Lone parents, the elderly and children’s educations are among the first causes to benefit from St Andrews University’s community fund.
The £30,000-a-year fund was launched in April to support groups and activities in St Andrews and the surrounding area.
Applications are accepted from organisations and groups from across Fife, providing their activities have an impact on St Andrews and the neighbouring communities or increase engagement with the university.
Among the first causes to benefit is Kilrenny, Anstruther and Cellardyke Community Council, which will receive £1,000 to support the over 75s and lone parents who may be experiencing hardship, with PPE, IT equipment and food.
Community Action St Andrews (CASA) will receive £300 for materials to make masks for the community and St Andrews Preservation Trust will be given £290 to create activity packs for children to design and write a postcard for an older person in the community.
The City of St Andrews Pipe Band will also receive £500 to run online classes and run an in-house competition.
Although the fund was conceived before the covid-19 crisis, the university recognised that voluntary bodies responding to the needs of residents were key to the community’s recovery.
Projects eligible for funding of between £250 and £3,000 include those which benefit local communities, increase engagement between the university and the community, promote knowledge exchange and widening participation, promote environmental sustainability, promote diversity and inclusion and celebrate St Andrews and the local area’s heritage.
All applications are considered on a case-by-case basis but the fund will prioritise small, grassroots charities and community organisations over larger ones.
Local branches of national charities are eligible to apply if they are financially independent and locally managed, and national charities if they have a distinctive offering to the local community.
