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Rural communities
23/02/2008
Almost £200,000 is to be invested through the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) to ensure rural communities can access a wide range of funding programmes, Richard Lochhead announced today.
The money will allow the SCVO to support rural communities outwith crofting counties prepare investment plans. This will mean good applications to programmes including LEADER, the Big Lottery and the Scottish Rural Development Programme.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead made the announcement during his address to the Village Halls Summit in Aviemore.
He said:
"There is a long and proud tradition in rural areas of communities getting on and doing things for themselves. I understand and applaud this. I also recognise the challenges this creates.
"Last August the Scottish Government awarded £100,000 per annum to the Crofters Commission to enable them to continue supporting crofting communities in drawing up investment plans. At that time I pledged to consider how similar support could be provided for the rest of Scotland.
"We shall be awarding almost £200,000 to the SCVO to support non crofting areas. The measure of success for both the Crofters Commission and the SCVO will be how well this meets the needs of rural communities.
"Our target is to ensure a good quality ongoing rolling programme of funding applications. This will empower local communities and harness an enthusiasm to build sustainable futures."