Coigach and Assynt land £3m heritage boost
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A SCHEME in Coigach and Assynt has scooped almost £3 million from the Lottery to help conserve and promote the area’s heritage.
The cash will allow the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership to deliver 28 projects over the next five years to enhance the natural, built and cultural heritage.
Highlights include creating and expanding native woodland, offering outdoor learning to all local schools, major repairs to the approach and summit paths of Suilven, and work to excavate and stabilise the Iron Age Clachtoll Broch.
The partnership comprises 14 organisations including local landowners, community and national interest groups.
It is led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust which has managed and overseen the development of the funding application and employed a project team over the past two years.
A team of six staff will be employed to assist in the delivery of the individual projects, ensure the overall scheme has a meaningful and lasting impact.
In addition to the Lottery grant, the scheme has to date secured almost £1 million from a variety of match funders, including the Scottish Rural Development Programme, The Lund Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, SSE Sustainable Development Fund, John Muir Trust and Scottish Wildlife Trust members, and the Highland Council Landfill Community Fund.
Jonathan Hughes, chief executive of the Scottish Wildlife Trust said: "With these generous awards from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Lund Fund and many others, we now have the opportunity to achieve something very special for the landscapes, the wildlife and the communities of Coigach and Assynt. "Through seeking to work in true partnership with local communities, neighbouring landowners and fellow conservation charities, the Scottish Wildlife Trust has already achieved so much more than it ever could by going it alone."
Richard Williams, development manager of the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership, said: "On behalf of the whole partnership I would like to thank players of the National Lottery for supporting the Scheme through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
"All of the funders have shown great commitment to the programme and we look forward to delivering projects that offer wide ranging benefits for the local area, communities and people."
