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New year, new funds for Highland clubs thanks to Get Active Scotland

A group of nine young ice hockey players in red and blue hockey tops. They are wearing helmets and holding up ice hockey sticks. They are in an ice rink.
News and blogs
15th Jan 2026
Last update 20th Feb 2026

A total of 31 Highland-based sports clubs are the first to be awarded funds from the Get Active Scotland initiative, which was launched by Olympic athlete Megan Keith in Inverness in September last year. 

Group photo at the launch of Get Active Scotland showing, from left to right, Steve Walsh, Mike Diaper, Forbes Dunlop, Olympian Megan Keith, Malcolm Sutherland, Cllr John Finlayson, and the Nessie mascot wearing a race bib, standing on a grassy field in front of a building with a 'Get Active Scotland' banner.
Launch of Get Active Scotland. Photograph by Alison White.

Get Active Scotland is a two-year funding partnership between national and local partners – including the London Marathon Foundation, sportscotland, High Life Highland and Glasgow Life. The Fund is one of Scotland’s largest programmes focused on increasing participation in physical activity, particularly for the least-active children and young people, and communities living in areas affected by deprivation and rural isolation. 

We are very grateful to the London Marathon Foundation for the financial investment in Highland – it is already making a difference to local clubs and organisations and in turn will have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of people living here

Darren Reid

Head of Sport and Physical Activity at High Life Highland

The variety of sports being supported in this first round of funding – which is administered by High Life Highland – is vast and includes basketball, ice hockey, shinty, football, gymnastics, athletics, golf, tennis, bowling, rugby and surfing.

More than 30 clubs in receipt of funds

Among the clubs celebrating their successful applications are Highland Disability Sport, Highland Bears Basketball, 12th Inverness Boys Brigade, Ewen’s Room in Lochaber, Golspie Youth Action Project, Grantown YMCA Community Centre, South Skye and Lochalsh Kayak Club, Thurso Community Cafe and Ullapool Golf Club, to name a few.

Darren Reid, Head of Sport and Physical Activity at High Life Highland said: “We were overwhelmed with applications for the first round of Get Active Scotland funding, with some excellent applications all with the aim of helping people to be more active more often. While some clubs will be disappointed that they were unsuccessful this time, we are speaking with representatives to encourage them to try again when applications open again next month.

“We are very grateful to the London Marathon Foundation for the financial investment in Highland – it is already making a difference to local clubs and organisations and in turn will have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of people living here.”

A group of six people standing in shallow water at a lochside. They are wearing watersports gear and there is three orange canoes in the water. There are trees and hills in the background.

Àban Outdoors

A group of high school pupils in a gym hall playing volleyball. In the foreground are two young males reaching over the net for the ball. Both the floor and the walls of the gym hall are blue.

Dingwall Academy Parent Council

A group of eleven young boys are standing and sitting in front of a silver mini bus. They are all holding up medals and smiling and there is a trophy on the ground.

Merkinch Football Academy

A group of fifteen young shinty players wearing blue shorts and red tops. They are holding shinty sticks and celebrating their success. They are standing on a grassy area in front of some trees.

Strathglass Shinty Club

A group of nine surfers are standing on a pier with the sea and hills behind them. There are various flags and banners and one person is holding a sword and another is holding a trophy in the air. There is also another person holding a white surfboard.

North Shore Surf Club

Nine young rugby players are standing in front of two adult male coaches on a sports pitch. The children are wearing blue and red rugby tops and the coaches are wearing blue jumpers. Two of the children at the front are wearing medals.

Ross Sutherland Rugby Club

Mike Diaper, Group Funding and Impact Director at the London Marathon Foundation, said: “It’s fantastic to see such a range of community groups already benefitting from Get Active Scotland funding – and this is just the beginning. We can’t wait to see the impact they’ll have in boosting the health and wellbeing of children, young people, and less active communities across the Highlands. With applications re-opening in February 2026, even more groups will soon have the chance to apply for the funding they need to make physical activity accessible, inclusive and a part of everyday life.”

Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive of sportscotland, who contributed £500,000 of National Lottery investment to the initiative, said: “This marks an exciting step for the Get Active Scotland parthership and I can’t wait to see the impact this funding will have for clubs and communities. Get Active Scotland shows the power of collaboration. By bringing together national and local partners like the London Marathon Foundation, sportscotland, High Life Highland and Glasgow Life, we’re creating opportunities that wouldn’t exist otherwise. This partnership is helping to remove barriers and ensure that communities across the Highlands have access to sport and physical activity for a healthier, more connected future.” 

Eight young males in dark trousers and blue shirts. They are standing in front of a large window inside a shopping centre. They are holding poppy collection tins and badges.
12th Inverness Boys Brigade

The London Marathon Foundation awarded £500,000 towards the two-year Fund – the first grant it has made to solely support communities in Scotland. The Foundation is the parent charity of London Marathon Events (LME), and its funding in Scotland has been made possible through LME’s acquisition of Caledonian Concepts Ltd, one of Scotland’s leading providers of mass participation sporting events, including the Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running.

Community groups based in Highland can apply for a Get Active Scotland grant of up to £5,000. The next deadline for funding applications is Friday 6 February.

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