be concentrating our efforts in the future.
Please respond by Friday 14th February to be in with a chance of winning £100 for your community group.
If you have any questions, please contact Margo@kdp.scot.
Is your charity registered with OSCR or as a CASC? You could qualify for free water, wastewater, and drainage services through the Scottish Water Charity Exemption Scheme. Apply now to the Charity Exemption Scheme by 31st March 2025.
The scheme, set up and regulated by Scottish Water on behalf of the Scottish Government, supports charities with the cost of their water and wastewater bills.
Find out more here.
Grants of up to £7,000 are available to support preventative and early community based intervention programmes that focus on helping older people stay in their own homes and maintain their independence. The funding is being made available through the Charles Hayward Foundation Small Grants programme.
There are no deadlines and applications can be submitted at any time.
Visit the website for more information.
One Parent Families Scotland has launched a new survey to understand how single parents in Scotland are impacted by benefit sanctions and increased work requirements. The survey is open to single parents currently affected, as well as those who have been affected in the past.
The survey will run until March 3, 2025, and we need your support to ensure it reaches as many people as possible.
Take the survey.
The Neighbourhood Ecosystem Fund seeks to inspire, encourage, and enable communities to explore and develop ambitious ecosystem restoration projects locally. It also seeks to raise awareness about the importance of local ecosystem restoration and address barriers faced by community-led efforts.
Round two of the fund is now open for applications.
The deadline for applications is midday on Monday 3 March 2025.
Find out more and how to apply.
Community Councils Scotland are offering free training to Community Councils on Local Place Plans.
Rural and Island community councils can find out what a Local Place Plan is, what it can do and how Community Councils can create one.
This six-week series will introduce what Local Place Plans are, talk about project management, engagement and data processing and look at the importance of National Planning Framework 4. The sessions will take place online at 5:30pm every Wednesday night for six weeks from 12 February. Details of how to register can be found below.
Details of the events can be found at Community Council Events.
Bank of Scotland Foundation recognises the profound impact that the cost of living crisis is having on people across Scotland. To ensure their funding can reach those in real need, the Empower grants programme for 2025 will solely focus on helping charities who support vulnerable groups/people.
The Empower programme provides unrestricted funding. Unrestricted funding gives charities much greater scope to cover all essential costs and deal with challenges quickly and effectively. Unrestricted funding can be used towards core costs, delivery costs, project costs and/or general running costs enabling charities to use their funding in the way that helps them best.
To be eligible for this programme:
- Your charity must support vulnerable groups.
- Your charity must also be registered in Scotland with a charity number beginning SC0.
- your charity must have a minimum of 3 years accounts lodged and checked at OSCR.
- Your records at OSCR must not be overdue.
- Your OSCR record must say “it carries out activities or services itself” for the types of activity undertaken.
- your charity income must be between £150k – £500k per year as stated in your most recent accounts that have been lodged and checked at OSCR
- your charity must operate in Scotland.
Applications open today, Monday 3rd February and close at 12 noon on Wednesday 12th February.
More information here.
One Seed Forward are looking for communities to act as hosts for distributing/collecting free seed potatoes in their local area this Spring. If you are interested and would like more details, please send an email to Bob Donald at oneseedforward@gmail.com.
SafeDeposits Scotland, the country’s leading tenancy deposit protection scheme, has introduced a Community Fund designed to provide small grants to projects enhancing communities across Scotland.
They can support a wide range of projects from enhancing play areas to planting trees, and from providing isolated individuals with social opportunities and helping young people prepare for work.
Funding closes on 28th February, and more information can be found here.
The Grampian Wellbeing Festival is now open for submissions until 14th February. They invite organisations to offer free events during May that promote positive mental wellbeing, in line with the national 5 Ways to Wellbeing: Be Active, Connect, Learn, Give, and Take Notice.
Events can be indoors, virtual, or outdoors and must be free of charge. They should raise awareness of local health and wellbeing resources and be accessible to all age groups. These can be aimed towards specific people if your services are only for specific groups.
Events will be promoted through social media, posters, partner websites, and a digital booklet. Submit your event to be included in the festival, and they will provide editable promotional templates.
More here.
The FCC Scottish Action Fund provides grants of between £2,000 and £40,000 to not-for-profit organisations for the following types of projects eligible under Scottish Landfill Communities Fund (SLCF).
- Land Reclamation (Object A) – The reclamation, remediation, restoration or other operation on land to facilitate economic, social or environmental use.
- Community Recycling (Object B) – Community based recycling, re-use and waste prevention projects.
- Public Amenities and Parks (Object C) – To provide, maintain or improve a public park or other public amenity.
- Biodiversity (Object D) – The conservation or promotion of biological diversity through the provision, conservation, restoration or enhancement of a natural habitat or the maintenance or recovery of a species in its natural habitat.
- Historic Buildings (Object E) – The maintenance, repair or restoration of a building, other structure or a site of archaeological interest which is a place of religious worship, or a site of historic or architectural or archaeological interest and is open to the public.
The next round opens on 26 February and closes at 5.00pm on 14 May.
Visit the website for more information.
A Community Wealth Building in Scotland Survey has been launched by Rural Exchange.
The Community Wealth Building model is a people-centred approach to local economic development that aims to redirect wealth back into local economies, placing control and benefits into the hands of local people, highlighting that similar approaches have already been present and implemented in rural and island communities across Scotland.
So far, Rural Exchange has produced four reports looking at the role of Community Wealth Building model and its application in rural and island communities. The reports present how rural, and island communities can be empowered to influence local decisions, shape services, and address poverty through local economic development.
In the next stage of the research, Rural Exchange are interested in hearing from anyone working with, and for, Community Wealth Building across Scotland. If any of the following apply to you, Rural Exchange would like to hear from you:
- Are you involved in a Community Wealth Building project?
- Do your projects build community wealth (even if they’re not called that)?
- Are you delivering a Community Led Local Development project?
Insights obtained from the survey will help them understand how Community Wealth Building principles are being adopted across Scotland.
Complete the survey here and find out more about the project here.
Join the North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership (NESBiP) and NESCAN Hub for a day of learning and discussion on how we can protect and support local biodiversity through the Climate Adaptation Route Map.
Saturday, 7th March, 10 am – 4 pm at the Garioch Heritage Centre.
This event will feature experts sharing insights, strategies, and practical actions to safeguard our natural environment.
Enjoy free refreshments while engaging in meaningful discussions
This is a free event, but booking is essential!
Please reserve your spot by Monday, February 24, 2025. Public transport and car-sharing are encouraged.
Book your place and find out more here.
