Community ownership projects to split £1.5m funding

Eleven community ownership projects across Scotland are to split just over £1.5m of funding – with three groups receiving six-figure sums.

The Scottish Land Fund has awarded £390,000 to a community development company on Colonsay which will allow them to build affordable homes and to create a site for affordable business units.

Two areas of land on the island, with a population of around 135, will be bought with the money as part of the project.

Caitlin McNeill, director of the company, said: “We are so excited to have secured this funding at what is a crucial time for Colonsay.

“Having been born and raised on the island, I’ve grown up watching a community of volunteers working so hard to sustain and protect the island for the likes of myself, and my brother.

“Had it not been for a community-led social housing project nearly 20 years ago, it is unlikely that we would have had the opportunity to stay here as kids.

“We know first hand the difference projects like this make.”

Elsewhere, £292,481 has awarded to Tullibody Community Development Trust for the purchase the town’s community centre.

The first Scottish Land Fund award in Clackmannanshire will help provide sports and recreation facilities in the area.

Carbost Community Shop on Skye also received a grant of £177,500 to allow residents to purchase the property which sits close to both the Talisker distillery.

Following a two-year closure, Dunshalt Community Shop and Post Office in Fife re-opened in 2018 after a £97,500 grant from the Scottish Land Fund.

Cabinet Secretary for Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham visited the shop to announce the latest round of funding.

She said: “The Dunshalt Community shop is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when communities are supported in their plans and ambitions.

“The Scottish Land Fund continues to support a wide range of projects and these most recent awards – from woodlands to shops and from community centres to housing – demonstrating the quality and variety of community projects right across Scotland.

“The Scottish Government will continue to support and encourage communities, both urban and rural, to realise their ambitions and take control of their own futures and I look forward to community ownership continuing to grow and prosper in the years to come.”