New charitable trust funding pot proves popular
A TOTAL of 35 submissions were made to Shetland Charitable Trust’s recent offer of extra grant money for projects aiming to tackle inequality and social exclusion.
As six did not fit the criteria, 29 bids have been deemed eligible for the £881,000 pot of cash.
The total funding requested for the proposals amounted to just over £1.3 million, meaning that some will be rejected, the trust said on Thursday.
The extra money was announced last year after the charitable trust decided to increase its spending following a number of years of cuts.
Trust chairman Dr Andrew Cooper said: “The response has been very pleasing with some really worthwhile projects being proposed.
“There is never enough money to go around but over the next few months we will explore and support the best proposals for making a meaningful difference to people who, for one reason or another, aren’t getting a fair deal from life.”
Those eligible for funding have been asked to submit a full application, with grants up to £100,000 due to be awarded in June.
The trust agreed a new five-year financial strategy in September to increase its overall spending to £10m in 2020/21, rising to £11.1m in 2024/25.
Figures due to be presented at a meeting of the trust tonight (Thursday), meanwhile, show that its reserves at the end of December sat at £333 million.
In the nine months ended 31 December 2019 the trust made a gain of £28.8 million on its investments.
The charitable trust was originally set up in the 1970s to receive and disburse money paid by the oil industry to the local community as compensation for Sullom Voe Terminal operating.
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