Our East Coast Local Community Benefit Fund
This fund is now closed, and the total fund value has been awarded.
What is the East Coast 400kV Overhead Line Upgrade Local Fund?
The East Coast 400kV Overhead Line Upgrade is a project we are delivering to upgrade the electricity transmission cables on the east coast of Scotland. This upgrade will play a key role in reinforcing the network in the region, supporting the connection of renewable energy projects and the journey to net zero.
The Community Benefit Fund associated with this project was aimed specifically at communities close to the infrastructure, developed in partnership with key people within these communities.
This was a one-off fund, aimed at supporting projects across Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perth and Kinross, and Clackmannanshire, that were focused on improving health and wellbeing within the community. Applications were prioritised based on how close they were to the project infrastructure.
This fund is now closed, and the total fund value has been awarded to projects across this area.
How were funding decisions made?
The decisions on who should receive funding were made by an independent panel made up of community representatives from across the beneficiary area.
Which projects received funding?
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to apply to the fund. We received a large volume of applications, showcasing a huge variety of worthwhile projects.
We are delighted to announce the successful projects:
Organisation |
Summary |
Award |
| Stonehaven Sea Cadets | The Sea Cadets and Royal Marine Cadets are water born, activity led, children’s social groups. These funds are being used to provide safety head gear when participating in activities. | £769 |
| Perth Floral Arts Club | Delivery of a Creative Flower Arranging event within the Perth Festival of Arts Programme 2026. | £1,000 |
| Perthshire Welfare Society | 15 weeks of lunch sessions with the aim of reducing social isolation. The aim of this project is to provide a welcoming space for social connection, with an enjoyable atmosphere that promotes laughter, music, and community spirit while addressing the emotional and social needs of participants. | £1,500 |
| Adoption and Fostering Group Angus | Arranging Summer Activity sessions for adopted and fostered children and their families and carers. This provides an opportunity for children to develop greater bonds with their families and carers as well as exposing them to new experiences. | £1,616 |
| Blairgowrie, Alyth and Rattray Triathlon Club | A new triathlon club that helps to improve both social and physical wellbeing to the community through sport and being part of a club. | £1,974 |
| Crook of Devon Village Hall | This project will improve indoor sports facilities in our village, by purchasing equipment and providing free taster sessions to improve our community’s health and wellbeing. | £2,000 |
| International Café Perth | International Café regularly welcomes newcomers, also refugees, asylum seekers and long-term residents, encouraging cultural exchange, reducing isolation, supporting mental wellbeing and connection, building familiarity locally. | £2,000 |
| Kinross & District Junior Agriculture Club | Funding for First Aid Courses. | £2,500 |
| Midmill Velohut | Regular bicycle maintenance workshops to help the community of Kintore learn about bicycle maintenance and provide kids with bicycles where families are struggling. | £2,925 |
| Kinross-shire Youth Enterprise SCIO | Provision of a Friday ‘Drop-in’ support service for young people (aged 11-19). This improves the health and wellbeing of young people by providing somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to. The drop-in is led by a youth work team and committed volunteers. | £3,000 |
|
Doric Books CIC |
‘ABC Doric Blethers’ involves a mix of gentle exercise, reminiscence activities and community signing for elderly care home residents. |
£3,360 |
| Blairgowrie Tennis Club | Tennis coaching for 7-8-year-olds in the Blairgowrie High School cluster. | £3,500 |
| Movement Evolution Scotland CIC | An upgrade of parkour equipment at The Movement Bothy at Woodend, Banchory, helping to enhance accessibility, engagement, and diversity in the classes and activities provided. | £3,642 |
| Mackie Rugby Club | Providing weekly wellbeing meditation and yoga sessions for Stonehaven-based Mackie Rugby Club’s Mammoth section in support of the physical and mental wellbeing of men aged 35 - 54 | £3,642 |
| Grampian Opportunities | ‘Our Journey, Our Way’ – Promoting people’s mental wellbeing, establishing healthy connections and habits, and building skills and confidence through therapeutic and learning activities. | £3,642 |
| Forget-Me-Not Club, Dementia Support | Based in Banchory, the organisation provides chair yoga exercise sessions for those attending respite dementia support sessions – providing gentle physical activity and mental stimulation in a safe, secure environment. | £3,642 |
| Glenfarg Community Transport Group | Developing walking opportunities within the Glenfarg & Fossoway and surrounding areas as a collaborative project to encourage active leisure and promote the area for visitors. | £3,642 |
| Kinross Rugby Football Club | Replacement of two storm-damaged rugby posts to restore training and match play for 180 players, promoting health, wellbeing, and community engagement through sport. | £3,642 |
| Perth & Kinross Foodbank | The Egg-stra Project – making 3-day emergency food parcels stretch further by supplying eggs, bread and spread to Perth and Kinross foodbank clients. | £3,642 |
| Perth Minorities Association | “Safe Space” provides 2.5 hour wellbeing sessions with meals, networking, and workshops addressing social isolation, poverty, unemployment, and legal issues for vulnerable individuals, including ethnic minorities. | £3,642 |
| Fair City Juniors FC | Based in Perth, and providing opportunities for 3–5-year-olds and adults 16 + to access football, food, support and learning opportunities. | £3,642 |
| Perthshire Rugby | Perthshire Rugby are organising five days of community rugby events, including mini rugby, 7’s competitions, and a Veterans Day, fostering inclusivity and engagement across all ages in Perth & Kinross. | £3,642 |
| Deaf Links | Peer support mental wellbeing workshops for Deaf women in Perthshire and Angus who have suffered gender-based violence and abuse. | £3,642 |
| Perth & Kinross Society for the Blind (VisionPK) | To deliver a series of health and wellbeing workshops to benefit service users, which will include drumming, low intensity strength and balance sessions. | £3,871 |
| Salle Ossian Fencing Club | A pilot 6-week project, based around fencing and fitness, in local primary schools, promoting physical activity, improving mental focus, developing co-ordination, and boosting self-confidence in children. | £3,900 |
| Angus Young Engineers | Angus Young Engineers’ kit car project brings disadvantaged young people from the local community together to design, build, test and race an electric powered kit car. | £3,930 |
| Westmuir Community Development Fund | Upgrades to a long-established Community Woodland, including improvement to signage and seating, to offer the community more opportunities to enjoy the woods and its path network, wildlife and peace and tranquillity. | £3,940 |
| LGBT Youth Scotland | A programme of activities for LGBTQ+ young people in Perth aged 13-15, supporting them to build wellbeing through exploring their identities and connecting with community. | £4,000 |
| Perth Autism Support SCIO | Our Sibling Project aims to support children with an autistic sibling by offering a safe place to engage with peers and understand autism. | £4,091 |
| Strathmore Community Rugby Trust | Enabling walking rugby sessions, a slower, non-contact version of rugby for adults who are looking to increase their levels of physical activity. | £4,142 |
| MANTALK | Based in Blairgowrie, improving men’s mental health through yoga, fitness classes and personal training – removing costs and barriers preventing men from helping themselves. | £4,147 |
| Blairgowrie & Rattray Community Football Trust | Community development programme promoting health and wellbeing, including community activities and provision of a warm space. | £4,147 |
| Sustainable Kirriemuir | Enabling active travel in Kirriemuir, through an e-bike and shipping container for e-bike storage. | £4,308 |
| PLUS Perth & Kinross | A nature restoration project for people with mental health issues who are keen to increase their knowledge and skills in biodiversity and use them to make a part of the city centre of Perth greener and more pleasant for all of us. | £4,326 |
| Perth Archery Club | Acquire new equipment to support a greater number of new and developing members in the sport. | £4,395 |
| Alyth Bowling & Tennis Club | To purchase a range of new and adapted equipment to benefit existing members and encourage all abilities to join and enjoy the facilities. | £4,395 |
| West Perth Explorer Scout Unit | Provision of a wider range of outdoor activities, such as camping, for 14 – 18-year-olds to develop skills, confidence and self-esteem. | £4,427 |
| Deeside Bike Collective | Installation of wheelchair accessible multi-use ‘boundary trail’ core path on the Banchory woodland trails. | £4,440 |
| Kanzen for Life | Kanzen for Life will provide accessible free to access Karate to 15 people (5 years & above) in Kirriemuir in classes for 6 months, as well as over 100 hours of free activity to primary schools within the Kirriemuir cluster. | £4,500 |
| Garioch Community Kitchen | Based in Inverurie, and providing cookery classes to children and adults across Aberdeenshire, focussing on making affordable healthy meals whilst learning transferable skills and meeting new people. | £4,600 |
| Kintore and District Community Council | Inverurie First Responders are a voluntary group who are called upon by the Scottish Ambulance Service to provide quick and local response to medical emergencies. The funding will provide essential PPE and a manikin for CPR and first aid training to groups across the area. | £4,703 |
| Drumoak Durris Warm Space | A weekly Warm Space event throughout the winter months which offers food, refreshments, entertainment and wellbeing support. | £4,722 |
| The Alba Explorers Centre for Outdoor Innovation CIC | The project is focused on boosting the health and wellbeing of pupils at Edzell and Stracathro Primary Schools through Outdoor and Environmental Education. | £4,792 |
| Live Active Leisure Ltd. Active Schools | An intervention-like judo programme at two schools in Perth, for pupils who are hard to reach across the academic year. | £4,800 |
|
Arts Included CIC |
Based in Menstrie, the project offers a series of free creative workshop activities to help increase wellbeing and to develop an ongoing service for engagement within communities. | £4,940 |
| Woodend Arts Limited | Based near Banchory, The Barn’s Third Stage Art Programme addresses loneliness and enhances wellbeing for rural individuals aged 55+ through inclusive, co-designed art activities, led by a professional artist. | £5,000 |
| The Haven | Funding for a New Mum Wellbeing Group, inspired and created for New Mums in the Stonehaven community who would like to connect, support and prioritise some time for their wellbeing. | £5,000 |
| Friends of Stonehaven Open Air Pool (SOAP) | Purchase of a sauna to maximise health and wellbeing benefits and attractiveness of cold-water swimming sessions. | £5,000 |
| ADHD Adventures Ltd |
We are looking to expand our ADHD support service across Aberdeenshire, through the setting up of additional support groups across rural areas. |
£5,000 |
| Broke Not Broken | Local excursions for low-income families referred to the project. Includes travel, two meals and entry tickets. | £5,000 |
| Kirrie Connections | Kirriemuir-based Kirrie Connections is a dementia support hub, home to the first meeting centre in Scotland, delivers person-centred evidence-based support to people living with dementia and their families. | £5,000 |
| Alyth Junior Youth Football Club | The purchase of floodlights for the boy’s football team to allow them to train at their home park. | £5,000 |
| Kirriemuir Youth Project | Summer School Holiday activity club targeted at 11–15-year-olds. Aims to provide a diverse range of activities that inspire curiosity, encourage social interaction and introduce the young people to new hobbies and skills. | £5,000 |
| Coupar Angus Youth Activities Group (CAYAG) | Wellbeing workshops that run fortnightly for 12 months, offering opportunities such as creative arts, yoga, music, cookery and outdoor activities for children and their families. | £5,000 |
| Growspace Creations CIC | Transforming one acre of neglected land into a beautiful vegetable and flower garden, connecting people though the joint venture of growing together. | £5,000 |
| Meigle Cricket Club |
Create a state School of Cricket programme at Blairgowrie High School and feeder primaries to level up opportunities for our rural East Perthshire young cricketers. |
£5,000 |
| Stanley Development Trust | Continuation of the Care and Wellbeing Project over 2025, providing socialisation and befriending opportunities for all age groups in our community. This includes a weekly Soup Club and monthly Family, Food and Fun events. | £5,000 |
| Kirriemuir Thistle Community Football Club | Installation of flood lighting at outdoor pitches, enabling the outdoor training facilities to be used during the winter months. | £5,000 |
| Music Broth | Musical Connections is a year of monthly inclusive, welcoming, diverse, supportive community-led music making workshops for creativity, positive mental health, wellbeing and togetherness, and culminating showcase. | £5,000 |
| All Strong Scotland | This project will directly support the mental and physical health of both unpaid carers, as well as those with common mental health conditions, in Perth & Kinross. | £5,000 |
| Perth & Kinross Disability Sport SCIO | This project will provide meaningful wheelchair sport and physical activity opportunities for people of all ages with a disability, at no cost to the participants. | £5,000 |
| Ochils Mountain Rescue Team | The purchase of essential rescue equipment, ensuring OMRT can continue to support the community, delivering life-saving services effectively and safely in challenging conditions. | £5,000 |
| Alyth Hill Users Group | Maintenance and improvement to Alyth Bike Park – a mountain bike trail under the care of a small charity, Alyth Hill Users Group. | £5,000 |
Spotlighting East Coast Projects and Initiatives
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.
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.
East Coast Local Fund FAQs
