Press Release
Maximising Shetland's External Funding
Shetland Islands Council has today (Thursday) launched its new External Funding systems “Shetland 4 Community” and “Grant Advisor.”
These specialist online systems are designed to help community groups search for external funding opportunities and are a key part of the Council’s aim to attract more external funding into Shetland.
Shetland 4 Community
This system is designed to assist community groups and voluntary organisations looking for external funding opportunities. It is free to join and local groups are encouraged to join the site as soon as possible. Please see link below:
http://www.open4community.info/shetland
It will also be available from the Council’s website, under “Online Services”.
This database has detailed information on over 2,500 external funding sources including European, Government, Lottery and other Trust and Charity sources. Other key features include:
- User friendly search engine
- Search save function
- Regular funding updates
Grant Advisor
This system is designed for internal use only. However it has a broader search function and can search for funding in the public, private, learning and voluntary sectors. 15 licences have been purchased and are distributed to key staff and offices throughout the Council. Further licences have also been placed at the Council’s Business Gateway service and with Voluntary Action Shetland.
If you require any assistance applying for funding, help can be found from the SIC Grants Unit on 01595 74 3828, Business Gateway or your local Community Work Offices.
The Council’s Grant Co-ordinator, Michael Duncan, is keen that as many community groups as possible take advantage of these new online services. He said: “At a time of potential future budget cuts, it is really important that community groups are able to pro-actively find new ways of getting hold of funding. This software is free to use and will help groups to find other sources of funding, maximising the money they are able to secure.”
Both software packages were financed by a 50% grant secured from the EU LEADER Programme, with the Council meeting the balance. Both packages have initially been secured for a two year period.
The Maximising Shetland's External Funding project is managed by Shetland Islands Council and jointly funded by Shetland Islands Council and LEADER.
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This project is part-financed by the European Union under the Shetland LEADER 2008-2013 Programme.