Dozens of youth groups up and down the west coast have been given a funding boost from ferry operators CalMac.
CalMac’s Community Fund has provided grants to 76 youth groups from Campbeltown to Ullapool.
The grants – ranging from £500 to £2,000 – will enable non-profit organisations to set up projects to help break down barriers faced in islands and coastal communities.
Projects supported by the grant include woman’s football in the Outer Hebrides and a Gaelic youth club on Skye.
CalMac’s corporate social responsibility manager Gordon McKillop said: ‘The creativity and the imagination that has gone into the projects we’ve supported so far has really stood out for us. Youth groups are really thinking hard about what they use the fund for that wouldn’t otherwise happen.
“They have all really captured what the community fund is all about, creating opportunities for and benefitting the lives of children and young people.”
Each application was judged by a screening panel of young people recruited from across the company’s network, in partnership with Young Scot and local youth services.
Mr McKillop added: “We are excited to see the projects legacies, we are supporting a number of projects that are developing lifelong skills and positive habits like sport and exercise.”’
CalMac is currently planning for its next round of funding later this year.
