The fund, which forms part of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda, aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and supporting local business, people and skills.

Scottish Historic Buildings Trust has been awarded £31,990 to test out an operating model that will embed traditional construction skills training in the local area.

The focus will be to restore and regenerate historical buildings using a local skilled taskforce, informing a pilot project on site using several historic buildings to develop and train individuals locally.

Codebase Ltd has been successful in securing £50,000 revenue funding to train up 20 senior leaders in artificial intelligence across the area. This will assist businesses in increasing productivity and digital inclusion to foster rapid business growth.

Leaders will be trained in the engineering, manufacturing, energy, creative, biomedical, life science, medtech and agritech fields.

A full list of successful SBC applications is available online. 

The Community and Place and Supporting Local Business sections of the Shared Prosperity Fund have been completely utilised. There remains a very limited amount of funding available for People and Skills projects.

Councillor Scott Hamilton, portfolio holder for economic growth and developing the borders, said: “Congratulations to these two organisations who have been successful with their applications and received SPF funding.

“These projects will be essential for training people to restore historic buildings across the region and boosting our businesses, driving significant improvements and growth in our communities. With funding limited for People and Skills projects, I would encourage those wishing to apply to do so now.”