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Understanding our priorities.
The Orkney Fund supports projects across four strategic priority areas. These priorities emerged from extensive community consultation and reflect what matters most to people across our islands.
When you apply for funding, you'll choose which priority area best fits your project. This page explains each priority in detail to help you identify where your idea belongs and what we're looking for in applications.
Community and cultural wellbeing
This priority strengthens the heart of Orkney life - the activities, spaces, and connections that bring people together and help communities thrive.
We're looking for projects that create opportunities for people to connect, participate in cultural life, and build stronger communities. This includes supporting events and activities that celebrate Orkney's unique culture, bringing people together across generations and backgrounds.
What fits this priority:
- Projects that bring people together and strengthen community bonds - like community festivals, cultural events, or groups that connect people around shared interests.
- Work that supports mental health and wellbeing through participation and connection, such as arts programmes, sports clubs, or activity groups.
- Initiatives that celebrate and preserve Orkney's cultural identity through creative workshops, intergenerational projects, or cultural traditions.
- Projects that create opportunities for people to develop skills and confidence, including training programmes, volunteer coordination, or community leadership development.
- Work that builds long-term community capacity and resilience by providing equipment, resources, or support for community groups to sustain their activities.
Safe, accessible and vibrant spaces
This priority focuses on creating and improving the physical spaces where community life happens - from halls and sports facilities to playgrounds and public areas.
We support projects that make Orkney's spaces more welcoming, accessible, and fit for purpose. This includes building new facilities, upgrading existing ones, and creating outdoor spaces that encourage people to gather, play, and connect with their environment.
What fits this priority:
- Development or improvement of community buildings and facilities, including halls, sports centres, studios, or shared workspaces that serve community needs.
- Creation or enhancement of outdoor spaces such as parks, playgrounds, community gardens, or accessible paths that encourage outdoor activity and connection with nature.
- Accessibility improvements that make spaces more inclusive, including ramps, accessible toilets, hearing loops, or sensory-friendly modifications.
- Equipment and infrastructure that helps spaces function better and serve their communities more effectively, from kitchen upgrades to IT systems or sports equipment.
- Projects that create new opportunities for community use of underutilised spaces, bringing them back into active community benefit.
Heritage, conservation and regeneration
This priority protects and revitalises Orkney's unique built and natural heritage - from historic buildings to archaeological sites, conservation areas to the landscapes that define our islands.
We're looking for projects that preserve what makes Orkney special while breathing new life into heritage assets. This could mean restoring historic structures, protecting important sites, or finding new sustainable uses for buildings that matter to communities.
What fits this priority:
- Projects that restore and conserve historic buildings, archaeological sites, or structures of cultural significance.
- Work that protects and enhances Orkney's natural heritage, including conservation of landscapes, habitats, or environmentally significant areas.
- Initiatives that regenerate heritage buildings for community use, giving them a sustainable future while preserving their character.
- Projects that improve access to heritage sites and help communities connect with their history.
- Work that documents and preserves traditional skills, techniques, or knowledge related to Orkney's built and natural heritage.
Local enterprise and creative support
This priority supports Orkney's economy and creative sector - backing businesses, social enterprises, and creative practitioners who contribute to island life and livelihoods.
We're looking for projects that help local enterprises grow, support creative work and innovation, and strengthen Orkney's economic resilience. This could mean developing business capacity, supporting creative industries, or creating the conditions for enterprises to thrive.
What fits this priority:
- Projects that support local businesses and social enterprises to develop, grow, or become more sustainable.
- Work that backs creative practitioners and cultural enterprises, including studios, equipment, or professional development.
- Initiatives that develop business skills, entrepreneurship, and enterprise capacity within communities.
- Projects that create spaces or infrastructure for businesses and creative work, like co-working spaces, makers' studios, or shared facilities.
- Work that supports collaboration between businesses, creative practitioners, and community organisations to strengthen the local economy.