03 April 2020

New Aberdeenshire Community Resilience Fund open for application

Applications are now being taken for a new £200,000 Aberdeenshire Community Resilience Fund.

Aberdeenshire Council recently approved the creation of the support mechanism in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Constituted community groups, resilience groups and volunteering organisations can submit a simple application form to the council’s Area Managers, with the implementation of the resilience fund following a similar approach to the existing Area Committee budgets.

Each of those six areas will have a £20,000 allocation, with the £80,000 balance being available to the whole of Aberdeenshire to be administered by the chair of the Community Resilience and Partnership Workstream.

Grants of up to £2,000 for community resilience work are available and will be awarded on a first-come basis.

As further community resilience funds become available from the Scottish Government, the value of grants and the criteria will be reviewed, however the principle aim at present is to be as flexible as possible for each individual community.

Area Managers’ teams, along with Community Learning and Development, Public Health and Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action the Rural Partnerships and other partners, will continue to work with community resilience groups and volunteers in their areas to provide support and identify any gaps in provision. 

A coordinated approach is also being made with the Local Resilience Partnership and in particular with the British Red Cross, Aberdeen City Council and The Moray Council to ensure the maximum benefit, coverage and support is provided across the Grampian area.

Leader of Aberdeenshire Council, Cllr Jim Gifford, explained: “It will be essential that a coordinated approach is taken through our Local Resilience Partnership to ensure that the most appropriate support is provided as soon as possible for our communities at a local level.

“Linking up local knowledge with an established and experienced organisations will prove hugely-beneficial in terms of speed of operation and reach into our communities.

“The amount of support and levels of volunteering that we are already seeing across Aberdeenshire is really heart-warming and truly inspiring. This funding is aimed at helping groups to continue to provide much-needed assistance and support to their communities at this time.”

You can access the form here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/funding/community-resilience-covid-19/