Community planning efforts secured £12.5million for Aberdeenshire households
Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership activities secured more than £12.5million for local households over the past year, the group’s latest annual report highlights.
The annual report outlines the Partnership’s engagement with community bodies during 2025/26 and evaluates the effectiveness of work to help communities shape and influence community planning.
It also sets out the progress made towards achieving the priorities and outcomes identified within the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP) and associated locality plans.
The report before the Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership Board said the annual overview demonstrated strong progress against the two strategic priorities of reducing poverty and embedding place-based community planning.
It added that partners have continued to collaborate with communities to improve outcomes, reduce inequalities and ensure that local people played a central role in shaping services and investment decisions across Aberdeenshire.
Activities to tackle poverty and inequality had a particular focus on rural communities, where residents face additional challenges around transport costs, fuel poverty, access to services, and childcare.
Over the year, Partnership activity supported more than 40,300 individuals and more than 24,200 households through a combination of financial inclusion, employability, wellbeing, and cost of living initiatives.
And more than 20,500 Aberdeenshire residents accessed advice and support services, generating financial gains of £12.5million for local households. The support took the form of income maximisation and welfare advice, and debt support, with more than 12,800 households supported to reduce living costs.
Employability support was also strengthened, with 232 individuals and 77 young people securing jobs, and a total of almost 2,300 receiving support. Targeted support included helping parents access work, sustain employment and establish new businesses, including childminding services to address local childcare shortages.
Lived experience remains an important focus, with more than 1,150 residents directly contributing to service design, training, funding decisions, and strategic planning opportunities. Children and young people are also playing an increasing role, including in the development of the Aberdeenshire Youth Rights Ambassadors initiative.
A total of eight Partnership Place Plans are now in development across Aberdeenshire, with the aim of strengthening collaboration between communities and public services and to ensure that local priorities influence future planning, investment, and service delivery.
Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership chair Cllr Anne Stirling, who is also chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Communities Committee, said: “It’s very pleasing to see the meaningful difference community planning activities are making in our communities, and the increased focus on place is allowing us to even better support local needs.
“We’ve seen new place plans established in Banff and Buchan, Garioch, and Kincardine and Mearns, with a number of others in development. We’ve also seen progression of the Peterhead 2040 vision and the Cultural Quarter project in Buchan, and continued community asset transfers and participatory budgeting initiatives in Marr.
“These positive outcomes have all been made possible through excellent partnership working, early intervention, community empowerment and lived-experience approaches, and place the Partnerships in a strong position for its ongoing work.”
The full LOIP annual report can be found at https://bit.ly/LOIP2026 and further information about the Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership is available at www.ouraberdeenshire.org.uk/