Aberdeen Harbour Fund has been praised for its work in the community.
The Board’s Community Action fund has donated more than £500,000 supporting 49 different organisations and projects. Charities benefiting from the fund have included Seaton Taking Action for Regeneration, Sunnybank Community Centre, Walker Road Dancers & Friends of Torry Care Home.
The majority of these groups received funding across periods stretching from two and five years, providing the groups with a level of stability in their income sourcing.
Estimates suggest that the programme has impacted the lives of over 20,000 people, a large proportion of these being young people and children.
The approach applied by the Board has attracted praise from Aberdeen’s flagship third sector interface organisation, the Aberdeen Council for Voluntary Organisations (ACVO), who were instrumental in assisting the Board in its development of the fund.
Alison Chandler, funding and business planning officer for ACVO has commended the Board’s conscious decision to support groups which traditionally found it challenging to attract funding.
She said: “The Harbour’s Fund has truly supported the most-needy in the region and genuinely understood what backing voluntary action really entails.
“They have not played it safe, only funding organisations run by individuals from their own network. Standing out from the crowd in this way takes courage and we applaud the Harbour Board for it.”
The next phase
With the Fund’s initial five year programme nearing completion, the Harbour is planning the roll-out of its next phase of stakeholder support in 2019, which will involve larger sums being donated to one or two specific projects.
Michelle Handforth, chief executive of Aberdeen Harbour Board, explained: “Moving forward we would like to build on the funding programme to date – and to celebrate our 50th sponsorship award – by selecting a single project which we can become involved with as it progresses, and with whom we can build an even deeper supportive relationship.
“We are looking forward to rolling this out in early 2019.”
Big Noise Torry
Over the last five years the programme involved a donation totalling £75,000 to Big Nosie Torry, which provides an intensive orchestral programme for 570 children and young people in the Torry community, helping to build their confidence, pride and aspirations. This significant funding has allowed the ongoing development of in-school and after-school sessions, holiday clubs and concerts.
Nicola Killean, chief executive of Sistema Scotland, the charity behind Big Noise Torry, said: “Big Noise Torry has been working with children in the community for over three years.
“Right from the start, Aberdeen Harbour Board’s five-year funding commitment has helped us plan for the future and ensure that Big Noise will be part of the Torry community in the long term. We’d like to say a big thank you to Aberdeen Harbour Board for their amazing support.”