Cairngorms 2030 Com­munit­ies Fund: mak­ing it hap­pen on the ground

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

A’ Mhaoin-Dual­chais Her­it­age Fund Made pos­sible with Her­it­age Fund

Fam­ily hold­ing a phone Rachel Keenan

---

Pro­gramme vision

“By 2030, The Cairngorms Nation­al Park will be an exem­plar of people and nature thriv­ing togeth­er in a rap­idly chan­ging world.”

Look­ing out over Uath Lochans Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority

---

Our vis­ion

Our ambi­tion is to focus on the innov­at­ive, col­lab­or­at­ive and trans­form­a­tion­al changes required to tackle the nature and cli­mate crisis.

Cairngorms 2030, sup­por­ted by The Nation­al Lot­tery Her­it­age Fund, aims to inspire rur­al and urb­an com­munit­ies through­out Scot­land and beyond.

Regen­er­at­ing Scots pines in Glen­fe­sh­ie © Scot­land: The Big Picture

---

Four core themes under­pin­ning the fund:

• Trans­form the way land is man­aged and used to bene­fit nature
• Empower com­munit­ies to shape the future of their loc­al area
• Make get­ting around the Cairngorms easi­er, safer and greener
• Foster health­i­er, hap­pi­er com­munit­ies with well­being at their heart

---

Pri­or­it­ies

What we heard from the panel:

• The fund should be access­ible to someone who has nev­er applied before and should sup­port the people we’re most try­ing to reach
• Applic­ants should be giv­en time (and sup­port) to devel­op and work up ideas before applying
• Feed­back loops should be included between fund­ing rounds so poten­tial applic­ants can see clearly that the fund is for people like them and can plan ahead

What we’re tak­ing forward:

• A two-year fund timetable with three spe­cif­ic tiers
• An ​‘always on’ small grants fund, medi­um grants awar­ded three times per year and large grants awar­ded in two stages (Mar and Aug ​‘27)
• A pro­gramme of engage­ment and com­mu­nic­a­tions to sup­port the fund’s deliv­ery and outreach

Child play­ing with Lego at engage­ment event © Catri­ona Parmenter

---

Decision-mak­ing forum

What could your com­munity do with a share of £1 mil­lion? We’re look­ing for 18 people from across the Nation­al Park to shape a new Cairngorms 2030 Com­munit­ies Fund. Could you be one of them? PAID OPPORTUNITY

• We will recruit a single, diverse for­um with a bal­ance of geo­graph­ic, demo­graph­ic and EDI representation.
• This for­um will make decisions on the medi­um and large grants and will be in place for the full fund term.
• The paid for­um will be made up of 11 indi­vidu­als. Cur­rent pan­el mem­bers are wel­come to apply.
• We will use a sim­il­ar approach to recruit the for­um as was used for the cur­rent panel.
• Sup­port looks like:
  • Train­ing and capa­city build­ing built into timetable
  • Park Author­ity grants team as ongo­ing advisors
  • Option for for­um to request spe­cif­ic expert­ise (eg leg­al, fin­an­cial) in an advis­ory capacity
• For­um mem­bers recruited for who they are, not based on their exper­i­ence of sim­il­ar fund­ing processes.

---

Equity, diversity and inclusion

What we heard from the panel:

• The fund will dir­ect a min­im­um of 10% of its total value toward pro­jects whose primary bene­fi­ciar­ies are people and com­munit­ies least likely to bene­fit from stand­ard fund­ing pro­cesses – because of who they are, where they live, or bar­ri­ers they face.
• This is not about tick­ing boxes. It’s about mak­ing sure the fund reaches people it would oth­er­wise miss.
• Equity recog­nises that some people need more tar­geted sup­port to have a fair chance. Reach­ing those people requires act­ive pro­mo­tion and prac­tic­al sup­port to apply.

What we’re tak­ing forward:

• Key applic­a­tion ques­tion: ​“Is this pro­ject primar­ily aimed at people who face bar­ri­ers to par­ti­cip­a­tion, or who are under-rep­res­en­ted in the Cairngorms?” (Yes / Partly / No)
• Mon­it­or­ing: Estab­lishes what actu­ally happened vs what was inten­ded to happen

Cairngorms Pride Pad­dlers Dav­id Lintern

---

Eli­gib­il­ity

• Eli­gib­il­ity cri­ter­ia will be in place for all applic­a­tions, regard­less of grant size.
• Eli­gib­il­ity cri­ter­ia will be pass / fail rather than a scored process.
• Applic­a­tions will be reviewed by Park Author­ity grants team, with for­um check-in at every meet­ing. This will include any applic­a­tions that are pending.
• An applic­a­tion must meet all three of the fol­low­ing to proceed:
  • The pro­ject fits with­in a Cairngorms 2030 theme
  • The activ­ity takes place with­in the Nation­al Park
  • The pro­ject deliv­ers com­munity benefit
• All else being equal, first-time applic­ants will be pri­or­it­ised to deliv­er on our pro­gramme ambi­tion to widen participation.
• If the Grants team believe a pro­ject to be undeliv­er­able, it will be deferred to the next decision-mak­ing forum.

A vis­it­or explores Bad­aguish © Dav­id Lintern

---

How we pro­pose scor­ing grant applications

• Two-stage pro­cess
  • The same two-stage struc­ture applies for medi­um and large grants: a hard eli­gib­il­ity / deliv­er­ab­il­ity check, then weighted scor­ing. Assess­ment is a fil­ter for eli­gib­il­ity and not a qual­ity judgement.
• Weighted scor­ing
  • A points sys­tem will help guide the forum’s decision-mak­ing and provide evid­ence to sup­port their con­clu­sions. Cri­ter­ia include geo­graphy, degree of bene­fit, leg­acy and deliverability.
• Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • A pro­ject designed around an EDI group should be weighted more heav­ily in the scor­ing sys­tem than one that incid­ent­ally bene­fits under-rep­res­en­ted groups. This dis­tinc­tion will be made expli­cit in the assess­ment cri­ter­ia and com­mu­nic­ated clearly to applicants.
• Scor­ing against criteria
  • Applic­a­tions that pass eli­gib­il­ity are then scored against cri­ter­ia, such as: (a.) the pro­ject bene­fits the com­munity; (b.) the pro­ject is in a geo­graph­ic­al area where less is cur­rently hap­pen­ing; (c.) the pro­ject bene­fits equity, diversity and inclu­sion; and (d.) the pro­ject demon­strates capa­city build­ing (skills and legacy).

---

Small grants

What we heard from the panel:

• Pre­sump­tion to say ​‘yes’ to applications
• Min­im­um 10% ring­fenced for EDI pro­jects, but ques­tion asked of all applic­ants to increase this
• Allow time for applic­ants to devel­op and work up ideas before applying
• Reg­u­lar comms using case stud­ies to high­light ​‘this fund is for you’
• Inter­act­ive map show­ing suc­cess­ful pro­jects across the Nation­al Park

What we’re implementing:

• Applic­ants can apply for up to £5,000 at any one time (across mul­tiple bids)
• Pri­or­ity giv­en to first time applicants
• Simple report­ing pro­cess, eg three basic ques­tions, with video and writ­ten formats welcome

• Max­im­um 50 awards per year (150 total)

• Value: £500 – £5,000

• Open from: autumn 2026
• Awar­ded: on a rolling basis
• Scor­ing: not applicable

---

Small grants process

• Chat with staff mem­ber and/​or com­munity champion
• Simple online applic­a­tion form, ques­tions based on pan­el suggestions
• Applic­a­tion sense-checked (but not scored) by Grants team
• Feed­back giv­en to all applic­ants, suc­cess­ful and unsuccessful
• Set time peri­od for pro­jects to be delivered on the ground
• Simple report­ing pro­cess, with writ­ten or video feed­back option
• For­um reviews list of fun­ded pro­jects each meet­ing, amends future approach if required

---

Medi­um grants

What we heard from the panel:

• More detailed applic­a­tion than small grants, but still straight­for­ward to complete
• Sup­port avail­able to help work up applications
• Ini­tial pass/​fail cri­ter­ia, checked by Brid­get et al
• Encour­age part­ner­ship where duplic­a­tion occurs
• Paid for­um drawn from across the Nation­al Park and a range of back­grounds makes decisions
• Grants paid in instal­ments (unless time is too tight)

What we’re implementing:

• Applic­ants can apply for up to £50,000 at any one time (across mul­tiple bids), pri­or­ity to first timers
• Paid for­um of 11, meet­ing three times per year. Same for­um through­out process
• For­um inde­pend­ently scores applic­a­tions, delib­er­ates and, if con­sensus isn’t reached, a 2/​3rds major­ity vote

• Pro­ject update required at halfway point and at end

• Value: £5,001 – £50,000

• Open from: winter 2026
• Awar­ded: three times per year
• Scor­ing: weighted criteria

---

Medi­um grants process

• Chat with staff mem­ber and/​or com­munity champion
• Simple online applic­a­tion form, with bit more detail than small grants
• Applic­a­tion sense-checked (but not scored) by Grants team
• For­um meets three times per year to review applic­a­tions and make awards
• Feed­back giv­en to all applic­ants, suc­cess­ful and unsuccessful
• Set time peri­od for deliv­ery, update required halfway through project
• Simple report­ing pro­cess, with writ­ten or video feed­back option

---

Large grants

What we heard from the panel:

• Show­case for applic­ants devel­op ideas, form teams, gath­er mater­i­als etc. Linked to road­show events
• Applic­ants made aware they can apply for small / medi­um grants first and pro­gress to large later on
• For­um retains abil­ity to inter­view applic­ants, with this com­mu­nic­ated clearly at the applic­a­tion stage
• Ele­ment of gen­er­al pub­lic feed­back in final decision
• Pub­lic present­a­tion (on and off­line) to high­light work of suc­cess­ful projects

What we’re implementing:

• Applic­ants can apply for up to £100,000 at any one time (across mul­tiple bids)
• Match fund­ing is wel­comed but not required
• Pro­ject updates required at three-month inter­vals

• Pub­lic invited to com­ment / poten­tially help long­list applic­a­tions ahead of for­um decisions

• Value: £50,001 – £100,000

• Open from: winter 2026
• Awar­ded: twice dur­ing 2027
• Scor­ing: weighted + interview

---

Large grants process

• Ideas gen­er­ated via dis­cus­sion with pub­lic, staff, oth­er pro­jects etc
• More detailed online applic­a­tion form, ques­tions based on pan­el suggestions
• Applic­a­tion sense-checked (but not scored) by Grants team
• For­um review list of pro­jects ahead of pub­lic being invited to input
• Feed­back giv­en to all applic­ants, suc­cess­ful and unsuccessful
• For­um meets twice dur­ing 2027 to make final decisions
• Simple report­ing pro­cess, updates required at reg­u­lar intervals

---

Engage­ment and events

What we heard from the panel:

• Pub­lic road­show and show­case events across the Nation­al Park through­out the fund’s lifespan
• Option to apply to the fund at the event itself
• Clear sign­post­ing to avail­able grant support
• Oppor­tun­ity to show­case pro­jects pre­vi­ously sup­por­ted by the fund and close the loop

What we’re tak­ing forward:

• Reg­u­lar pro­gramme of events, aligned to key decision-mak­ing points for the fund
• Sup­port of four ded­ic­ated engage­ment staff
• Poten­tial to recruit com­munity cham­pi­ons to bring the fund to life for spe­cif­ic groups, eg EDI, farm­ers etc
• Innov­at­ive tech­niques from else­where in the pro­gramme, from gami­fic­a­tion to vir­tu­al reality

Com­munity engage­ment at the Greentown Show Josie Slade

---

A massive thank you to our panellists