The Highlands and Islands are to receive £18m in EU cash aid from the European Regional Development Fund. These funds are to assist the area in tourism and renewable energy.

More than £1 million will go to a visitor center for the chambered tomb of Maeshowe on Orkney, and the Highlanders Museum Redevelopment Project near Inverness will get almost £1 million. The Highlanders Museum has been generously funded by actor Hugh Grant, who has raised money for it in honor of his grandfather Colonel James Murray Grant, who was a senior officer at a nearby artillery fort. This museum has a military flavor, and is dedicated to the Seaforth Highlanders, the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, and the Queen’s Own Highlanders.