Dingwall Museum, several schools and a Women’s Aid group are amongst the community organisations to benefit from the second round of community grants awarded by the world’s first fully community owned distillery, GlenWyvis. In all, £20,000 has been given to fourteen community organisations in Dingwall and Ross-shire, bringing the total awarded so far to £30,000.
David McIntyre, Chair of GlenWyvis, said “This is what GlenWyvs is all about: the Goodwill Fund. We are trying to generate as much as we can to help folks in our community and make a positive impact on people’s lives in Dingwall and beyond. We have allocated grants to educational and cultural initiatives, as well as to local entrepreneurs to help their businesses grow. It was really difficult to distinguish between all of the projects who applied for this funding round because each of them had merit but GlenWyvis will continue to generate income for the local community so I would urge those who missed out to reapply again in future.”
Alison Petch of Culbokie Community Trust which received £1,558 to help with the purchase of equipment for their Black Isle Food Festival said, “Once we read in the local paper about the GlenWyvis Goodwill Fund, it seemed like a tremendous opportunity. We felt that we were very much supporting local businesses which was the category we entered – the Entrepreneurial category. We’re just enormously grateful.”
Torquil MacLean Dingwall Gaelic Choir, which received £1,500 to support their 70th anniversary concert added, “Small groups like ours struggle to get funding so something like this, coming from a local business, is so much appreciated. We used the money to pay artists to come and perform at our concert, all the money was spent very wisely on that.”
Distillery Director and Head of the GoodWill Fund, Dr Jock Ramsay said, “These awards are supporting local children’s educational needs, helping cultural and heritage organisations, and investing in the growth of local businesses in the area.
“The Board and our 3,500 Members see the Goodwill Fund as a priority, alongside making excellent gin and whisky. We have raised a total of £50K for the Goodwill Fund and an additional £9K for Cornerstone, a Scottish charity caring for people with additional needs in their own homes.”
The distillery, near Dingwall, recently announced a second opportunity to buy shares which it hopes will raise £2 million to increase production, drive tourism and generate further community funding.
Picture: Strathpeffer Community Development Trust receive their award
