In 2025, we distributed Communities Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund (CMHWF) Grants to support community-led initiatives delivering prevention and early intervention. These projects are vital in tackling loneliness, improving mental health, and building resilience across Highland communities.

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However, demand far exceeded available resources, leaving many strong applications unfunded. We are therefore grateful to the Scottish Government for providing an additional £3 million investment across Scotland, which translates to approximately £143,000 for Highland.

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This extra funding allowed us to revisit previously unfunded applications and offer selected groups a chance to modify their proposals for single -year projects. We have already granted the funds to those next eligible groups, and the final allocations will be confirmed when we produce our 2025-26 CMHWF Closing Report.

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Mhairi Wylie, HTSI Chief Officer, commented: “Thank you to the Scottish Government for continued support with this fund, investing in the Highland third sector. We are deeply grateful for their support, which makes a vital difference for communities and organisations across the region.

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“This year was both exciting and challenging: we issued two-year grants for the first time, meeting a clear need for sustainable funding, but had to limit the number and duration of grants as a result. The additional investment lets us reconsider strong applications that weren't initially selected due to high demand and quality across submissions.

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“I’d like to encourage all commissioners and decision makers to note our oversubscription and consider more progress locally to longer-term, fairer funding models to ensure sustainability and development within the sector.”