Supporting strategic projects

Any successful application must fit in to at least one of these areas:

1. Creating opportunities – Create or enhance opportunities for education and employment through activities that develop skills and improve an individual’s chance of entering the workplace.
2. Empowering communities – Empower communities to become more resilient and protect vulnerable residents through measures which demonstrate long-term social, environmental or economic improvements.
3. Sustainable places – Stimulate meaningful regeneration to improve or enhance local infrastructure, landscape, biodiversity or heritage and make a lasting difference to the places we live, work and visit.

Additional consideration will be given to projects that demonstrate:

• Value for money – evidence that the project has a high local impact for the amount invested.
• Community involvement – evidence that the community has been engaged in developing the project. This may be in the form of surveys, community consultations, open days or letters of support. 
• Financial Sustainability – evidence that the project will be maintained beyond the period of grant funding.
• Contribution to local economy – evidence that the project will have a positive impact on the local economy in the long term.

Please note: The fund cannot support individuals, or groups without a constitution.

An external panel has been set up to review applications and determine which projects should receive funding. Chaired by Lord Jack McConnell, the five-strong panel has expertise in each of the three priority areas of the fund.

Rt. Hon. Lord Jack McConnell, Chairperson
Jack McConnell served as First Minister from 2001 to 2007 during which time he refreshed and launched Scotland’s international image. He established Scotland’s International Development policy; introduced the Fresh Talent initiative to encourage in-migration and a national youth volunteering programme, Project Scotland. He was appointed to the House of Lords in June 2010 and has continued his work in Africa tackling poverty, including building on the relationship between Scotland and Malawi.

Professor Jan Bebbington
Jan Bebbington is an academic specialising in sustainability. She is currently Director of Pentland Centre at the University of Lancaster. Her research interests focus around the themes of organisational responses to the global climate change agenda as well as how governance regimes for sustainable development might be developed at organisational, regional and country level.

Damien Yeates
Damien Yeates was appointed Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland in June 2008. During the past decade he has initiated a number of highly innovative and successful programmes to promote skills and lifelong learning, including the establishment of the Digital Media Academy, the Community Technology Academy Network and the Blended Learning of Construction Skills (BLOCS) programme.

Professor James Hunter
Jim Hunter is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Between 1998 and 2004 he was chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is the author of eleven books about the region. He is also an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. Professor Hunter was made a CBE in 2001. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007.

Stuart Hood

Stuart Hood is SSE Renewables Director of Asset Manager – Onshore. Stuart has worked in the renewables sector for over 14 years. Stuart has been pivotal to embedding many community initiatives into the SSE Renewables offering including scholarships.

All awards made by the Sustainable Development Fund can be viewed in the SSE Renewables Community Investment Reviews. 

For more information on this fund please contact:

Lindsay Dougan

Senior Community Investment Manager 

[email protected]

Tel:01738 340292

Tom Black 

Senior Community Investment Manager

[email protected]

Tel 01738 351799

Mob 07721 509319