A total of £3,034,703 was awarded to the Highland Council by the Scottish Government, £700,407 of which was earmarked for the council’s Sutherland committee.

The committee received 21 project applications from the community which totalled more than the allocated funding for the area. Therefore, Sutherland councillors agreed before the final deliberation to reduce the maximum award application for projects to £80,000 to maximise the quantity of awards to projects.

The following applications were awarded:

• Assynt Leisure - Cludgie project phase 2 - £68,230.
• Helmsdale & District Development - Helmsdale Multi Use Games Area - £19,298.
• Scourie Community Development Company - Scourie Rocks - £80,000.
• East & Central Sutherland Citizens Advice Bureau - Rural Recovery - £11,068
• Clyne Heritage Society - Old Clyne School Redevelopment to Museum & Community Heritage Centre - £52,000
• Brora Primary Parent Council - Community Play Park - £25,000
• Dornoch Area Community Interest Company - Dornoch South Car, Coach and Motorhome Park - £80,000
• Kinlochbervie Community Company - Slow tourism for KLB (promotion) - £6,220.
• Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust (KOSDT) - Kyle of Sutherland Tourism Infrastructure - £71,678.
• Kinlochbervie Playing Field Association - Kinlochbervie Community Playing Field – £37,724.
• Skerray Harbour - Skerray Harbour Renovation - £10,000.
• Skerray Village Hall - Refurbishment Project – £15,000.
• Assynt Foundation - Upgrading and Resurfacing of Single Track Road to Improve Public Access - £26,988.
• Go Golspie - Youth Centre - Golspie Youth Centre Restoration - £61,000.
• Brora & District Action Group - Vision for Brora - Phase 2 (Fascally Park element) - £52,000.
• Go Golspie - Breakwater Restoration - £80,000.
• Helmsdale & District Development - Helmsdale Kitchen Garden/E-bikes - £4,200 awarded for E-bike.

The Highland Coastal Communities Fund is designed to support economic regeneration and sustainable development around coastal areas in Highland. The fund is derived from revenue generated by Scottish Government Crown Estate marine assets.

Projects are expected to prioritise economic recovery, community resilience, mitigate the impact of climate change or address the challenges of rural depopulation. The successful projects will also demonstrate sustainability or viability, value for money, additionality, local support/benefit to their community and evidence the positive impacts for their coastal community/economy.

Applications from Dornoch Free Church of Scotland for Phase 3 of Church renovation - £50,000; Golspie Golf Club for Clubhouse refurbishment - £22,240; Helmsdale and District Development for the Old Bank Building renovation - £35,000; and Plastic@Bay for tracking plastic pollution with circular economy - £178,750 were not made an award at this time.

Chair of the Sutherland Committee, Councillor Richard Gale, said: “The awards we were able to make today will be of benefit to communities in Sutherland and will help to support tourism across the area. There are some exciting projects which have been awarded funding today and I look forward to seeing each of these progress.”

He added: “I would like to thank all of the applicants for the time and effort they put into submitting these applications. These individuals have given up their own time in support of their local community and we thank them for this.”