Welcome to the first KDP Bulletin of 2025.
Please remember that we are here to support your group, so if you think we can help, just drop us a line. We work flexible, part-time hours so email is best, and we can always call you back. Our contact details are at the bottom of this message.
Here is a little reminder of how KDP can support you:
- Funding Enquiries & Applications
- Community Consultation & Engagement
- Governance
- Volunteer Support
- Jargon Busting
- Project Planning
- Facilitation
Membership to KDP is free, and open to any constituted, non-political organisation within Kincardine & Mearns. If you would like to become a member, or you are unsure whether you are, just get in touch and we can arrange this for you.
The St John’s Hill Windfarm Community Fund is open and accepting applications from groups and projects which benefit the communities living in the community council areas of:
- Arbuthnott
- Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar
In 2025, there will be a fund of £24,247.09, split equally between the two areas. In addition, Arbuthnott has a historical overspend of £2,425.37, giving a fund total of £9,698.17, and Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar has a historical underspend of £11,260.18 giving a fund total of £23,383.73.
Guidance Notes and Application Forms are available on the KDP website.
Closing date – 31st March 2025.
If you have any questions or require support with an application, contact Margo@kdp.scot.
Warburtons Community Grants provide small grants up to £400 to support charitable organisations towards broader activities which improve Health, Place or Skills for families in their community.
Based on a localism approach, the community investment funds are allocated to the local bakeries and depots. This helps the Community Champions to make the best decisions for local communities.
The current fund is open until 3rd February 2025.
More here.
Aberdeenshire Council partnered with Togetherall in 2021 as part of early intervention/prevention, to provide immediate, accessible mental health support to all 16+ residents of Aberdeenshire. Available 24/7/365, Togetherall empower people to self-manage through clinical self -help tools and be part of a welcoming, stigma free community of people to gain peer support, all with clinical oversight. Registered and licensed clinicians moderate the platform around the clock and are available privately to members through an instant message function. Togetherall can be used within treatment pathways to provide wait list management, post discharge for relapse prevention and expand reach, to those who may never seek mental health support via more traditional services.
Togetherall are inviting you to an online lunch and learn session on Tuesday 21st January from 12 – 1pm. This session is ideal for organisations who offer mental health & wellbeing support to their communities in Aberdeenshire, or would like to know where to signpost their service users for support. It will include an overview and full-service demonstration.
You can learn more by visiting their website and watching this short demo video.
If you’d like to attend the lunch & learn, please register your free place here no later than Monday 20th January at 5pm.
The Tullo & Twinshiels Community Benefit Fund is open for applications until 31st March.
The fund is open to community groups in the Community Council areas of:
- Arbuthnott
- Benholm and Johnshaven
- Gourdon
- Mearns
- Royal Burgh of Inverbervie
- St Cyrus
The Fund is administered by Mearns Area Partnership. Details of how to apply can be found on their website, along with contact details for the administrator and downloadable forms.
The Inspiring Aberdeenshire Awards are run by Aberdeenshire Council to celebrate people in our communities who go above and beyond. They are our unsung heroes, and their work is often not recognised anywhere else.
Use this link to nominate a person or a group who made a difference to you.
Please give as much information in the nomination form as you can, to paint a picture of why this person or group is so important to you.
Before you start the nomination form, have a look at the guide which explains each category. Also check out the key dates.
If you have any queries, please contact: inspiring@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
Small grants are available to fund projects to improve the lives of the elderly across the UK. Home Instead Charities awards grants of up to £1,500 to small, local registered charities and up to £500 to grassroots organisations for well-being events, activities or pastimes that prevent social isolation and loneliness amongst adults over 55. Eligible projects may include regular events such as a cinema club, knitting group, or lunch club; one-off activities like a day trip or Christmas lunch; or other initiatives such as yoga classes or guest speaker sessions. The Fund accepts applications four times a year, in January, April, July and October.
Aberdeenshire Council is developing a Community Wealth Building Strategy and want to hear your views on how this can be shaped to best support social enterprises and community organisations.
Join them online for an interactive session where they discuss ways to strengthen our community’s prosperity. Share your ideas, connect with like-minded individuals, help shape the future of Aberdeenshire, and work together to create a more inclusive and thriving community for all.
The event will introduce the key concepts of Community Wealth Building, outline the draft approach being developed by Aberdeenshire Council, and explain how this can be used to maximise local benefits from the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Attendees will then have opportunity to share their views through a series of breakout sessions, structured around the principles of Community Wealth Building.
The session will take place on Thursday 16th January, from 1.30-3.30pm.
Places can be reserved here.
The Matthew Good Foundation has opened the next round of its Grants for Good Fund. The aim is to support small charities, not-for-profit groups, and social entrepreneurs passionate about making a difference for people, their communities, and the environment.
The Fund will share £15,000 between five shortlisted projects every three months, which will be voted for by John Good Group employees. The project that receives the most votes will receive a grant of £5,000, second place £3,500, third place £2,500, and fourth and fifth place, both receiving £2,000.
As well as established projects and charities, the Foundation wants to hear from people with innovative ideas that need some funding to get their projects up and running.
To be eligible, applicants must have had an income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months. Funding is awarded every three months and the next deadline is the 15th March 2025.
Learn more here.
The team at the Mill of Benholm have been extremely busy over the last few months and have a packed calendar for the New Year. If you would like to read more about their activities, take a look at their Winter Newsletter.
The Robertson Trust want to see a Scotland where people, families and communities can thrive and not be trapped in cycles of poverty and trauma, and are inviting Small and Large Grant applications through an open call within a new theme of Nurturing Relationships.
This theme aims to support nurturing relationships within families and communities to help break the cycle between persistent poverty and intergenerational trauma, and support recovery. The open call will focus on funding work which addresses the following priorities:
- Preventative support for families in poverty (including children and their caregivers), to help build and maintain strong family relationships, and reduce the risk of intergenerational trauma.
- Whole family support for families (including children and their caregivers) in care, or on the edges of care, to address the impacts of persistent poverty and intergenerational trauma. We will also fund services for care experienced young people who are not in a family setting under this priority.
- Crisis support at the point of family breakdown, including support for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
- Recovery and restorative approaches to address the impacts of childhood trauma, homelessness, substance misuse and/or offending.
The closing date for applications is Friday 24th January (12 noon).
Find out more about the Fund here.
The Weir Charitable Trust supports services and projects run by Scottish-based community groups and small charities.
Grants of up to £25,000 are awarded for projects that relate to Culture and Animal Welfare.
The next deadline to apply is 5pm on the Friday 28th February 2025.
Find out more here.
