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Edinburgh-based alternative UK broadband network GoFibre, which is building a gigabit full fibre (FTTP) network across rural parts of Scotland and Northern England, has today awarded £12,000 to four community projects under their GoFurther fund in the Scottish Borders area where their infrastructure is being built.
The GoFurther Fund currently offers grants of up to £3,000 (each) to help local charity projects and community organisations in the Scottish Borders and other areas. Applicants to the fund must present projects that meet one or more of four criteria: Environmental Benefit, Community Wellbeing, Education and Skills, or Internet Safety and Digital Inclusion.
The latest four funding awards saw £3,000 being allocated to Cornerstone Community Care (Galashiels), The General Store (Selkirk), Stable Life (near Selkirk) and Hawick High School Inclusion Hub (Hawick), supporting adults with learning disabilities, older residents facing everyday tech barriers and young people who need alternative routes to thrive.
Since launching in 2023, the GoFurther Fund has supported 17 charities and community organisations across its network areas, in addition to the latest Borders-based recipients.
Neil Conaghan, CEO at GoFibre said:
“Building full fibre broadband is an important part of our job, but it is not the whole story. How we show up for customers and invest back into the areas we serve matters just as much. These projects speak to that commitment as they each help people build confidence and skills and foster a sense of community through the region. The Borders is our home, and we’re genuinely looking forward to seeing the difference this funding makes for people across the region over the months ahead.”
To date, more than 6,500 homes and businesses are now able to connect to GoFibre’s network, with over 1,000 already connected across the Scottish Borders and East Lothian. The local network build is now complete in Innerleithen and Oxton, while work is taking place across Chirnside, Eyemouth and surrounding villages, Lauder, Denholm, Coldingham, St Abbs, and Jedburgh.
Further expansion is also underway in Kelso and Galashiels, where around 2,000 additional premises in each location are expected to benefit, contributing to the 20,000 total premises set to benefit across the wider region. The provider currently expects to deploy their new full fibre based broadband network to reach a total UK footprint of 250,000 premises by around mid-2028, and they were home to a total of around 15,000 customers as of June 2025.