The local communities of Fife, Aultbea and Shapinsay are celebrating receiving funding from the Scottish Land Fund, with the money allowing community groups to purchase local assets to use them for the benefit of their communities. 

Shapinsay Development Trust; Shapinsay, Orkney 

In Orkney, Shapinsay Development Trust was awarded £92,510 from the Scottish Land Fund to develop an area of land on Shapinsay, Orkney into a thriving community hub. The land at Balfour, which will be purchased by the group, also has potential for social housing, self-build plot and an enterprise zone for local businesses. 

Welcoming the funding, Davie Campbell, Project Manager at Shapinsay Development Trust commented: 

“We are delighted to receive this support from the Scottish Land Fund. This funding will allow the Trust to own and create a vital multi-purpose facility that includes all the elements within the 5-year development plan, which was shaped by the community.” 

“This is a result of strong community support and hard work from the Trust’s board and their staff. It is an ambitious and exciting project for Shapinsay and hopefully can act as a blueprint for other communities in Orkney’’.  

Ceres Community Café in Fife 

In the North East of Scotland, the Ceres Community Cafe in Fife, has been awarded £56,042 to purchase the building that the Village Cafe has leased since 2018, allowing them to carry out repairs and expand the much-needed support they already provide to the local community.  

Sharing her delight, Karen Young, Director of the Ceres Community Cafe, commented: “We are delighted to receive vital funding from the Scottish Land Fund which will help us to secure the future of our community cafe. It will enable us to develop the café into an even greater community hub, and to ultimately benefit the community in every way we can”.  

Aultbea Community Hub in Aultbea 

The small coastal fishing village of Aultbea in the Scottish highlands is also celebrating their share from the Scottish Land Fund. 

Aultbea Community Hub have received £99,460, which will allow them to buy Aultbea Church. The group intend to use the church as a cherished community facility which will provide a range of community support activities and services, focussing on wellbeing, arts, and entertainment.  

Roger Kendall, Treasurer and Trustee of Aultbea Community Hub told us: “We are extremely grateful to be awarded this grant as it enables us to retain a significant local building in community ownership. We can now turn our attention to long-term plans to re-purpose and modernise this underused building, whilst also giving security of tenure to Aultbea Men’s Shed and the Royal Mail Sorting Office but still allowing the continuation of church services

About the Scottish Land Fund 

These communities are just three of many in Scotland who have received a boost thanks to the Scottish Land Fund. 

The Scottish Land Fund supports rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets. 

The Scottish Land Fund was relaunched in 2012 as a Scottish Government programme. Since the first grants were made in early 2013 it has awarded 340 grants totalling £59 million to 282 community groups across Scotland. 

This is in addition to the £13.9 million awarded to 188 community groups in rural Scotland when the Scottish Land Fund was first launched in 2001 with National Lottery funds. 

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Feeling inspired? 

The Scottish Land Fund is currently open to applications to support rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets. 

To discuss what we might be able to support, please get in touch with the Scottish Land Fund team at The National Lottery Community Fund on advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or 0300 123 7110.