Cairngorms 2030 Communities Fund

Dulnain Bridge with fields in the foreground and mountains in the background.

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Million pound pot for Cairngorms communities 

The new Cairngorms 2030 Communities Fund is an investment in communities – with a twist. In 2026, communities designed the whole process of handing out £1 million from start to finish as part of the Cairngorms 2030 programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

People coming together to make a difference is a familiar story in the National Park, whether that is log banks being set up for neighbours struggling to heat their homes, or community garden projects that create peaceful hideouts for people and wildlife alike. This initiative builds on that work to take it to a whole new level.  

In March 2026, 18 people were selected by independent charity Involve to reflect a range of communities across the National Park and beyond. They came together to form a panel and spent the next few months designing a new £1 million fund from the ground up. 

This panel made a range of important choices about the fund, from eligibility criteria to maximum award amounts and how the money is distributed. They made big decisions, had thoughtful conversations, and had the chance to make a real impact on the future of the National Park and its communities.

For Involve, finding ways to move beyond traditional funding approaches, and strengthen the involvement of people in local decision-making, is their bread and butter. Having worked on everything from Scotland’s Climate Assembly to Bristol City Council’s £4m Community Resilience Fund, Involve recruited and worked directly with the panel to give them all of the support and guidance they needed to engage in the process.

For the Park Authority, this was a real opportunity to put power into the hands of communities to make decisions that matter most to them, and to test doing things differently.

The fund designed by the community, for the community, is split into three: small (£500 - £5000), medium (£5000 - £50,000) and large (£50,000 - £100,000). Small grants are now live and recruitment for a forum that will make decisions on medium and large grants is now open. For all information related to the fund and recruitment, visit our grants page here.