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The Community Buildings Fund, part of the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), provides grants to help community organisations reduce their building’s energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. It does this by funding the installation of renewable technologies like heat pumps, battery storage, and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, as well as some energy efficiency measures.Grants up to £80,000 for 80% of eligible costs are available to eligible community groups to help you reduce energy costs and make your building more sustainable. The funding can be used towards the cost of installing renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. It can also be used for costs like building warrants, planning permission and grid connection applications which are essential to install some measures. What improvements will CARES fund?**1. Heating requirement**CARES funding is prioritised to buildings that have or will decarbonise their heating. Your building must have:- A heat pump (air source, ground source or water source).- A connection to a heat network.- Direct electric heating (including storage heating or electric boilers) biomass heating.Or as part of your CARES project you will be installing:- A heat pump; or- A connection to a heat network.**2. Core measures eligible for CARES funding.**You must install at least one core CARES measures:- A heat pump (air source, ground source or water source).- A connection to heat network.- Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.- Solar water heating.**3. Add-on measures**In addition to installing a core measure(s), you can also apply for funding to install one or more of the following:- Energy storage – heat/thermal or electrical.Insulation – any loft, underfloor or cavity wall insulation.- Secondary glazing.- Draught proofing.- Appropriate energy saving controls that are linked to new installations to ensure they operate efficiently.Eligible community buildings include, but are not limited to:- Village halls.- Community centres.- Community hubs.- Sports facilities.- Faith buildings.The building must be used by the local community or charitable organisation.

If you are interested in starting a tenant and resident’s association in your local area you can apply for a grant to help meet running costs of the group.The grant can cover the cost of:- Publicising and holding meetings- Responding to requests for help, from tenants and the Council- Producing information for those they represent- Keeping up to date with developments in housing- Organising events and initiatives that benefit their community

Common Good Funds earn money each year from property rents and interest on investments and balances. These funds can be used for the benefit of the inhabitants of that town/area. Projects must have a community-wide benefit. You must clearly show how your proposal will benefit the people living in the relevant former burgh.Fife Council uses agreed criteria to assess applications:- the value of each Common Good Fund should be protected over time- grants will normally cover no more than 50% of a project’s total cost

The Local Support Grants are funds available through the Scottish Government’s Alcohol and Drugs Fund, administered by the Corra Foundation. This fund is intended to help organisations to stabilise or increase capacity, continue services and provide further reach into the community. It aims to facilitate rights-based, relational support for people so that they can easily access the right support at the right time.

The Youth Arts Open Fund is administered by YouthLink Scotland (the national agency for youth work in Scotland) and is part of Creative Scotland’s wider support for children and young people, funded by the Scottish Government. The purpose of the Youth Arts Open Fund is to support freelance artists or organisations seeking small amounts of funding so that they can deliver arts activity for children and young people, prioritising those who have traditionally found it hardest to access such opportunities. Funded projects are expected to engage children and young people in high-quality and accessible arts activity that empowers them through self-expression, enhances their health, wellbeing and personal development, and builds their confidence and skills.

The aim of the fund is to develop and support substance and/or behaviour Lived Experience recovery organisations to trial, grow and develop their ideas, services or products and build organisational capacity.The Recovery Seed Fund has Startup and Support funding for Lived Experience voluntary groups, charities and Social Enterprises. In addition to the Recovery fund SRC are also offering support and business development advice to individuals, groups and social enterprises to allow them to grow, develop and become sustainable. If this is something that would be of interest please contact fiona@scottishrecoveryconsortium.org

The Community Fund supports communities to use, manage and own woods and forests. The Fund's objectives are to:- promote the use of woods and forests by communities- facilitate community engagement in forest and woodland managementFunding can support activities associated with any forest or woodland in Scotland, including Scotland's national forests and land.A wide range of activities are eligible, and can include: - promotion of physical activity linked to woodlands, such as: walking schemes, safe routes to school, natural play, school care clubs, play schemes and adventure play- developing materials for communities that promote the benefits of using woodlands- facilitating voluntary work that supports skills training, health improvement, community development- establishing volunteer groups and inducting volunteers- providing resources to involve communities in the decision-making processes of managing their local woodland- developing Community Asset Transfer Scheme applications - funding will not normally cover legal costs but can be used to support activities such as obtaining a valuationDoes your project involve engaging under-represented groups? You may wish to consider Scottish Forestry's Woods for All programme as a more appropriate source of funding.

Patagonia supports environmental organizations with bold, direct-action agendas and a commitment to long-term change.They support innovative work that addresses the root causes of the environmental crisis and seeks to protect both the environment and affected communities. They believe local battles to protect a specific stand of forest, a stretch of river, an indigenous wild species or a community from a polluting refinery build public support and confront larger, more complex issues like climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental justice. They encourage work that brings underrepresented communities to the forefront of the environmental movement and defend communities whose health and livelihoods are threatened by environmental exploitation. They support multipronged campaigns that push for greater environmental protections and force the government to abide by its own laws.They fund work that:- builds an equitable, inclusive and diverse environmental movement- confronts systemic bias, discrimination and injustice in environmental policy or outdoor spaces- is action-oriented- focuses on root causes- has a clear strategy- identifies specific goals and objectives that can be effectively measured to evaluate success- builds public involvement and civic engagement- works to build an inclusive and diverse environmental movement- takes place within the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Funding can be spent on capital investment only. Revenue or operating costs are not eligible, except for, directly related architect fees and professional costs (10% of the total eligible project costs considered maximum).Funds can be used for:- improving vacant premises to attract new tenants- conversion costs to enable new/expanded uses- installation of, or upgrades to, fixtures and fittings- energy efficiency improvements- accessibility improvements- external works and cosmetic improvementsThis fund is designed to help bring vacant high street and town centre premises across the Falkirk area back into use.It is recognised that high streets are changing and this fund is aimed at helping landlords and tenants adapt to changing consumer demands where a capital investment can open up new or more sustainable uses, in a currently vacant premise. The fund will help address the issue of vacant town centre unit space (priority will be given to ground floor units), stimulate new start-up activity and support business and Third Sector expansion. This will help improve amenities, increase footfall and contribute to re-shaping and creating vibrant town centre environments.Applicants must not have commenced any of the activities for which they are applying for funding. No supplier invoices should be received and no supplier payments made before the grant award date.

AIS is a capital grant scheme designed to help agritourism businesses in Scotland to be financially sustainable, profitable, and resilient businesses that will play a key role in sustaining the future of Scottish agriculture.The scheme offers funding to ensure agritourism businesses have access to capital support to allow them to carry out capital investment(s) that will help deliver this.