PR - Grant Awards 2015-R4 Published on 27th November 2015


COMMUNITY GROUPS TO BENEFIT FROM OVER £93K OF GRANT FUNDING

Community groups in the Dounreay travel to work area have been granted over £93k of funding following the Caithness & North Sutherland Fund’s latest round of grants.

Seven community groups in Caithness & North Sutherland are to benefit from the NDA funded grant body’s recent assessment round.  One of the groups was Wick Old Stagers Rifle Club who was awarded £6k towards undertaking a feasibility and design study to explore how best to develop the club’s facilities.  The rifle club has an indoor shooting range facility situated within the Rosebank Playing Fields grounds in Wick that is in very poor condition and in need of substantial upgrading.  The club also has an outdoor range site situated near to Wick Riverside and they are exploring options to establish both an indoor and outdoor facility at their current outdoor range site.  The club’s Secretary Elsie Simpson said “On completion of a positive feasibility study, the club will be able to move forward with the planning and construction of top level facilities which will encourage our younger shooters to higher standards and hopefully to international levels. Caithness currently has shooters that regularly compete with the Scottish squad.  The club has competed at national level for a number of years and won several National competitions including the British Team of 4, British team of 6, Scottish team of 6 and club member Hugh Simpson is the current Scottish Individual Short Range Champion.  We are very pleased to receive the grant and are grateful to the CNSFund.”

The other beneficiaries were; Thurso Squash Tennis and Racketball Club who were granted £30k towards renovating its tennis courts at Millbank in Thurso.  The renovation work will include replacing the two old tennis courts with a high quality all weather surface as well as installing new fencing and gates, practice walls and floodlighting.  Wick Youth Club was awarded £25,400 towards costs of delivering a Youth Club After-School Scene and Holiday Hangout Programme that will offer indoor and outdoor activities including creative, practical and sporting pursuits to children, during school holidays and after school.  St Fergus Bowling Club saw £12,392 being granted towards  undertaking a greens levelling programme and new maintenance equipment to improve and maintain the Club’s bowling greens.   Murkle Community Association was awarded £8k towards improvements to Murkle Hall car park that will improve hall access and disabled parking arrangements.  North Sutherland Outdoor Bowling Club also saw £6,594 awarded towards costs to carry out a feasibility and design study exploring options to establishing an outdoor bowling green, clubhouse and archery range to the rear of Strathy Community Hall.  Science 03 was awarded £5k towards costs to deliver the 2016 Caithness International Science Festival that will be held in March next year.

The CNSFund assesses applications quarterly and the next closing date for applications is Monday 21st of December.  The Fund’s 2016 application schedule and how to apply can be found at www.cnsf.org.uk or by contacting CNSFund Coordinator David Shearer on enquiries@cnsf.org.uk  Tel: 07841 204 982.

The CNSFund also held its 4th Annual General Meeting and the 2015 AGM Report can be downloaded from the Fund’s website.  The AGM saw David Flear from Halkirk being appointed as a director to fill the vacancy on the CNSFund Board following the scheduled retirement of Shona Munro from Thurso.  The Board has also appointed director Frances Gunn as the new CNSFund Chair following John Henderson standing down after Chairing the Fund for the past four years.  The CNSFund was established to distribute a £4M funding package provided by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) as a result of the low-level waste facility built near Dounreay.

CNSFPR2015023 – 27/11/2015