This round of Community Regeneration Funding (CRF) of over £800k will be financed from the Community Led Local Development fund (CLLD), a competitive Highland-wide funding programme for rural areas. Therefore, applicants within Inverness City area are not eligible to apply during this round of funding as the CLLD fund is for rural areas only. All other areas in Highland are eligible to apply, with the additional exception of the Badenoch & Strathspey area which has its own CLLD fund managed by the Cairngorm Trust.

Community Regeneration Funding, or CRF, is an umbrella term being used to cover multiple community-led external funding programmes administered by the Highland Council. This includes the Highland Coastal Communities Fund, Place-Based Investment Programme and Community Led Local Development funds.

Funding will be delivered via a single step application process. Any organisation or community group wishing to apply can attend online drop-in information sessions ahead of submitting their application. This will be an opportunity to ask the CRF team any queries about eligibility of the projects seeking funding and any specific queries relating to the application form.

Projects must be able to demonstrate how they will meet at least one of the strategic objectives of the fund and how they support the aims and identified priorities of the local plans if a plan has been developed in the area.

Successful applicants will be notified at the end of August 2024. Projects must be in a position to start from the 1 September 2024.

Decisions on which projects are successful in receiving funding will be taken by the Highland Strategic Local Advisory Group. This group is made up of third sector representatives, public and private organisations.

The deadline to submit applications is 12pm on Wednesday 17 July 2024.

Application forms and further information on the fund and the eligibility criteria can be found on The Highland Council’s website.