Highland Council Charitable Trusts award over £100,000 to schools and community groups

2nd April 2025

At the recently held meeting of the Educational Trusts Sub Committee, the trustees made awards of over £105,000 to a wide variety of individuals and organisations from The Highland Council Charitable Trusts. The awards ranged from a few hundred pounds to £10,000.

Applications for the next round of awards to support students going to college and university are now open from 1 April until 15 August 2025, with awards made in September 2025. For further information and to submit an application, please visit: Highland Council Charitable Trusts.
https://highlandcouncilcharitabletrusts.org/

Caithness Trusts
https://highlandcouncilcharitabletrusts.org/caithness-educational-trust/

Educational Trusts Sub Committee Chair, Cllr Drew Millar said: "Following the modernisation of the educational trust funds, the trustees were delighted to approve a wide range of applications. These included supporting young people to travel and further their educational experiences, supporting sports clubs and other educational organisations across the Highlands, and grants for local community activities. We look forward to approving a variety of bursaries and scholarships in September for those embarking on college and university courses."

Notable awards include funding to support Inverness City Youth Pipe Band to travel to Spain and Skye Youth Pipe Band to visit Italy, to take part in cultural events and represent the Highlands.

Inverness City Youth Pipe Band Chair, Andy Hamilton said: "It is a great honour to be invited to Teba in Southern Spain, where we will meet with traditional musicians from the local area. We are looking forward to leading the procession through the town to the castle. The funding of £5,000 will ensure that band members will not be excluded due to cost thanks to Inverness-shire Educational Trust supporting our young people."

Plockton High School have received funding for the Am Bata boat building project. Headteacher, Jo Scott-Moncrieff said: "For sixteen years we have provided a boatbuilding experience for young people which provides a service to the local community by building and repairing boats using traditional methods and materials, preserving skills which have been handed down for generations, while also preparing participating senior pupils for the world of work and life after leaving school. Boatbuilding at Plockton High School is well-established and highly regarded for the unique experience it offers and the specialist skills which young people develop through their participation. The school community are grateful to the Gairloch and Plockton Educational Trust for supporting our project."

Many schools throughout the council area will shortly receive funding for special prizes in line with bequestors' wishes from as far back as the nineteenth century. These include the Mackintosh Farr Fund of 1862, which is incorporated into the Inverness Royal Academy Endowment Trust.