Dozens of groups in the north and north-east have been awarded funding by a UK charity.
A total 67 groups across Scotland have shared £448,567 from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme.
In the north-east, Stonehaven and District Men’s Shed, Mastrick Community Centre, Skene Square School and Laurencekirk Primary School have been awarded a total of £19,053.
In the Highlands and Islands, Dingwall Football Club, Dingwall Youth Sub Aqua Club, Skye Dance, Ullapool High School and Welcome Ullapool and Bookends Festival in Oban were awarded £28,788.
The event organisers will use their award of £2,760 to organise an outreach programme between authors and local schools.
Joy Cameron, chairwoman of the event, said: “This award makes a huge difference to our young but wonderfully diverse festival. Creating an event of this size in a rural area has brought more than books, authors and storytellers to the area but has helped to reduce social isolation and has brought about inter-generational mixing in ways that we never could have imagined.
“National Lottery Awards for All Scotland funding has made it possible to bring internationally renowned authors like Jess Smith or Lachlan Munro to support local writers. It also means that our new outreach programme will engage many children from aged three to 18 years old in our exciting celebration of the written and spoken word.”
