NEARLY £50,000 has been split between projects from Dunbar and West Barns to Musselburgh and Tranent thanks to a national scheme.

A total of £1 million was shared nationally by the Scottish Government to help improve and fund communities.

Schemes serving Cockenzie and Port Seton, Dirleton, Dunbar, Haddington, Longniddry, Musselburgh, North Berwick, Prestonpans, Tranent and West Barns are among those benefiting from the Scotland Loves Local Fund. Funded by the Scottish Government, it aims to support small-scale improvements to promote and enhance places while helping motivate people to shop, eat and relax in their community and ensuring public safety.

Phil Prentice, chief officer of Scotland’s Towns Partnership, said: “We’re delighted this funding will bring some brilliant projects across East Lothian to life.

“Whether by supporting local businesses in person or online, money that’s spent locally stays local for longer.

“We hope these grants will be a great Christmas present to all those benefiting as we encourage everyone to safely support their local businesses however they can.”

In total, East Lothian has been awarded £47,951.09.

Among those receiving funding was the East Lothian Tourism Attractions Group (£5,000), with funding going to complement the ‘Love East Lothian’ campaign and to engage audiences to love local.

Haddington Business Community Partnership received the same amount for a Christmas campaign with market huts and pop-up shops, while Musselburgh Business Partnership also received £5,000 for a Scotland Loves Local project in the town.

Preston Seton Gosford Area Partnership was also awarded £5,000 to encourage people to shop local, while North Berwick Business Association and Tranent Traders Association/Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council were also given the four-figure sum.

In North Berwick, the money was partly to include the management of social media, while in Tranent it was to help put a digital marketing campaign in place.

Fringe by the Sea also received £5,000, with the money going to preparatory work for event spaces used by other community groups.

Enjoy East Lothian Ltd received a total of £7,600, with the money split between the purchase of PPE for leisure facilities and also for the marketing of the facilities.

Dirleton Good Neighbours was awarded £2,549.52 to go towards the idea of a Dirleton village market, while Dunbar Trades’ Association was given £1,500 for a prize draw competition for shopping local.

West Barns Village Hall Committee was handed £1,301.57 to help create an outdoor gathering space.