As the mid-point of Highland 2007 passes, people across the Highlands are making the most of this special year to explore their heritage. Today the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced a grant of £49,200 so that the pupils of Plockton High School can get hands on experience of building a traditional boat.  This brings the total the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded so far for schemes that celebrate Highland 2007 to an incredible £5.8million (full list of projects overleaf).

From learning traditional survival skills in the woodlands of Moray, recording the memories of native Gaelic speakers, designing sculptures for a heritage trail to preparing a street pageant, people of all ages are keen to discover more about the language, industries, traditions, buildings and wildlife in and around their community as part of Highland 2007

Commenting from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Colin McLean, Manager for Scotland, said:

“We are staggered by the enthusiasm of people in coming up with great ideas for very diverse projects and are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund can support them. Exploring your heritage is not only great fun and educational but it helps give us a real sense of identity. What better way to get involved in a year celebrating the culture of the Highlands.”

Thanks to HLF, Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club will be working with school groups and the local community to build three boats that are traditional to the area. Although there are a small number of traditional boats still in existence, there is only one traditional boatbuilder left. The project will culminate in an exhibition showing the history of these types of vessels while one of the boats will be retained to teach sailing skills.

Colin McLean continues:
“Although our heritage stems from the past, heritage projects are about the future, using the past to create new tourist attractions, new jobs, new investment, new sources of learning, new experiences, new friendships and a new sense of pride. The legacy of the projects that HLF has funded will extend far beyond the Year of Highland Culture.”

Fiona Hampton, director of Highland 2007, said: “We are delighted with the support Highland 2007 has received from the Heritage Lottery Fund in creating an eclectic programme of projects and events to celebrate Scotland’s year of Highland culture.

“The range of ideas which have come forward from project and event organisers throughout the Highlands and Islands is truly impressive and we’re really pleased that funding is still being allocated mid way through the year to help realise some of these excellent ideas.”

Grants awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of Highland 2007

Region Project HLF grant Contact

Argyll & Bute In the Footstep of Kings £29,400 Angus Farquhar
Tel: 0141 3329911
E: angus@nva.org.uk
A series of performances and events from 4-17 Sept celebrating the 5,000 year old history of Kilmartin Glen and Dunald, home to over 350 archaeoligical sites.
Eilean Siar Proiseact Thasglann £50,000 David Boag
Tel: 01463 225559
E: david@feisean.org
Six community-based groups will explore the heritage behind Gaelic music, song and dance traditions. They will also record the stories of older Gaelic speakers producing booklets, CD’s and an exhibition.
Eilean Siar Celebrating Stornoway £30,000 Jessie Murray
Tel: 01851 770408
E: jessiecmurray@hotmail.com
Guided walks, demonstrations of traditional skills, storytelling and an exhibition will all explore and celebrate the history of Stornoway’s fishing industry and the growth of ancillary industries such as coopering and curing.
Eilean Siar Emigration from the Outer Hebrides £48,000 John Randall
Tel: 01851 880365
E: john@lemreway.fsnet.co.uk
Chris Lawson
Tel: 01859 520285
E: seallam@aol.com
Information on every family that has lived in the Western Isles for the last 200 years as well as information on emigrants lives after their departure will be collected to encourage the growth of ancestral tourism.
Highland Am Bata £49,200 Joy MacKenna
Tel: 01599 530800
E: joy@mackenna.f9.co.uk or
Susan Walker Julie Corbett [Julie.Corbett@highland.gov.uk]01471 833274 susan.walker@highland.gov.uk
School groups and the local community will build three traditional sailing boats, one of which will be retained to teach sailing skills.
Highland Historic Conflict in the Highlands 1431-1746 £17,600 Dr Tony Pollard
Tel: 0141 3305541
t.pollard@archaeology.gla.ac.uk
The survey and archaeological excavation of a series of forts and battlefields relating to the Battle of Inverlochy and the Jacobite siege of Fort William will be undertaken involving volunteers from schools and youth groups.
Highland Highland Archive Centre £4,312,000 Susan Beckley
Tel: 01463 220 330
A new state-of–the art Archive and Family History Centre is being built in Inverness to bring together nationally and internationally important archives recording the history of the Highlands & Islands since Medieval times.
Highland Obair Urlair £11,300 Caroline Reagh
Tel: 07780 925 663
E: reagh@madasafish.com
A dance extravaganza with over 100 people will be the finale of a project which sets out to explore the music, song, dance and language taken to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia by emigrants in the 1800s.
Highland The Scottish Highlands and the Slave Trade £9,800 David Alston
Tel: 01381 600243
David.Alston@highland.gov.uk
The Cromarty Courthouse Museum will create a touring exhibition exploring the slave trade in the Highlands. Pupils and staff at three Highland schools, originally established by plantation owners, will be involved in the project.
Highland Conservation of Ceannabeinne £45,900 Ronald Lansley
Tel: 01971 511346
E: ronnie@durness.org
The remains of ten pre-Clearance buildings at Ceannabeinne will  form the basis of a new interpretation trail accompanied by a DVD of local memories and stories.
Highland S Math Mo Chuimhne – I Remember Well £39,400 Susan Hardy
Tel: 01463 226 710
E: siusaidh@cli.org.uk
Students studying Gaelic at various further education institutes will interview elderly Gaelic speakers and record their memories of life in rural communities including customs, occasions and folklore.
Highland Cromarty – Living by the Sea £5,900 Fran Tillbrook
Tel: 01381600239
E: Fran@tillbrook.me.uk
Cromarty’s relationship with the sea and how it has changed over time will be explored in this oral history project.
Highland Lochaber Geopark £45,900 Alison Devey
E: aldevey@yahoo.co.uk
The influence of geology on the cultural and natural heritage of Lochaber will be promoted through education material and a series of public events.
Highland Mallaig Heritage Centre £11,600 Malcolm Poole
Tel: 01687 462085
curator@mallaigheritage.org.uk
A grant from HLF will enable Mallaig Heritage Centre to develop three video displays about the area’s landscape and historic sites for visitors.
Highland Timespan Redevelopment £50,000 Rachel Skene
Tel: 01431 821327
E: director@timespan.org.uk
Timespan Heritage Centre in Helmsdale will be refurbished to improve the museum displays and archive space.
Highland Alness in Time and Motion £25,000 Helen Houston or Douglas Brown
Tel: 01349 883 005
Helen.houston@btconnect.com
Douglas.brown@btconnect.com

Young people are researching the history of Alness from the Clearances through the wars to the oil industry and will celebrate their work with a street pageant.
Highland Exploring Your Past £40,200 Hilary Lawson
Tel: 01463 241252
E: Inverness@weascotland
The Workers Educational Association has been awarded a grant to facilitate educational courses and fieldtrips so that people across the Highlands can learn more about the archaeological remains in their community.
Highland Celebrating 2007 Sculpture Trail £27,500 Will Aitken
Tel: 01862 832872
E: will@sea.uk.com
School children in Tain have been involved in designing sculptures, depicting historical themes,  which will form a heritage trail.
Highland Bishop’s Palace £793,000 Donna Chisholm
Tel: 01463 732696
E: dchisholm@eden-court.co.uk
The Bishops Palace, part of the Eden Court Theatre, was built in 1878 as home to the Bishop of Moray Ross and Caithness.  It will be completely restored and opened to the public.
Highland Museum in the Environment £49,500 Mr Donald MacDonald
Tel: 01478 613649
E: Donaldsine@aol.com
Staffin Community Trust has been awarded a grant to create a series of footpaths around heritage sites in the north east of Skye.
Moray Moray’s Telford Celebration £36,400 Reni Milburn
Tel: 01343 563425
E: reni.milburn@moray.gov.uk
Sites such as Craigellachie Bridge, Cullen Pier and Tomintoul Bridge will be celebrated in the year of Telford’s 250th anniversary. A DVD, school workshops, guided tours, lectures and exhibitions will all form part of this project.
Moray Natural Heritage Courses for Young People £50,000 Jennie Martin
Tel: 01309 690450
E: enquiries@wild-things.org.uk
Disadvantaged children and young people will have the opportunity to take part  in Forest School events, Wild Day trips and Rural Skill courses across Moray and the Highlands, organised by Wild Things
Moray Celebrating Fishing Heritage £50,000 Frank MacLeod
Tel: 01542 835 368
frank.macleod@btinternet.com
or Jim Farquhar
Tel: 01542 833 851
j.farquhar79@btinternet.com

Buckie Fishing Heritage Centre has been awarded a grant to improve the museum and build an extension to provide much needed exhibition space and a lecture theatre.
Edinburgh Telford In the Highlands £49,900 Rebecca Bailey
Tel: 0131 6621456
Rebecca.bailey@rcahms.gov.uk
The RCAHMS will work with seven schools in the Highlands to explore and celebrate the work of Thomas Telford.

ENDS                                                        

Notes to editors:
 The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage.  From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy.  To date it has invested over £450million in Scotland’s heritage.
 Highland 2007, the year Scotland celebrates Highland culture, aims to promote the Highlands and Islands as a great place to live and to visit through showcasing the unique and special nature of Highland culture past, present and future.  The project is a partnership between three principal funding agencies: The Highland Council, the Scottish Executive, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.  See http://www.highland2007.com/ for full details.

Further information
 Heritage Lottery Fund:  Shiona Mackay on 01786 870638 or 07779 142890 (shionamackay1@btinternet.com) or Sam Goody on 020 7591 6036 (samanthag@hlf.org.uk).  Website http://www.hlf.org.uk/