Glenkens & District Community Fund

About this fund

Glenkens & District Community Fund distributes funds provided by Blackcraig Wind Farm (Scotland) Ltd from its Blackcraig wind farm, and Greencoat from its Windy Rig wind farm, both in Dumfries & Galloway.

The main grants programme supports projects located in, or directly benefiting people from the following community council areas: 

Balmaclellan	St John's Town of Dalry
Balmaghie	Dunscore
Carsphairn	Glencairn
Corsock & Kirkpatrick Durham	The Royal Burgh of New Galloway and Kells Parish
Crossmichael & District	Parton

For boundary maps and other information on community council areas, please see the Dumfries & Galloway Council website or contact us for help.

Grants Available

Standard Grant
Grants between £500 - £25,000 are available.  Multi-year awards are also considered up to a maximum timespan of three years and a maximum grant award of £75,000 (capped at £25,000 per year of support sought).  The fund has two deadlines a year.

Large Grants
Grants over £25,000 are considered via a two-stage process. An enquiry must be submitted and approved in advance of full application. Your enquiry will be considered at the next Board meeting and if successful you will be invited to apply and sent a large grant form link directly. The fund has two deadlines a year.

Small Grants
Grants under £500 are made available directly available from each of the Community Councils in the area of benefit. Please contact your Community Council directly to find out more. Find your Community Council here.

Education & Training Fund
Grants of up to £1,000 are available to individuals seeking to access training and education opportunities. Information can be found on the Glenkens & District Education and Training Fund website

Multiple Applications
Groups can submit more than one application within a fund year (June - May) or consolidate multiple projects into a single application, as long as a single application does not exceed the maximum grant level. If more than one application is made, or where more than one project features in an application, the organisation may be asked to confirm the priority order of the applications or projects to facilitate decision-making by GDT. 

Enquiries

We welcome application enquiries. If you have any questions after reading this information page, contact Foundation Scotland on 01557 814927 or email grants@foundationscotland.org.uk

Purpose of this fund

The purpose of the fund is to support our communities to be connected, resilient and carbon-neutral places. We want people to choose to live in the Glenkens, to work and visit, to bring up their families and to grow old. Priorities for the fund are directly linked to the Glenkens & District Community Action Plan which can be viewed here.  To further understand the purpose of this Fund, the Fund Strategy documents may be useful to review.

The fund’s current priorities are:

A Connected Community
This will support activity which helps us to become more connected, for example through projects which promote effective communication, collaboration, sharing of information, skills and assets and which bring people together.

An Asset Rich Community 
This will support activity which aims to make the best use of our assets - people, the natural and built environment – and sustaining them for the future. For example, this could include affordable housing or energy-efficient community spaces; opportunities for young people which support their development; projects which enable people to share skills, knowledge or heritage; supporting biodiversity or improving access to the landscape.

An Economically Flourishing Community
This will support activity that maximises our ability to flourish economically; for example, ensuring equity of access to services, training and opportunities; and focusing on the sustainable best use of local skills and resources such as tourism, food and farming.

A Carbon Neutral Community
This will support activity that supports communities to become carbon neutral. For example, through developing initiatives that seek to reduce carbon footprint such as the production of local energy plans, sustainable transport initiatives, energy efficiency measures, renewable energy initiatives and zero waste projects).

These examples are not intended to be exhaustive. If applicants are unsure as to if and how their project fits with the fund, they are encouraged to contact Foundation Scotland.

How much is available?

Around £250,000 is available each year.

Additional criteria

Community Action Plan

The Glenkens & District Community Fund aims to align itself with the Glenkens & District Community Action Plan (CAP) which can be found in the download section below, alongside the full Fund Strategy. 

Glenkens & District Trust recognises the CAP as an important focal point of community ambition across the fund area, and to support its implementation, priority will be given to projects that align with the CAP. However, this is not a guarantee of an award for CAP-centred projects or a rejection of projects that don't focus solely on the CAP. Every project is considered on merit and the fund supports a wide range of activities that strengthen the community across all the eligible community council areas.

Key Approaches

The fund also will prioritise applications that can demonstrate the use of one or more of the approaches outlined below. These additional criteria are designed to improve how community groups plan, deliver and collaborate on projects. 

• Partnership working: We support applicants who can foster collaboration between organisations to maximise impact through shared resources, capabilities, and expertise across local, regional, and national levels.
• Geographic breadth of impact: We encourage applicants to explore connections and opportunities for broader reach within the fund's area of benefit.
• Building skills, knowledge & understanding: We want to promote opportunities that enhance skillsets and knowledge through formal training, mentoring, peer support, or other development activities that benefit residents and communities.
• Being imaginative: We see value in  both established and novel approaches, encouraging creative solutions to existing challenges. It wants to empower communities to explore ambitious new methods and ideas.
• In it for the long term: We want applicants to consider long-term viability in their activities and to address potential paths to self-sufficiency where possible, while acknowledging that some projects will require ongoing grant support.
• Respecting and caring for our local environment – We recognise the importance of protecting our environment and know that our actions as participants in community life can contribute to the growing climate emergency we all now face. We want to see projects that contribute, even in a very small way, to combatting this emergency.
• Leverage/match funding: Match funding is not mandatory but we would hope that those applying for higher-value grants will be able to demonstrate that other funders are contributing to the total project cost or bids are in progress.
• Procuring smartly: We encourage applicants to work with suppliers of goods and services local to their area. Of course the definition of ‘local’ will vary depending on the goods/services in question. In some cases, it could be taken to mean suppliers located within the fund area of benefit (the ten communities) but in others, a more regional reach may be more appropriate.

Who can apply?

Groups and organisations working to benefit people in any of the eligible communities can apply. 

Your group/organisation must meet our standard eligibility criteria. You don’t need to be a registered charity to apply.

Applications from groups and organisations located outwith the fund area will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must demonstrate a clear benefit for residents within the fund area. 

What can’t be funded?

Information on what the fund cannot support is provided here.

How are decisions made?

Decisions on grant awards are made by Glenkens & District Trust (GDT), a SCIO which exists to enable community development in the Glenkens and surrounding communities. The GDT board comprises residents drawn from across the area of benefit. Fund administration is provided by Foundation Scotland, a national grant-making charity. Our role includes assessing applications received and general liaison with groups.

The Board is made up of Trustees nominated by Community Councils in the fund area along with up to five independent Trustees. Trustees are drawn from the community council areas of Dunscore; St John’s Town of Dalry; New Galloway & Kells; Balmaghie; Crossmichael; Parton; Corsock & Kirkpatrick Durham; and Balmaclellan. The geography and current grantmaking arrangements covered by GDT also takes in the community of Carsphairn, though Carsphairn currently has chosen not to be represented on the Board.

 A list of the current Trustees and more information about GDT including summaries of Board meetings can be found here.