We are delighted to say that the final grant from the Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund has been awarded.
Through the Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund, the Cairngorms Trust has now awarded grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 to 11 projects across the National Park that celebrate local heritage, crafts, art and music.
Strathdon Heritage Group will receive £5,000 towards the creation of a heritage hub at Bellabeg. The grant will be used to provide basic heating and lighting and allow the storage of archive materials.
A partnership between the Trust and Cairngorms National Park Authority, the Communities and Cultural Heritage Fund was launched last autumn, with a £50,000 pot. Due to a huge response from communities across the National Park, the park authority subsequently provided an extra £15,000, boosting the total to £65,000.
All the projects are expected to be completed by February 2027.
The full grant list:
Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust
Digitising the Glenmore Norwegian Stone Archive – £3,805 towards digitising the material collected about the area’s links with Kompani Linge, which trained in the Cairngorms during World War II.
Badenoch Waulking Group
Wool to Cloth – £3,375 towards production of booklet marking 30 years of the group, plus a short documentary about the group and its practices, and a day of waulking at the Highland Folk Museum.
Braemar Local History Group
Braemar Local History Archive Website Development – £7,300 towards uploading digital archive material and establish a website allowing public access to the archives in the area.
Cairngorms Crofters and Farmers Community Ltd
Cairngorms Agri-Connections, £6,672 towards a one-year pilot scheme to support the wellbeing of crofters and farmers in the Cairngorms, including farm visits, community gatherings and oral history recording.
The Duff Highlanders Society
Duff Highlanders Uniform – £5,000 towards recruitment of new members and to provide uniforms and traditional weapons.
Ed Smith Photography
River Spey Project Phase 2 – £10,000 towards the creation of exhibition about the River Spey, which will tour national park communities.
Fèis Spè
Fèis October week and sound desk – £6,900 towards the purchase of a sound desk for use by Fèis Spè bands and events, and to fund tutors for Fèis days.
Grantown Business Association
Grantown Open Studios – £8,674.80 towards promotional material and engagement activities for open studio event involving 18 artists in Grantown, plus five from the wider Cairngorms.
Grantown Museum and Heritage Trust
Spinning Yarns – Stories of Strathspey Textiles, £6,050 towards an exhibition of rare Strathspey tartan and floor looms to tell the story of the area’s weaving heritage, and programme of talks, walks, demonstrations and workshops.
IRL Education CIC
Kingussie Traditional Boat Building Project – £2,517 towards supporting pupils from Kingussie High School to design, build and launch a traditional canoe, kayak and Spey coracle.
Strathdon Heritage Group
Project: Heritage Hub, £5,000 towards proposals to create a heritage hug in Bellabeg. This grant will fund creation of a workplace with basic heating and lighting and allow storage of archive materials.
