The Big Lottery Fund has come under fire for holding just two public awareness events in the north of Scotland.
The National Lottery’s charity arm hands out millions of pounds of donations to community groups and other organisations across Scotland every year.
Organisers have embarked on a tour across the country, which began last month and runs until next, where they will give local groups advice on how to apply for money.
However the organisation has come under criticism after it emerged the roadshow will visit just two stops north of Arbroath – in Fort William and Kirkwall.
It is understood the charity’s regional officers will continue to hold one-to-one meetings in the north-east but the decision to hold no public events has sparked anger locally.
North-East MSP Lewis Macdonald has now written a letter to the charity’s director for funding Martin Cawley, calling on him to ensure the area does not miss out, claiming it has been disproportionately funded in recent years.
Mr Macdonald said: “This is very disappointing, the north-east is under-funded in any case so it’s even more vital that they come here and advise people how their positive projects can be supported.”
A spokeswoman for the Big Lottery Fund said: “We award National Lottery funding to groups from across Scotland. To help us understand what is happening locally and make more informed and better funding decisions, we have set up a specific north-east funding team.
“In the last six months alone this team has provided funding advice at 26 events or meetings in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray. Some of these have been promoted on our website as public funding fayres while others have been arranged at the request of local groups looking for funding advice.
“In the last five years we have awarded £18,950,354 million to projects in these areas. We are always keen to hear from groups interested in our funding and are keen to support them to access our National Lottery funds.”
