Photo by Paul Chambers
Crown Estate Scotland has opened the seventh round of its Sustainable Communities Fund, making more than half a million pounds available to grass-roots projects across the country, the largest funding pot the scheme has offered since it launched in 2020. The fund has distributed over £2.25 million to date.
Two grant streams
The programme is split into two strands. Environment Grants of £5,000 to £20,000 are available to Crown Estate Scotland tenants for projects that can deliver environmental benefits, such as improving energy efficiency or enhancing biodiversity, within 18 months of award. Community Capacity Grants of £20,000 to £50,000 support early-stage development of community enterprise projects within five miles of the Scottish coastline, or one of Crown Estate Scotland’s rural estates. This year, £200,000 is available through Environment Grants and £390,000 through Community Capacity Grants, with the environment strand seeing the largest funding increase.
Community Capacity Grant applicants must align with at least one of five themes: sustainable rural or coastal housing, climate-resilient communities, community infrastructure, skills, enterprise and the circular economy, and sustainable tourism, recreation and heritage.
Anneli Hill, Head of Sustainable Development & Delivery at Crown Estate Scotland, said the organisation was “delighted to be able to pledge almost £600,000 towards this year’s Sustainable Community Fund – a programme which has helped fund a large number of transformative community projects across Scotland and which empowers local people and Crown Estate Scotland tenants to bring about the changes most important to them.” She added that this year’s fund “complements our recently published Corporate Plan, which sets out our commitment to protect and enhance Scotland’s incredible diversity in nature and to provide more support to our tenants and their ambitions.”
Past awards show the range of projects
Previous rounds illustrate the breadth of work supported. Awards have included £42,000 to the Scourie Community Development Company in Sutherland toward the technical design of nine affordable homes, £37,800 to Kintyre Seasports in Campbeltown to expand a vocational maritime skills programme for local young people, and £43,900 to Friends of Tarlair Community Group in Aberdeenshire to support restoration of a historic Art Deco lido.
Munro Reid, Fishery Manager at the United Clyde Angling Protective Association, which received £20,000 in 2026, said the Environment Grant had “enabled UCAPA to make significant progress in tackling invasive non-native species,” with volunteers surveying and mapping more than 25 kilometres of riverbank and identifying 48 sites of giant hogweed and 104 sites of Japanese knotweed. He said the funding had “also allowed our team to complete the necessary pesticide application training and purchase the specialist equipment required to begin a targeted treatment programme,” adding that “the long-term eradication of these invasive species will help restore native habitats, improve biodiversity and enhance the health and resilience of our riverbanks for future generations.”
Campbell Fox of Kintyre Sea Sports described the impact of four years of Community Capacity funding, saying it had “enabled us to introduce over 150 pupils from Campbeltown Grammar School to the world of pleasure craft, with more than 60 of them qualifying as dinghy sailors and powerboat drivers and a further four young people emerging as fully-fledged Royal Yacht Association qualified instructors.” He noted the project “has attracted national interest as an example of how to provide maritime skills development, in an industry affected by acute shortages.”
Key dates
Both funds opened to new applications on Tuesday 1 September 2026. The deadline for a brief expression of interest to the Community Capacity Grants programme, managed by Foundation Scotland on behalf of Crown Estate Scotland, is 5pm on Friday 25 September, after which a shortlist will be invited to submit a full application. The deadline for Environment Grants, which have a one-stage application process administered directly by Crown Estate Scotland, is midday on Monday 26 October. Successful applicants are expected to be announced by early March 2027.