Community
Cairngorm Ridge community fund awards
Astrid Lindqvist
Chief Executive Officer
The Cairngorm Ridge Community Fund has made its first round of grant awards distributing 500000 pounds across twelve Highland communities that host the wind farm. Grants cover school improvement programs rural broadband infrastructure a new community sports facility and a local heritage conservation project.
The Cairngorm Ridge Community Fund has completed its first grant cycle awarding 500000 pounds to twelve communities across the Highland region that hosts the Quantrex wind farm.
Grant awarded
The largest single grant of 120000 pounds was awarded to the Cairngorm Highland Schools Partnership to fund a program of science technology engineering and mathematics teaching improvements across seven primary and secondary schools in the region. The program will fund new laboratory equipment digital resources and a teacher training program focused on renewable energy and environmental science. The first cohort of students will begin the new curriculum in September 2026.
A grant of 95000 pounds was awarded to the Strathspey Rural Connectivity Partnership to fund the final phase of a rural broadband infrastructure program that will bring high speed internet connectivity to fourteen remote communities in the area. The program has been in development for three years and the community fund grant provides the final capital required to complete the last and most remote section of the network.
Community sports
A community sports facility in the village of Kingussie will receive 85000 pounds to fund the construction of a new all weather pitch and changing facilities. The facility will serve six local sports clubs and provide a venue for community events and youth programs that currently have no dedicated space in the area.
The Highland Heritage
The Highland Heritage Conservation Trust received a grant of 70000 pounds to fund the restoration of a nineteenth century drovers inn in the area that serves as a focal point for local historical identity and community gatherings. The building has been in a state of disrepair for more than a decade and the restoration will return it to active community use for the first time since 2008.
The remaining nine grants ranging from 10000 to 35000 pounds supported a range of community initiatives including a local food growing program a youth outdoor education initiative a community transport scheme for elderly residents and a local arts and culture festival.
Community applications
Marcus Reinhardt Chief Operating Officer of Quantrex said the quality of the applications received in the first cycle reflects the depth of community engagement that has characterised the Cairngorm Ridge project from its earliest days. We spent four years in conversation with these communities before we built a single turbine. The community fund is the continuation of that conversation. The decisions about where the money goes are made entirely by local trustees. Our role is to provide the resource and then get out of the way.
Applications for the second grant cycle open on 1 September 2026. The fund will again distribute 500000 pounds with no restriction on the type of project eligible to apply.
