A charity founded by an iconic Moray business has revealed it will give away £1 million to local causes.
The Gordon and Ena Baxter Foundation made that pledge as they celebrated both a funding milestone and what would have been Mr Baxter’s 100th birthday year.
They have now given away £1m to organisations in the north-east since it was founded in 1981 and now plan to hand out the same amount through a funding initiative.
Kay Jackson, foundation manager and trustee, urged groups to come forward and take advantage of this funding opportunity.
She said: “This is a great opportunity for community groups with sound plans for the future to put themselves forward for consideration.
“Our trustees regularly consider a wide range of applications, from small awards to more substantial investments. No matter how large the award is, we always look for projects which make a genuine difference to people living locally.”
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Some of the previous Moray organisations which have already benefited from funding from the foundation include the Scottish Dolphin Centre, Cullen Sea School and Fochabers Public Institute.
Gordon Christie, chairman of the Fochabers Village Association and public institute, received £60,000 to refurbish the latter’s kitchen.
He said: “I think the fund is a wonderful thing that helps a lot of different groups and communities in the whole of the north-east of Scotland so it makes a big difference to a lot of the groups.
“We extended the kitchen and totally refitted it with commercial equipment so its a fantastic kitchen and great quality as well, and is well used by all the groups who use the hall so it is a major benefit to us when we received that.”
Cullen Sea School (CSS) received about £4,000 to buy a boat-building kits for local school kids to learn how to build their own vessel.
Professor Ashley Mowat, chairman of the CSS, believes that without the funding from the foundation, they would be unable to run lessons in partnership with Buckie High School.
He said: “The funding of the kits were crucial because it allowed us to really get going and the boat was launched about 10 months ago and we are very grateful to the trust for that.”
Applicants can apply online and should demonstrate a sound management plan and a clear benefit to their communities.
