East Coast Local Fund
Spotlighting Community Projects
The East Coast Local Community Benefit Fund, provided funding to projects that strengthen and support communities along the East Coast of the North of Scotland.
From vital equipment for emergency responders to community-led initiatives improving local wellbeing, these grants are helping deliver meaningful change in local communities.
On this page, you'll hear directly from some of the funding recipients, in their own words, about what the fund means to them and how the support has helped them serve their communities.
Vision PK
Kate Charles, Chief Executive of Vision PK, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive a grant from the SSEN Transmission East Coast Fund. This will make a huge difference and allow us to upskill our staff and expand our activities programme for our service users who live with sight and hearing loss.
“Our social groups and activities are an integral part of our service as they bring people together and help to curb feelings of isolation and loneliness. We really are most grateful."
Ochils Mountain Rescue
Ben Law - Team Leader for Ochils Mountain Rescue Team, said: "We’re delighted to have been awarded a £5,000 grant from the SSEN Transmission’s Community Benefit Fund.
“This generous support will allow us to purchase vital rescue equipment, strengthening our ability to respond swiftly and safely to emergencies across the Ochil and Lomond Hills.
“This funding is a major boost for our volunteer-led team, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of visitors and residents in the Clackmannanshire area.
“By enhancing operational readiness, the grant directly supports life-saving interventions while promoting outdoor safety and community resilience throughout the region."
Growspace Creations CIC
Chrissie Valluri, from Growspace Creations CIC, said: “It’s such an amazing feeling to receive this support, especially as we only launched Growspace Creations CIC earlier this year.
“The funding will help us build a polytunnel and buy plants and compost, helping create a welcoming, beautiful space where people can connect with nature, spend time together, and enjoy growing things.
“This award will allow us to share and engage more deeply with our community – passing on knowledge, building confidence, and supporting people to grow both food and resilience.
“Our long-term vision is to build a wider food-growing and mental wellbeing network, and we hope this is the first of many spaces where we can create lasting impact through connection and care.”
Inverurie Community First Responders
Alan Milne, Inverurie Community First Responders Group Coordinator, said: “On behalf of Inverurie Community First Responders, I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to SSEN Transmission for awarding us the grant to fund our much-needed PPE and training equipment.
“This year alone we have responded to 13 cardiac arrests within our area of remit, highlighting just how vital our role is in providing early intervention and life-saving care.
“We will use the funding to purchase the Resusci Anne QCPR Airway Head Torso, an advanced training dummy that’s a game-changer for our team allowing for advanced airway management and AED training capabilities that are not usually possible with conventional CPR training equipment.
“To put it into perspective, this is the difference between a basic budget car and a Rolls-Royce—a leap in quality that will make a lasting impact on the skills and confidence of our responders.
“Beyond benefiting our team, we want to use the dummy to provide realistic training sessions for members of the public, helping remove the fear of using an AED. By giving people hands-on experience in a controlled environment, we can build confidence and empower more individuals to step in and act during a cardiac emergency—potentially saving lives.”
Friends of Stonehaven Pool
Steve Harris, from Friends of Stonehaven Pool, said: “As a community group that works to maintain, enhance and promote the pool, the Friends are delighted and excited to receive this funding that will help broaden the appeal of our cold water swimming sessions.
“The health benefits of cold water swimming are well known, along with the benefits of using a sauna – by combining them both we are maximising the health benefits, while attracting more people to join our sessions. The sauna will also help us attract national cold water swimming events, which we are hoping to do later this year.
“Our sessions have proved very popular since we launched them for the first time this winter, but the addition of the sauna will help us increase their popularity and take our activities to the next level.”
Angus Young Engineers
Bob Baldie, Chairperson of Angus Young Engineers, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to receive this support from SSEN Transmission which is helping us supercharge our project.
“Thanks to this funding we’ve now got a second Greenpower kit car on the go, which means eight more young people can get hands-on with building, racing, and learning real-world engineering skills.
“The energy, excitement, and teamwork in our Mechanics Den has gone through the roof – this backing is a real boost for our mission to inspire future engineers and keep innovation rolling.”
Sustainable Kirriemuir
Christina Turtle, Active & Sustainable Travel Officer at Sustainable Kirriemuir, said: "We are over the moon to have received an award from the SSEN Transmission East Coast Fund to help us expand our fleet of e-bikes and provide a much-needed storage solution for them.
“Kirriemuir is such a hilly town, and having these e-bikes available to borrow is a great way of encouraging people to get more active and build their cycling confidence. I'm really excited to see who wants to borrow our new folding e-bike first, and how it might transform the way they travel."