The Rural Direct service which the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organizations and the Crofters Commission are jointly co-ordinating, offers advice, support, and technical expertise to help groups in rural communities access a range of funding opportunities to develop their communities.
Rural Direct will help your community group with the applications process to programmes such as the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) which offers opportunities for communities through its Rural Priorities and LEADER funding programmes.
Rural Direct will also help in developing and writing the best possible funding applications and help you understand and identify the range of other funding opportunities available. 
Rural Direct is a free service available to constituted community groups in rural areas throughout Scotland. The Crofters Commission are delivering the scheme in the Crofting Counties and the SCVO are delivering the service in the rest of Scotland. You can contact the service by calling 0845 838 8598. Calls will be charged at local rate. You can also email your query to ruraldirect@crofterscommission.org.uk or ruraldirect@scvo.org.uk .
You can read more about Rural Direct and how it could help your rural community by downloading the Rural Direct leaflet