Youth Highland is celebrating a sixty-thousand-pound cash boost from the Young Start fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund.
The organization supports the development of a youth centre in each of the nine community areas in Highland, including the Den in Gairloch and Ullapool Seasavers.
The new funding will support young people in their member clubs, to design, set up and run youth-led projects in their local communities.
A Project Leader will support four groups per year to develop and deliver their projects, which will have an enterprising element to support sustainability.
Planning for The Flow Country World Heritage Site has been recognized with a Planning Excellence award from the Royal Town Planning Institute.
In July 2024, UNESCO marked the site as globally significant, as important as the Great Barrier Reef or the Serengeti, and worthy of protection and restoration.
Globally it is the first Peatland World Heritage Site and only the sixth natural site in the UK..
Councillor Ken Gowans said that planning has a key role in the management of the site, informing decisions that protect its universal value, while enabling appropriate development in light of community priorities.
As local winners the team will be put forward for the national awards later in the year.
Whin Park in Inverness, has officially reopened following a £500,000 transformation creating a sustainable, inclusive play space for children and families across the Highlands.
New features include a Nessie-themed interactive sculpture, Legend Seeker play ship, climbing birds’ nest, and an adventure mound with scramble net and tube slide.
It also features the Highlands’ first Sona Interactive Dance Arch, which uses audio and gaming technology to encourage active play outdoors.
In addition, the park’s public conveniences have also undergone refurbishment, providing accessible toilet facilities to support visitors and complement the wider improvements across the park.
The project was funded by the Scottish Government Play Area Fund, the Inverness Common Good Fund and the Community Regeneration Fund.
