Individuals and groups have until 5pm on February 28 to submit their applications for the latest round of the Localities Bid Fund.

The fund is designed to support projects and initiatives that address local priorities and benefit local towns, villages and communities.

Members of the public will ultimately decide which projects should get money.

The fund is split among five areas in the Borders (known as localities):

• Berwickshire – £48,374
• Cheviot – £50,568
• Eildon – £119,802
• Teviot and Liddesdale – £40,080
• Tweeddale – £61,416

Each bid will be assessed, and if it meets the essential criteria it will go forward to a public vote in each locality.

Councillor Sandy Aitchison, executive member for neighbourhoods and locality services, said: “We would encourage as many people and groups as possible to submit their Localities Bid Fund applications before it’s too late.

“This is a chance for you to play your part and improve the lives of people in your community, just by putting a bid in.

“We’ve had some interesting applications so far and look forward to seeing more come forward.”

Entry criteria for the Localities Bid Fund has been relaxed.

Changes include:

• The fund is not restricted to new projects
• The cap for constituted groups has been raised from £10,000 to £15,000
• Staffing costs of 50 percent of the total application will be considered (but cannot be used to supplement funding core staffing activity/time)
• The fund will consider structural changes to buildings

The scheme’s first round in 2017 saw over £200,000 distributed to projects across the region.

However the second round was postponed last November as it hadn’t attracted enough sustainable bids to go forward to a public vote.