Grants of upto £1.5m available for ‘place-based’ revival

GRANTS of upto £1.5m are to be made available, to help revive Scotland’s towns and villages.

Says the organisation behind the scheme, the ‘quango’, Historic Environment Scotland: “The new Heritage & Place Programme is an area-based funding programme that aims to contribute to the development of vibrant and sustainable places in Scotland through community-based regeneration of the historic environment.”

HES continues (here): “Heritage focused schemes that are located within conservation areas or distinctive heritage areas will be supported through the programme. Grants, which will typically be between £750,000 – £1.5m, will support a combination of activities including the repair and reuse of historic environment assets, training to strengthen local traditional skills, and building capacity within communities to value and look after the historic environment in the long-term. “

It adds that the new programme will replace HES’s Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) which ran from 2007 to 2020. This follows a review that HES carried out of its grants programmes to update and streamline its existing grants through the development of a new framework to guide future investment. The Heritage & Place Programme is open to local authorities, national park authorities and not-for-profit organisations.”

Pictured: Musselburgh, East Lothian, Picture credit: Place Design Scotland