Supporting strategic projects

The Sustainable Development Fund is in addition to our local community funds and supports strategic projects in the regions where SSE Renewables is operating. It allows the benefits of our renewable energy developments to be accessible to a wider area and is directed to projects that can achieve significant impact.

We expect the fund could be worth over £57 million over the next 25 years.

Project eligibility

The Sustainable Development Fund can support projects which:

Creating opportunities – increase opportunities for education and employment
Empowering communities – build resilience and protect vulnerable residents
Building sustainable places – stimulate meaningful community regeneration

Projects in the following areas can apply:

Dumfries and Galloway
Highlands
North Lincolnshire
Perth and Kinross
Scottish Borders
South Lanarkshire

Fund timetable

Area	Status	Contact
Dumfries and Galloway	Closed - due to open in spring 2029	Lindsay Dougan (contact details below)
Highlands	Open until noon on 20th January 2026. Please view the How to Apply section below.	Sarah Marshall (contact details below)
North Lincolnshire	Open	Managed in partnership with North Lincolnshire Council: Communitygrants@northlincs.gov.uk T: 01724 296926
Perth and Kinross	Closed - due to open in spring 2027	Sarah Marshall (contact details below)
Scottish Borders	Closed - due to open in spring 2027	Lindsay Dougan (contact details below)
South Lanarkshire	Closed – due to open autumn 2026	Lindsay Dougan (contact details below)

How to Apply

The Highland Sustainable Development Fund is open until the 20th January 2026. This round of the fund has a value of £1 million. The fund is open to applications from not for profit groups, and the project must benefit communities that lie wholly within the Highland local authority area. Please ensure you read the fund guidance prior to applying.

Highland SDF Guidance

Click here for fund guidance

Begin a new Highland SDF application

Click here to apply for funding

Continue an existing Highland SDF application or grant

Funding Case Study

The Sustainable Development Fund celebrated 10 years of delivery in November 2023. Since then, £13.5m has been invested in almost 240 community projects across the regions we operate in. An evaluation of the fund can be found here.

View the video below to hear from some of the communities that have secured funding and hear the views of the independent panel that makes awards from the fund.

More information

Any successful application must fit in to at least one of these areas:

Creating opportunities – Create or enhance opportunities for education and employment through activities that develop skills and improve an individual’s chance of entering the workplace.
Empowering communities – Empower communities to become more resilient and protect vulnerable residents through measures which demonstrate long-term social, environmental or economic improvements.
Sustainable places – Stimulate meaningful regeneration to improve or enhance local infrastructure, landscape, biodiversity or heritage and make a lasting difference to the places we live, work and visit.

In addition, all applications are expected to consider and demonstrate how their project supports the following overarching ambitions of the Fund Panel:

How the project will help the region in its journey towards a net zero future. For example, by improving energy efficiency, reducing waste, or delivering services in a way that reduces or removes the use of fossil fuels.
How the project will build the knowledge, skills and experience that the third sector needs to support a sustainable region. For example, by developing and enhancing social enterprises, improving the sustainability of community assets, or increasing collaboration between community projects and services.

Additional consideration will be given to projects that demonstrate:

Value for money – evidence that the project has a high local impact for the amount invested.
Community involvement – evidence that the community has been engaged in developing the project. This may be in the form of surveys, community consultations, open days or letters of support.
Financial Sustainability – evidence that the project will be maintained beyond the period of grant funding.
Contribution to local economy – evidence that the project will have a positive impact on the local economy in the long term.

Please note: The fund cannot support individuals, or groups without a constitution.

An external panel has been set up to review applications and determine which projects should receive funding. Chaired by Lord Jack McConnell, the five-strong panel has expertise in each of the three priority areas of the fund.

Rt. Hon. Lord Jack McConnell, Chairperson
Jack McConnell served as First Minister from 2001 to 2007 during which time he refreshed and launched Scotland’s international image. He established Scotland’s International Development policy; introduced the Fresh Talent initiative to encourage in-migration and a national youth volunteering programme, Project Scotland. He was appointed to the House of Lords in June 2010 and has continued his work in Africa tackling poverty, including building on the relationship between Scotland and Malawi.

Amanda Bryan
Amanda Bryna FICFor is a chartered forester who holds a range of executive and non-executive roles, including part time lecturing commitments at the Scottish School of Forestry, UHI Inverness. Having chaired the Board of Crown Estate Scotland from its inception until 2023, she now sits on the Board of the Port of Cromarty Firth. Amanda has also served on the Board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (2016-2024) and the Forestry Commission (2012-2019). She has interests in rural and community development, natural capital and renewable energy, community wealth building and land reform, and skills and education.

Stuart Hood
Stuart Hood is SSE Renewables Director of Asset Manager – Onshore. Stuart has worked in the renewables sector for over 14 years. Stuart has been pivotal to embedding many community initiatives into the SSE Renewables offering including scholarships.

Professor James Hunter
Jim Hunter is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Between 1998 and 2004 he was chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is the author of eleven books about the region. He is also an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. Professor Hunter was made a CBE in 2001. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007.

Naomi Johnson
Naomi Johnson is a freelancer with 25 years’ experience in supporting social and environmental impact. She was the first CEO at social enterprise start up agency Firstport and developed the Social Entrepreneurs Fund. Naomi is an Associate with Social Investment Scotland and chairs both Circular Communities Scotland and a local book festival in Kirkcudbright. She has an Exec MBA from Cranfield University and her recent work has centred on Theory of Change, social investment, nature finance, housing, and reuse. Naomi is a published author and her book 'The World at 15mph... ish' tells her story of cycling through 26 countries.

Damien Yeates
Damien Yeates was appointed Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland in June 2008. During the past decade he has initiated a number of highly innovative and successful programmes to promote skills and lifelong learning, including the establishment of the Digital Media Academy, the Community Technology Academy Network and the Blended Learning of Construction Skills (BLOCS) programme.