Caithness & North Sutherland Community Groups Awarded over £142K!

25th March 2013

The Caithness & North Sutherland Fund recently awarded its latest round of community grants totalling over £142k. The grants were awarded to eleven community and voluntary groups in the Dounreay travel to work area for projects that help to make Caithness & North Sutherland an attractive place to live, work and invest in.

This latest round was the Fund’s first quarter assessment for 2013 which saw the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority funded grant body experiencing its busiest assessment round to date. The Fund currently holds quarterly assessment rounds and since its launch in October 2011, it has continued to see a steady flow of applications for funding support to a wide range of community projects.

Fund Chairman John Henderson stated “The Board is delighted to see that the Fund is continuing to attract a significant number of applications for each assessment round and this latest round of grant awards brings the Fund’s total funding commitment to over £530k”.

The grants were awarded to nine community groups in Caithness and two in North Sutherland. The closing date for the next assessment round is the 25th of April and further details about the Caithness & North Sutherland Fund can be found at www.cnsf.org.uk or by contacting the Fund’s Coordinator David Shearer on enquiries[AT]cnsf.org.uk Tel: 07841 204 982.

Awarded Projects
Berriedale Portland Hall Committee – BPH Refurbishment Project
Awarded £30,000
Towards a refurbishment programme of the Berriedale Portland Hall.

Caithness Rugby Football Club – Four Change Room Rugby & Associated Facilities Project
Awarded £30,000
Towards building a new four changing room rugby pavilion with associated facilities on a site adjacent to the existing facilities and pitch at Millbank Playing fields in Thurso.

Reay Golf Club – Replacement of Essential Golf Equipment Project
Awarded £ 5,500
Towards purchase of a fairways mower and to carry out improvements to wash-down facilities and storage provision at Reay Golf Club.

Pentland Canoe Club – Paddlesport Coach and Leadership Development Programme.
Awarded £29,928.18
Towards a 5 year development programme to develop a new generation of qualified coaches and guides.

Caithness Big Band – Bring the Band Outside Project
Awarded £2,138
Towards the purchase of a professional quality stage piano for the Bring the Band Outside Project.

North Coast Community Transport Association – Replacement Minibus Project
Awarded £6,000
Towards purchase of a replacement minibus with wheelchair provision to enable NCCTA to continue to provide its services to meet the community transport and social needs of the senior and disabled residents of the Bettyhill, Kirtomy and Strathnaver area.

Thurso High School Mountain Bike Riders – Start-Up THS Mountain Bike Riders Project
Awarded £5,258
Towards the start-up costs for an after school mountain bike club situated at Thurso High School.

Wick High School Parent Council – WHS Belize 2013 Project
Awarded £2,000
Towards the costs associated for WHS Belize 2013 trip to Belize comprising of three phases involving conservation works in the tropical rainforest, working on community projects with the Maya community and also a reflection phase.

The Elise Lyall School of Dance – Scotdance 2013 Canada Project
Awarded £2,000
Towards the costs for ELSD to take ten dancers of various ages to compete at the Scotdance Highland Dancing Championships in Montreal in July 2013 and actively promote the vibrant highland dancing culture that exists in Caithness and North Sutherland promoting the busy Highland Games circuit.

Thurso Players – Mill Theatre Roof Project
Awarded £20,000
Towards the costs of roof works repairs on the B Listed Mill Theatre Building in Thurso.

Timespan - Helmsdale Heritage and Arts Society – Translocation Excavation Project
Awarded £10,000
Towards the costs of a community excavation project in Caen to unearth information about a traumatic period in the community’s history. The excavation programme will include a variety of activities including an exhibition, digital reconstruction and artist residency and will integrate into a wider arts and heritage programme around the 2013 Bicentenary of the Kildonan Clearances.

About The Fund
Caithness & North Sutherland Fund is a company established by Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, DSRL and Dounreay Stakeholder Group to distribute funding provided by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority as a planning condition associated with the construction of the low level waste facilities at Dounreay.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will provide £4M funding via DSRL; £1M at the start of construction (already received) and £300,000 pa from 2014 to 2023.

Funding is distributed in line with the NDA socio economic policy.

The Board Directors of Caithness & North Sutherland Fund comprises (i) up to three Highland Councillors from Caithness & North Sutherland nominated by the Highland Council; and (ii) four individuals appointed to represent the local community as a result of an open application process.

For further information on Caithness & North Sutherland Fund, please see www.cnsf.org.uk or contact the Fund Coordinator on enquiries[AT]cnsf.org.uk Tel: 07841 204 982