UK Shared Prosperity Fund Feasibility Studies - Framework Agreement

Aberdeenshire Council has secured funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to provide support to the development of community owned assets through the Communities and Place Improving Places Programme. This project has been identified as a need within the UKSPF Aberdeenshire Investment Plan, in response to a recognition that in order to secure external funding from Public, Charitable and Private sectors including the UKSPF, community-led capital and revenue projects require a detailed feasibility study which may cover several specialist elements. Applications to the challenge fund element of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and previous funding programmes have provided further evidence that this project is needed, to support the leaders of these projects to explore and evidence the feasibility of their proposed projects and enterprises. Many projects are not at the point where all aspects of feasibility have been resolved, and so lack the underpinning detail that is required by an external funder, a crucial requirement for each project’s realisation and sustainability. This Framework is designed to support and help community-led capital and revenue projects to establish credible business plans, successfully apply for project funding and develop financially sustainable operations in the longer term, both preventing the loss of crucial facilities and developing new resources for rural communities in Aberdeenshire.