By james art The Scottish Maritime Museum Market has received £5,000 from the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s regional food fund.
The money will enable the market to include more food and drink producers in collaboration with regional food group Ayrshire Food An’ A’ That.
The purpose of the fund is to support regional growth by supporting projects to promote and sell produce from their areas.
Mairi Gougeon, Rural Affairs Secretary, said: “We have some of the best food and drink in the world – the industry is worth £15bn to our economy, supports thousands of jobs and businesses and is a success story at home and internationally .
“The Regional Food Fund provides much-needed support to local businesses, producers and community groups to showcase the best produce their regions have to offer.
“Through this fund we have seen more than £750,000 allocated from available funding to successful projects in Scotland.”
The North Ayrshire market is one of 17 local projects to receive the latest round of funding.
The fund is managed by Scotland Food & Drink and supports projects across the country.
The latest round of funding aims to celebrate local produce in a variety of locations, with the potential to benefit people across the country.
Fiona Richmond, Head of Food and Drink Scotland, said: “It’s really exciting to support a further 17 collaborative food and drink projects through this latest round of the Regional Food Fund.
“The quality of the submissions reflects the passion and commitment to improving local food and drink initiatives, which are vital to the continued growth of Scotland’s food, drink and tourism sectors.
“We congratulate all of this year’s recipients and look forward to watching these projects develop over the coming months, knowing they will leave a lasting and positive impact on communities across the country.”
The Regional Food Fund launches in 2021, replacing the Connect Local Regional Food Fund, which launched in 2018.
So far the fund has awarded more than £400,000 to 87 projects across Scotland.