The fund, which is delivered in partnership with the Scottish Government, supports locally developed regeneration projects for communities, helping with job creation and support, and in building sustainable communities. A total of £25m is available through the fund across Scotland.

The opening of applications marks Round 9 of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund. Since the grant fund opened in 2014, 14 projects from The Highland Council region have received funding. Among the projects that have previously secured grants are Midmills Creative Hub with a £1,700,000 grant, Armadale Redevelopment with a £311,652 grant, Eigg Community Hub redevelopment with a £1,200,000 grant, and Merkinch Welfare Hall received a grant of £200,127.

Applications must be submitted by the Highland Council so organisations and projects interested in applying should submit an expression of interest form on the Council’s website. This will be used to develop an official application should the project satisfy the criteria of the fund.

Among the criteria for projects are ones that focus on areas suffering from high levels of deprivation and disadvantage, that demonstrate clear community involvement, that will deliver large scale transformational change with strong regeneration outcomes, and projects and programmes that can encourage additional investment and address market failure.

Councillor Margaret Davidson, leader of the Highland Council, said: “The Highland Council has been successful in securing Regeneration Capital Grant Fund grants from the Scottish Government since it was established in 2014 and I would encourage any organisations or groups with worthy projects to submit an expression of interest.

“We’ve seen first-hand how successful previous regeneration projects have been so I look forward to hearing details of the new projects and hope the Highlands will benefit from the grant fund over the course of 2022-2023.”

The form can be downloaded from the council’s website with a deadline for submissions of May 24.