City causes benefit from £3.4m Common Good Fund awards

05 March 2019

A range of good causes as well as community events and initiatives will benefit from more than £3.4million of support from the Common Good Fund in 2019/20.

The annual budget was approved by elected members at a meeting of full Council today (March 5).

The Common Good Fund is self-financing, generating income from assets and investments, and is governed by criteria stipulating awards must benefit citizens of the city.

This year’s budget includes:

£304,000 to the Aberdeen Citizen’s Advice Bureau; £137,000 towards twinning activities; £37,000 to Techfest; £179,000 for festive illuminations and events.

A raft of other funding awards were also made as part of the Common Good Fund budget and additional recommendations were also approved, including the introduction of a new application process for 2020/21 which will ensure closer alignment with the Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP).

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Douglas Lumsden said: “It is fantastic to be supporting such a wide range of events, initiatives and good causes through the Common Good Fund, which historically has been so important to the fabric of life in Aberdeen. It is a fund that was established for the benefit of the city and continues to serve citizens well.”

Co-Leader Councillor Jenny Laing added: “There are a number of rolling commitments from the Common Good Fund, for example festive events, but we also deal with a number of ad-hoc applications as a Council and endeavour to support those that meet the criteria.

“At this year’s budget meeting we agreed to introduce a new application process, making it easier to submit a request for funding and providing greater clarity on what might be supported through the Common Good Fund. The intention is to accept applications from April to September each year before decisions are made and the budget is set for the following financial year and we will ensure full details are publicised through the Aberdeen City Council website in the weeks ahead.”

Further information on the 2019/20 Common Good Fund budget, including the full report considered by Council, can be found at https://bit.ly/2EnaZ1O . Decisions from today’s meeting will also be posted in this section of the website.