Local community groups and projects in the St Andrews area are to benefit from a new £1.85m partnership agreement between St Andrews Links Trust and the St Andrews Community Trust, increasing the funds available to deliver ongoing support to the St Andrews community.

The eight-year agreement, in place from January 2026, will see a guaranteed sum of £235,000 donated by St Andrews Links Trust to the Community Trust annually for the next five years, with a further £225,000 for the subsequent three years.

The new arrangement represents a significant increase to previous guaranteed annual funding and represents a strengthened commitment to supporting local causes as part of the Links Trust’s charitable objectives.

The previous agreement, which had been in place since 2010, guaranteed a minimum annual funding amount of £50,000 with more than £1.5m provided to the Community Trust over a 15-year period.

The donations will support the Community Trust in continuing its work in St Andrews and the surrounding area. After 15 years and 415 projects supported, the Community Trust has built considerable expertise in understanding the needs of the community, ensuring resources reach where they can make the greatest difference to local people and organisations.

Previous groups to have benefited from the funding include Friends of Craigtoun Country Park, Byre Youth Theatre, City of St Andrews Pipe Band, St Andrews Folk & Traditional Music, Families First, Options in Life, St Andrews Community Hospital and St Andrews Tennis Club.

Neil Coulson, chief executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “The evolution of our donation agreement with the St Andrews Community Trust underlines our commitment to use the Home of Golf as a vehicle for good within our local community.

“The funding provided over the past 15 years has been used to support fantastic causes within the St Andrews area and I’m pleased we are able to continue and enhance this commitment for the next eight years. The values and objectives of St Andrews Community Trust closely mirror our own and I look forward to seeing many more beneficiaries of these donations in the years to come.”

David Murray, chair of the St Andrews Community Trust, said: “We’re proud of the Community Trust’s history of supporting St Andrews and this new agreement with the Links Trust enables us to build on that strong foundation. We’ve developed a deep understanding of how local charities and community groups operate, the challenges they face, and what our community needs. With all our trustee directors living in St Andrews, we combine that deep local knowledge with our collective experience to best serve the community here.”

As part of the new Community Partnership and Donation agreement, the Links Trust has also committed to supporting the Community Trust with other fundraising initiatives to broaden its funding streams.