Loch Duart and Cargill fund Scourie broadband boost
Salmon farmer Loch Duart and feed manufacturer Cargill have provided £14,400 to fund a new wireless broadband service for households in the Scourie area of Sutherland, where Loch Duart is based.
The money from the companies’ Salmon Pool fund is being given to Scourie Community Development Company (SCDC) for the new service, which will be provided through Highland Wireless.
The Salmon Pool offers funding to charities and projects which benefit local communities in the areas where Loch Duart farms across Sutherland and the Outer Hebrides.
Vital to be connected
Loch Duart managing director Mark Warrington told The Northern Times: “As a business which works in isolated communities across the Highlands and Islands, we know how vital it is for people to be connected.
“We are proud to be able to help connect these communities through the Salmon Pool fund. This funding will ensure people living in Scourie and the surrounding areas can, for the first time, access high speed internet as fibre services currently do not reach them.”
Helen Houston, development manager of the Scourie Community Development Company Ltd which manages the project, said connection to superfast broadband was becoming more important for everyone, especially in remote communities where services such as health care are increasingly being delivered online.
“The small, remote communities are not getting connected to superfast broadband, so communities are trying to put in their own systems,” she told Fish Farming Expert. “But we have been finding it really hard to find the funding.
Small hamlets
“A lot of the usual places we could go to, such as the National Lottery, will not fund us because they say it is the government’s responsibility. So, this funding from the Salmon Pool is hugely important to us to allow us to get these small hamlets connected. It will be 20-25 households at the most, but it is hugely important to each of these households.
“For these particular households it will be transformational.
“Some of the people in the area have satellite broadband but it is hugely expensive, and if you want to stream anything you have to do it at two in the morning when it is quiet!
“We are thrilled to be receiving £14,400 from the fund and look forward to rolling out this new service later this year. We’d like to give a huge thank you to Loch Duart and Cargill Aqua Nutrition for making this possible.”
