Belladrum Festival Raises Nearly £200K For Local Community & Charities in 2024

Belladrum’s roots in the community run deep, as the festival donates spaces, visibility, and tickets to help raise important funds. 

This year, we’re delighted to announce that a total of almost £190,000 was raised through ticket donations and support - such as providing free space for charities within the festival, throughout the weekend.

Our 2024 official partnership was with the Elsie Normington Foundation, which works to improve the lives of children with complex needs. The foundation, featured across the festival site, gained valuable support and exposure and resulted in the charity raising over £6,000.  This was thanks to ticket donations, fundraising on site throughout the weekend, and the Moray Firth Radio “Belladrum Family” competition, wherein participants started with just a tent peg, and swapped this out for higher value prizes. These prizes, including a family holiday to Spain, were then donated to ENF - who had to opportunity to raffle or auction them for donations.

Belladrum also donated a further 200 tickets to various charities and individuals, generating essential funds to support community-driven initiatives, as raffle prizes offered by the charities themselves. One such donation was to Resolis Primary school, who recently sent the team a beautiful handmade card as a thank you, isn’t it beautiful?

Visitors to Belladrums ‘Charity Alley’ will have encountered an inspiring variety of organisations that took part in this year’s festivities, including Trees for Life, Lymes Disease Awareness, James Support Group and local groups including Lovat Shinty Club, whom Belladrum Tartan Heart became an official kit sponsor for this year, and Beauly Brownies.  MikeysLine also joined us again this year, taking up a new spot on site closer to the main arena.

Festival-goers could also explore the offerings of the much-loved Kiltarlity Village Hall Tea Tent, which served afternoon teas near the Garden Stage. As one festival goer said - ‘Best cakes ever!’

This year alone their efforts raised over £7,000, which will go towards the maintenance and upkeep of their hall. With the help of this years Kiltarlity Ticket Ballot, wherein local residents could enter to win Belladrum tickets - over £700 was raised and donated to the Kiltarlity Community Council Christmas Light Switch-On Fund. 

Highland Hospice, another community staple, raised over £3,000 through its charity shop, thanks to festival-goers keen on second-hand clothes. In addition, the Hospice raised an almost £40,000 amount through raffling and auctioning off their donated Belladrum weekend and campervan passes.

"The entire team at Belladrum is ecstatic to have supported local groups and charities to raise almost £200,000 this year. We are incredibly fortunate to have a platform that not only allows us to support these amazing organisations via ticket donations, but also allows them to raise vital awareness – be that onsite during the event or through our marketing channels. Since its earliest days, Belladrum has always been rooted in community, and 20 years on, this focus remains at the very heart of what we do and something we’re deeply proud of."

Dougie Brown, Festival Producer

Next year’s charity of the year was recently named as Highland Action For Little Ones (HALO). A young local charity set up in 2023 who support some of the most vulnerable children and families in the Highlands. The small team work to uplift and empower disadvantaged children and low-income families by providing essential support and resources including shoes, nappies, baby equipment, school clothing, and essential toiletries.  You can read more about HALO in our previous blog post.

In further exciting community based news - We are currently in the process of finalising the Belladrum Festival Community Trust, this will be a new initiative funded by proceeds from the recently reintroduced car parking fees. The trust will allow and enable local groups and individuals to apply for funds to support projects and events, building a sustainable future for community-driven initiatives across the Highlands and the local area. More details on this, soon!

Finally, we want to say a huge thank you to all of the charities and local groups who joined us at Bella this year, and a thank you to anyone who supported their fundraising efforts ahead of, or during the event.

Team Bella x