Scottish Connections Fund: successful applicants

The pilot round of the Scottish Connections Fund was launched in October 2023 to help Scottish diaspora organisations and their members set up projects to promote Scotland’s reputation and interests.  All projects align to the aims and objectives of the Scottish Connections Framework.

International organisations and their members were able to apply for a maximum of £5,000. Applications were assessed using a competitive scoring process in November 2023.

The original available budget for 2023 to 2024 was £15,000. A total of 11 applications were received, with a very high quality demonstrated. We funded the following four projects, with a total value of up to £13,883.

Ref no: SCF23-01
Grantee: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
Grant: £5,000
Title: Forced Settlement: Documenting descendants of enslaved Americans and their Scottish connections
Summary: A study to produce a list of resources for descendants of enslaved individuals with links to Scotland to use for biographical and family history exploration.

Ref no: SCF23-02
Grantee: The Washington Tattoo
Grant: £1,383
Title: The Washington Tattoo Podcast : The Scottish Connection
Summary: The Washington Tattoo Podcast explores the lives and stories of world renowned musicians, dancers, producers, choreographers, artists, educators, arts advocates, and those who serve our cultural communities at large.

This series of podcast episodes will champion Scottish Culture, Heritage, and the Arts as a prelude to Tartan Week 2024 in the USA.

Ref no: SCF23-06
Grantee: Scots Kirk Paris
Grant: £5,000
Title: The Eric Liddell Remembrance story – 100 years Celebration

Summary: We wish to celebrate the life of Eric Liddell and his connections to the Church of Scotland during the centenary of him winning a Gold medal during the Paris Olympics in 1924. We will host:

• an exhibition from the Eric Liddell Community 
• a play by a professional theatre company: Searchlight Theatre Company (UK) , who performed the play “Chariot: The Eric Liddell Story” at the Edinburgh Fringe 2022
• a film evening with the projection of the film “Chariots of Fire” and conference/debate with guests to be confirmed, from the sports, faith and cinema communities. We also wish to bring the Scottish Community together around a strong cultural event and promote Scotland in the Greater Paris area, play a part in the 100th Anniversary of the Paris Olympic Games, with a Scottish hero, Eric Liddell, who won 2 gold medals in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris

Ref no: SCF23-07
Grantee: Battle of Prestonpans [1745] Heritage Trust
Grant: £2,500
Title: Scottish Diaspora Tapestry 10th Anniversary Festival @ Dalkeith Palace
Summary: A 10th anniversary exhibition of the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry at Dalkeith Palace. 300+  500mm x 500mm embroidered panels will be clustered to exemplify how Scots contributed across the diaspora in 35 countries across the world to agriculture, education, government, exploration and discovery, sport, trade and industry, engineering, architecture, gold rushes and more. Full multilingual details will be accessible by QR coded labels. A programme of short talks repeated each day will be given by Stitchers and invited experts on the themes presented; and supporting poetry, music and song.