NEW ROUND OF APPLICATIONS SOUGHT FOR CENTENARY TRUST CASH
Health and safety projects on farms and rural areas encouraged to apply
NFU Scotland’s Centenary Trust is now taking applications for another round of funding it has available.
Now, in what is the sixth round of applications since the start of last year, £30,000 is available and applications are being sought which focus on one of the Trust’s key objectives of supporting the promotion of health and safety on farms and in rural areas.
So far, some £189,000 has already been committed to projects across Scotland which are primarily educational and rural training projects. The funds have been raised mainly through the generosity of NFU Scotland members as well as a specially-bottled malt whisky organised by the Banffshire branch and a Centenary Book.
Established in the Union’s centenary year, the objectives of the Trust were to encourage as many children as possible to learn more about where their food and drink comes from and to visit a farm in 2013 and 2014; to educate farmers, their employees and their children on health and safety in the countryside, with a special emphasis on children’s safety; and to assist in bringing forward a meaningful apprentice programme that supports farmers and their employees
Projects promoting and delivering genuine health and safety benefits will be considered ahead of other applications in the latest round. However, educational and training projects may still be submitted and will be considered if funding remains.
The closing date for applications for what may be the final round of funding will be Friday 14 November. More information can be found at www.nfus.org.uk.
George Lawrie, Treasurer of the Centenary Trust said:
“This will be the sixth and possibly final request for applications to the Trust. With this in mind we hope to encourage more requests from projects promoting and encouraging health and safety on farms thereby fulfilling a key objective of the Trust.
“We nevertheless encourage any applications that fulfil either of our other objectives for consideration at our next meeting at the end of November.
“The Trust has already helped fund so many projects, and we are seeing the results of that coming to fruition. It is great to see the impact the funds have had, in particular in some rural schools and giving children an opportunity to learn about agriculture that they may otherwise not have had.
“The enthusiasm of the children to learn more about the farming environment around them has been evident in recent months, including those children from Borestone Primary School who attended the Royal Highland Show in June thanks to money from the Centenary Trust.
“It is great to see first-hand the impact the Centenary Trust has had, and it has successfully fulfilled its objectives over the last 18 months.”
