Give • Protect • Grow

What is the Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund?

The overall purpose of the Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund is to support community-led planning and development in the National Park that will help communities meet their aspirations and enhance community resilience. This is a partnership fund between the Cairngorms Trust and the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA).

Community led projects have been at the heart of the Cairngorms Trust.  The CNPA through Voluntary Action Badenoch and Strathspey and Marr Area Partnership have worked with most communities in the National Park to develop and update their Community Action Plan (CAP) to identify the communities’ priorities and issues that are important to them.  Helping envision a longer-term vision for up to ten years, with more detailed activity across the four specified themes:

1. A culturally vibrant community
2. A socially connected community
3. A climate conscious community
4. An economically thriving community

You can find more information about the process  here and find your community action plan here

The Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund is designed to support communities to deliver their CAP priorities and address current needs within the context of the National Park Partnership Plan 2022-27.

Who can apply?

The Fund is open to Community Councils, Community Development Trusts and other community organisations (constituted and non-constituted) located in the Cairngorms National Park.

We also welcome applications from Community Interest Companies, sole traders, and micro-businesses located inside / out with the National Park whose project beneficiaries must be communities in the National Park.  If you have questions about eligibility, please contact us at communitygrants@cairngorms.co.uk

What will it fund?

The Fund aims to support two of the themes in the CAP.

• A culturally vibrant community – projects that support and celebrate the unique identity and heritage of communities e.g. community spaces, features, buildings, people, traditions.
• A socially connected community – projects that support communities to be happy, healthy, accessible and inclusive e.g. improving facilities, amenities, spaces, events and housing.

Projects must benefit communities within the National Park boundary and should link to at least one of the key priorities in the National Park Partnership Plan 2022-27 specifically B2, B3, B4, B5, B7, B8, B10, C3, C4, C10 (see descriptions below).

The Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund can cover the costs of a mix of revenue and capital projects.

Eligible revenue costs might include consultancy fees for feasibility studies, designs for projects, running costs for events and activities, travel and promotion costs, contribution towards staff salaries.

Eligible capital costs might include new assets, such as building, equipment, infrastructure and other items e.g. signage.

Project spend must be complete and claimed within a calendar year of the date on your Offer of Grant letter. Projects that require planning consent will not be eligible if it is not already in place prior to March 2027.

How much is the Fund worth?

The Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund has a total of £50,000 to be distributed to community projects.

The expected grant award for successful projects will be approximately £5,000 but applications will be considered for awards ranging from £2,500 to £10,000.

All funding requests should include the total costs including non-recoverable VAT. Grants can be awarded for 100% of the total cost, though this may vary according to the individual project. This can be discussed with the relevant project officer.

Criteria

Applications will be assessed against a scoring system based on five criteria listed below:

1. How well does the project contribute to the two Community Action Plan themes and Fund priorities?
2. How does the project contribute to delivering the National Park Partnership Plan?
3. How does the project benefit the cultural heritage and wider community of the National Park?
4. How well thought out is the project? Does it have clear objectives, outcomes and outputs and is it deliverable by February 2027?
5. What is the level of project risk, and can the risks be managed?

What are the key dates?

Expressions of Interest invited by: 9am, 31 August 2026 

Successful EoI's invited to apply by: 17 September 2026

Applications closing: 19 October 2026

Review and scoring of applications: Week of 19 October

Decision meeting for grant awards: Mid November 2026

Project completion (including all spend and claims): Within 12 months of date on Offer of Grant letter 

When will funding be received if our application is successful

We understand that cash flow for new projects can be difficult to arrange. For approved projects, grants will be on the following basis:

1. On approval of project and confirmation of start: 40%.
2. At mid stage (date to be agreed) on basis of reasonable evidence of progress: 40%.
3. On completion of project and provision of any delivery information including your final project report: 20%.

Alternatively, funds can be claimed 100% on completion of the project.

Ready to apply?

If you have read these Guidance Notes and think you have a project that meets with the Cairngorms Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund, themes, outcomes and set criteria, then please apply using the application form at www.cairngormstrust.org.uk

Early engagement with the Cairngorms Trust is encouraged to allow us to provide advice to help develop your project idea

How to contact the Fund

If you need any further information, please contact communitygrants@cairngorms.co.uk

Filling in the application form

Section 1 Project geographical location

For single geographical project locations, please provide an NGR, What3Words, Google maps locator. For park-wide projects, please state “park-wide”. For projects in, or benefitting, multiple locations please provide an annotated map.

Section 2 Basic eligibility

To apply you must be a community organisation (incorporated or unincorporated group), charity or a micro business (less than 10 employees), sole trader or a Community Interest Company (CIC). If you are a business, then your project must benefit the wider community within the National Park.

You should have a bank account in the name of the group or organisation that is applying for funding, or a written agreement from a bank account holder to use their account for the purposes of the project (for example if you are a subgroup of a Community Development Trust).

Projects must be complete, and the grant awarded claimed within a calendar year of the date on your Offer of Grant letter.

Section 3 Project details

Please tell us about your project, its aims, who and what it involves, why and when.

We would like to know how your project aligns with the Community Action Plans. Specifically how does your project link to the two fund themes and is it helping to deliver any of the priorities identified by the community. Please also tell us how your project aligns with at least one of the National Park Partnership Plan priorities: B2 Wellbeing economy, B3 Real Living Wage, B4 Skills and training, B5 Community assets and land, B7 Community-led planning and development, B8 Gaelic language and culture, B10 A park for all, C3 Housing and community benefit, C4 Villages and town centres, C10 Cultural heritage.

Section 4 Project costs

For applicants that cannot recover VAT eg community groups, please include VAT in the total costs.

For applicants that can recover VAT eg businesses who are VAT registered, please exclude VAT in the total costs.