Skye Reinforcement Local Fund

This fund will support projects that fall within the following themes/priorities:  

• Affordable & Diverse Housing Options (including a range of tenure options such as woodland crofts, rent-to-buy etc).   

• Community Assets and Infrastructure (including acquiring or improving community assets such as village halls).    

• Community Capacity Building (including supporting core costs for community organisations to work toward long-term sustainability, for example through income-generating projects or strengthening operational capacity). Applications from organisations working in partnership to share resource are welcomed (for instance for a staff member to work across more than one organisation).  

• Local Amenities / Services (including facilities such as community shop, men's shed, tool libraries and sport / recreational activities).    

• Transport and Connectivity (including community transport, active travel paths and infrastructure improvements to enhance accessibility).  

Under these priorities, activities or projects that focus on or involve young people and projects that support or involve Gaelic will be especially welcomed.  

Applications will not be considered if they fall under the following categories:  

• The advancement of religion or politics (including requests to support the core activities of religious or political groups)   

• Direct costs of energy consumption   

• Community energy projects whose main purpose is generating electricity for sale   

• The repayment of loans or payment of debts   

• Trips abroad   

• Feasibility studies   

• Costs already incurred or activities which will take place before a funding decision has been made (retrospective funding)   

• Payments towards areas generally understood to be the primary responsibility of a statutory authority 

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be a legally constituted community group, a non-profit organisation, or a registered charity. Your Board or Committee must also have at least three unrelated people serving on the management committee/board.  

Applications will only be considered if they are within the area of benefit, fall under the identified themes, and fit the fund assessment criteria.   

Statutory bodies, such as local authorities, are only eligible to apply for the fund if they do so in partnership with community organisation(s) and the community organisation must be the lead applicant. Funding is not available for any projects that are generally understood to be the primary responsibility of statutory authorities, so these partnership projects must show clear additional outcomes and impact.    

Applications will not be considered if they fall under the following categories:  

• The advancement of religion or politics (including requests to support the core activities of religious or political groups)   

• Direct costs of energy consumption   

• Community energy projects whose main purpose is generating electricity for sale   

• The repayment of loans or payment of debts   

• Trips abroad   

• Feasibility studies   

• Costs already incurred or activities which will take place before a funding decision has been made (retrospective funding)   

• Payments towards areas generally understood to be the primary responsibility of a statutory authority

Up to £1,800,000 will be available in the first year of the fund for individual applications of up to £100,000 each. The distribution of funding across different sizes of projects will be based on the quality of applications, and we expect to see a range of grant amounts being awarded. The total amount of funding available in the first year is dependent on the main construction start dates of eligible infrastructure, as per the UK Government guidance funding can only be released once main construction has begun. 

As a flexible funder, SSEN is open to raising the upper limit of £100,000 for exceptional projects, at the discretion of the Local Investment Forum. Applicants who wish to apply for more than £100,000 are encouraged to contact the Community Investment Manager (community.benefit@sse.com) at an early stage to discuss. 

We can fund up to 100% of a project, or we can part fund along with other funders. Our fund can be used as one of several funding sources including other SSE group community benefit funds. 

Funding is available for both revenue and capital costs. Where necessary, full cost recovery is also available, meaning that you are able to apply for all your organisation’s costs, including the direct costs of your project and associated overheads.   

SSEN Transmission are a Real Living Wage funder, meaning that any salary costs applied for must be the Real Living Wage as a minimum. If you are considering applying for multi-year funding, please ensure that any uplifts in salary costs, due to inflation, are taken into account.  

his fund is currently accepting applications. Applications must be submitted through the Community Investment Portal. The portal ensures all applicant data is held securely and makes it easier for groups to apply for and manage grants. 

To prepare for your application, you can download the application guidance which includes a sample application form. It has all the questions you will be asked during the online application process, and guidance on how to answer them. 

If you are starting a new application, you can apply on the application portal.

Download the guidance

Applications will be assessed based on how well they fit with the fund themes. Priority will also be given to projects that are closest to the infrastructure. In addition, projects will be assessed on the following:  

• Value for money – providing evidence that the project has a high impact for the amount invested (e.g. project outcomes, number of beneficiaries).  

• Community involvement – evidence that the community/communities and relevant stakeholders have been engaged in the development and implementation of a project, e.g. community action plan, surveys, service user involvement, community consultations, open days, letters of support, volunteering days etc.  

• Financial sustainability – Evidencing that a project will continue beyond the funding period, or where this is not possible, defining an end point for the project and how it will be responsibly closed.  

• Community demand/need – Evidence of an identified need for the project, e.g. Community  Action Plan/Local Place Plan, service user surveys, research, SIMD data etc.  

• Deliverability – Evidence that the project has been clearly thought through, that the required resources will be available to deliver the project (for example, through bringing in match-funding or loan finance) and that any partners needed to deliver the project are already committed to being involved. Contingency costs can also be included in your application. Whilst match funding is not a requirement, having other funding sources in place can provide supporting evidence of the viability of a project.

The decisions on who should receive funding will be made by an independent local investment forum covering the Local Authority’s ‘Highland West & Mid’ area (wards 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 21). This forum will be made up of community members, representing the communities of this local fund and other local funds in the area.