Author: LPL

A Salen community project is celebrating a milestone of having their land interest approved by the Scottish Executive, for the Jetty, house and shop site at Salen. This will give the community of Salen an opportunity to directly control the historic stone jetty, along with producing an income stream, generated from the house, shop unit, jetty fees and possible services, such as toilets, showers and laundry.

The issue of community ownership of the jetty, was first raised 2 years ago at an open meeting in Acharacle where local people were concerned that should the jetty be sold, then all access for launching and landing at the Salen end of Loch Sunart, could be lost. This would be a blow for local fishermen and pleasure boat users as well as visitor on boats that use Salen as safer shelter in poor weather and to land and use the local shop in Acharacle and the hotel in Salen. From that initial meeting, a group was formed to work towards this goal.

Stewart Ritchie, chair of Salen Community Company, said, “ this is the milestone that the community has been working to. Now we have got this far, we will have to work very hard over the next 6 months to raise the funds needed to complete the purchase”.

The local community has already expressed its support for the project, with nearly 50% of the community signing a support petition and joining the company as members. It is now up to the community to work up a feasibility study and business plan that will support funding applications to the Big Lottery, Highlands and Island Enterprise, The Crown Estates as well as other funders.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 allows community groups to register an interest in land and then progress a sale when the land becomes available for sale. It offers community groups the opportunity to purchase important parts of their community and to take control of their future.

Salen Community Company gratefully acknowledges the financial support so far from HIE Lochaber and the Community Land Unit.

Author: LPL

On Monday 10th March, the community of Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae will celebrate the official opening of Garrison House following a two year restoration project.

Situated in the heart of Millport, the Garrison was destined for closure in 1997. Following a major fire in 2001, the building became a derelict eyesore.
The local community realised that the redevelopment of this significant landmark could be the catalyst for the regeneration of the whole island.

A group of individuals joined together and planned a campaign to save the Garrison. In 2003, they formally established Cumbrae Community Development Company and managed to raise over £5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, North Ayrshire Council, Historic Scotland, Argyll and Islands Enterprises and the European Regional Development Fund to refurbish the Garrison.

For the last two years, the house has undergone a major reconstruction, including the restoration of the 18th external stonework and the sunken garden designed by the arts and crafts architect, Robert Weir Schultz. The interior of the building has been opened up to create a modern, light space.

The end result is the transformation of the Garrison into the hub of community life and a centre for all visitors to the island. The house will hold the Museum of the Cumbraes, the library, Council services, GP practice, and a café.

Commenting from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Colin McLean, Manager for Scotland, said:

‘The re-opening of the Garrison will be welcomed by all who live and visit the Island of Cumbrae. This project is a credit to the local community who have driven this project forward with unfailing commitment. It will encourage and assist new initiatives that will benefit the whole island. We were delighted to help turn the fortunes of Garrison House and the Isle of Cumbrae.’

John Burtt, Chairman of Cumbrae Community Development Company, added:

‘This has been a long project but the end result is fantastic. Garrison House is right at the centre of Millport and its restoration will restore the heart and confidence of the local people. It will attract more tourists and encourage new businesses to the island.

‘We would like to thank all our funders for believing in us and investing in the long-term economic sustainability of Cumbrae.’

Author: LPL

The Canongate Community Forum is campaigning against plans to demolish listed buildings and people’s homes in the Canongate, which is part of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh`s World Heritage site. Caltongate is the controversial £300million project in Edinburgh`s Old Town. In the face of strong local representation, the majority of proposals contained in the Caltongate Masterplan were approved by the Council`s planning committee earlier this month. However it received and continues to receive damning criticism from Heritage bodies, leading figures in the Conservation world and from individuals locally and worldwide. UNESCO has already stated that it is concerned about Edinburgh. The Cockburn Society has consistently voiced its unease at the proposals. ICOMOS has expressd concern. SAVE Britain’s Heritage is the latest organisation to protest. These are organisations with a track record of knowing what of the historic built environment is worth preserving.

Most controversial are the proposed demolition of Listed Buildings and homes on the Royal Mile to create space for a 5 star hotel and the sale of common good land and publicly owned buildings to facilitate a conference centre, offices bars and ‘arty-farty’ (the developers description) retail blocking views through the Waverley Valley.

Canongate Community Forum have undertaken a significant level of continuous community consultation through public meetings, social evenings and even organised a very successful Street Party to demonstrate the potential for community uses of the publicly owned land on East Market St.

Despite campaigners having been called ‘professional protesters’ ‘communists’ and even ‘toxic’ by the developers and their team of architects and PR men, they have received letters of support for the Save Our Old Town campaign from leading conservation architects, heritage groups and many residential and community groups across the City. They share information and contribute to the Edinburgh at Risk group which was launched last year and have contributed to the debate in Government regarding the administration and management of the Common Good in Scotland.

Having now received Scottish Communities Action Research Funding from Communities Scotland a community shop will be opening soon in the Canongate where members of the community can come and trade ideas, experience and information with a view to creating a more sustainable and inclusive community for generations to come.

Find out more about the actions taken so far and what you can do to contribute or get more involved at

www.eh8.org.uk

Author: LPL

“Monolithic” housing associations from south of the border are threatening the existence of their locally based counterparts in Scotland it has been claimed.

Large associations based in England are setting up offices in Scotland to capitalize on the government’s Firm Foundations policy, which aims to boost the amount of affordable new builds in Scotland from 25,000 a year to 35,000.

According to an influential housing publication, at least six major English associations are hoping to set up bases or expand in Scotland.

Sunderland-based Gentoo has opened an office in Glasgow, while Circle Anglia has earmarked Scotland as a growth area.

Others such as Sanctuary and Places for People have had a presence in Scotland for several years.

But Scottish housing associations claim their asset -rich counterparts in England are driven mainly by expansion.

They claim the English model of housing associations is radically different and that tenant participation would all but cease.

Fraser Stewart heads the New Gorbals Housing Association. He said: “Tenants want local landlords they can trust and hold to account.

“There is nothing which large English housing associations can do which is not already being done better by community- based associations in Glasgow.”

Under the government’s Firm Foundations scheme only one housing association developer will be appointed as the lead developer in a particular area.

The West of Scotland Housing Association claims the proposal created the risk of the development programme in Scotland being undertaken by a handful of English associations.

Steven Strang of Elderslie Housing said tenants would not be happy with what amounted to an absent landlord. “The English model is very different,” he said, “So I don’t quite know what kind of additional value they would bring to the city. Housing Associations are charities and founded on not-for-profit principles.

We would fear that would be eroded if these kinds of housing associations settled north of the border, intent primarily on expansion,”

But Colin Rae, of Places for People, said: “We are extremely well-placed to offer something that is not being offered in the Scottish market,”

Author: LPL

More than 200 members of the volunteer army who manage rural Scotland’s Village Halls and other community facilities gathered in Aviemore last weekend, at the first ever Scottish Village Halls Summit. The response to the event was been described by the organisers as “overwhelming”, with every available place booked up two weeks in advance.

Representatives from every part of rural Scotland heard Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead talk about the Government’s plans to support halls and other community facilities. Very significant new funding is coming on stream through the Scottish Rural Development Programme and the Minister also announced that he was making £200,000 available to SCVO to ensure that communities were supported through the application process.

Delegates were given an opportunity to put their questions and comments to the Minister about what needs to be done to ensure a sustainable future for village halls. Later in the day an expert panel were on hand to answer some specific questions about funding and support for community facilities.

The Conference was organised by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), who have had a long history of support for village halls, including managing the 21st Century Halls Millennium Funding which provided £7 million of funding to rebuild or refurbish 56 Scottish Village Halls. It was supported by the Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and ILA Scotland.

SCVO Rural Policy Manager Norman MacAskill said: “We were genuinely overwhelmed by the interest in this event, and the demand for places. We expected around a hundred people to sign up, but have ended up with more than double that number coming, showing the passionate commitment felt by people living in rural Scotland to the shared community spaces at the heart of their communities.”
“With SCVO’s Halls for All campaign last year and the first ever Village Halls Summit, we are doing our bit to help build a powerful collective voice for the volunteer army who manage rural Scotland’s Village Halls and other community facilities.”

Author: LPL

The distribution of a huge pot of funding that could help community groups across the UK has hit a political stumbling block.

Social Enterprise magazine will next week reveal the tussle that has been delaying the announcement of a multi-million pound ‘community anchors’ programme. The scheme, run by DCLG, is understood to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

The community anchors proposal -growing enterprising community organisations rooted in neighbour- hoods -was first put forward in 2004 as one of four priorities in the Home Office’s framework for community capacity building, Firm foundations.

The idea was set to become reality a month ago but the launch was postponed due to community groups’ concerns over how local authorities might distribute the cash.

It is also not clear how local authorities will interpret the programme and implement it from post- code to postcode.

David Tyler, chief executive of Community Matters, said the idea of community anchors would be completely new to local authorities. He warned the programme could be interpreted to coincide with existing local funding priorities.

Development Trusts Association director Steve Wyler told New Start local authorities should be involved in the programme at many levels, providing advice on local needs. But he feared they did not have the investment expertise to help community enterprises scale up.

A spokesperson for DCLG could not give details of the announcement but said it was likely to be imminent.

Author: LPL

BACKGROUND
Project: Scottish Land Fund (SLF).

Period of evaluation: 2002 to 2006.

Evaluating organisations: SQW and Land Use Consultants (LUC).

Evaluation commissioned by: The Big Lottery Fund.

Aims and outline of the project: The SLF made a total of £15 million available to fund the transfer of land and land assets to community ownership in disadvantaged rural areas of Scotland. The fund aimed to: improve opportunities for local people; encourage community involvement and participation; enhance environmental diversity and quality; and broaden land ownership. Funding was available for acquisition, technical assistance and development. A total of 251 grants were awarded to 188 community groups.

KEY LESSONS
Annette Pearson writes: This report’s key finding is straightforward: handing real powers to local communities can rapidly improve an area’s social and economic performance.

When assets were transferred into community control, disadvantaged rural communities felt empowered and motivated, the evaluation finds. This enabled the development of social capital, boosted cohesion, and helped strengthen communities through improved communication and a shared sense of purpose. Of all of the projects funded, the evaluation notes that only one “failed”: a very high success rate.

The evaluation makes it clear that development funding is critical if assets are to be utilised with any haste. Relying on voluntary effort will often result in a project making very slow progress, and thus any impact will generally only be achieved over a considerable period of time. Development funding is also crucial in providing a reliable source of income in the period before communities can begin to yield dependable revenue from their newly-acquired assets. The transition from grant funding to self-sufficiency needs to be carefully planned for, the evaluation found.

The evaluation also concludes that engaging schools in projects can be beneficial to both children and the project itself; and that the transfer of assets to a community tends to provoke a growth in membership of community groups. Where there was a major transfer of land – such as in North Harris and Gigha – there was equivalent, major growth in community spirit and social cohesion.

– Annette Pearson is a senior regeneration manager at the Black Country Consortium.
– Evaluation of the Scottish Land Fund is available via www.regen.net/doc

Author: LPL

BACKGROUND
In the context of the recent Spending Review, the Scottish Government announced the creation of a new fund aimed at tackling poverty and deprivation across Scotland. The Fairer Scotland Fund replaces a number of current programmes and funding streams. On an all Scotland basis the Fund totals £145m nationally per year for the next three years and will be part of the Local Government settlement. An allocation from the fund is to be made to each local authority area to enable community planning partnerships to work together to tackle area based and individual poverty; and to help more people access and sustain employment opportunities.

KEY PRINCIPLES FOR THE FAIRER SCOTLAND FUND
The Scottish Government considers the following principles crucial for investment of the Fairer Scotland Fund by community planning partnerships:-
• A clear focus on investment to address the causes of poverty, not its symptoms
• A strong emphasis placed on making early interventions for vulnerable individuals, families and disadvantaged communities
• Promotion of joint working between local partners
• Focused action on improving employability as a key means of tackling poverty
• Empowering communities and individuals to influence and inform the decisions made by community planning partnerships

The Scottish Government is very clear that not all deprived people in Scotland live in the most deprived areas. So, in recognition of the importance of individual deprivation, community planning partnerships will have increased freedom to invest in particular disadvantaged groups or individuals wherever they may live in order to tackle the root causes of poverty across the entire area. There will be no requirement to target a set proportion of their fund allocation for investment only in 15% datazone areas, as under current arrangements.

*the allocation is ringfenced for the first two years of the spending review period, in order to provide transparency and ensure that all community planning partners can play a part in driving strategic investment of these resources. However, it is envisaged that the ringfencing will be removed in 2010/11 as single outcome agreements are concluded with community planning partnerships.

Author: LPL

The announcement this week of a new initiative, to march under the slogan Inspiring Scotland, to invest between £70-100m in Scottish charities should help lift the spirits of a voluntary sector unsettled by the combination of a more restrictive public spending round and a new government with its own ideas about how to allocate public funds.

The fact that the initiative comes from the biggest single independent funder of the Scottish voluntary sector is an added bonus. Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland has earned a reputation as a sym- pathetic funder consistently responsive to the sector’s evolving needs and ambitions.

The publicity for the launch brands the initiative as an exercise in venture philanthropy. Charitable funding has its own fashions and venture philanthropy already has a slightly dated feel. It is often described as a product of the dotcom boom, as a wave of new American billionaires looked to reconnect with the social causes of their generation, and the collapse of that boom robbed it of some of its bloom. Whether the branding can with- stand the shock waves of the collapse of the dotcom boom’s successor in financial services is a moot point.

The well prepared supporting material which accompanies the launch provides an insight into Inspiring Scotland’s particular understanding of venture philanthropy. It is based on a strategic understanding of need -in this case the needs of Scotland’s 32,000 young people who are in neither work, training or education -and of the root causes of the problem. It involves a long term commitment of resources from a range of sources, from the charitable sector itself, the private sector and the public sector. The importance of government involvement is particularly emphasised ”as we’ll be able to deliver more for everyone by linking our work to local and national strategy”.

It will require the charities which it sup- ports to develop their structures and management processes to achieve long term sustainability. The development of sophisticated measures of success will be particularly crucial not least because it will “enable Inspiring Scotland to demonstrate its value to investors”.

Where will the annual £10m come from? There will be a modest contribution from TSB Lloyds Foundation itself. The Scottish Government has committed £3m annually for three years from its Enterprise and Learning budget. The balance of £6.5m is to come from other charitable foundations and individuals including presumably venture philanthropists. Without knowing how solid such commitments are it is impossible to ignore the precedent of another well publicised recent initiative, Project Scotland, which promised -and failed -to supplement a generous government commitment with equally generous backing from the private sector.

It is debatable how far Inspiring Scotland’s prospectus justifies the initiative’s promotion as an innovation in venture philanthropy. Its claim that it is the first initiative venture philanthropy to come from within the voluntary sector itself rather gives the game away. In fact the practical content of the prospectus reads more like a case for a strategic voluntary sector/government partnership led from within the sector but with private sector financial support and focused on maximising the long-term contribution of those voluntary organisations which can demonstrate most clearly the effectiveness of their approach. Anyone concerned for those missing 32,000 young Scots will wish the new venture success, whatever their scepticism about aspects of the promotion.

Author: LPL

Aline Community Woodland is the largest community woodland of its type in community ownership within Scotland. The land was acquired by the Erisort Trust from Forestry Commission Scotland in 2005 with support from the Scottish Land Fund. In the 1990s many of the trees had been destroyed as a result of an invasion of pine beauty moths. This created substancial areas of deadwood which tourists viewed as an eyesore.

The Trust however spotted a commercial opportunity as they began to clear the deadwood. A market has been developed for the logs as firewood and kindling. Demand for their product now outstrips supply.

However much of 625 hectares woodland was unaffected by the pine beauty moths and remains an area of remarkable beauty and rich in wildlife, fauna and flora. A detailed forest management plan has been developed which sets out the proposals for planting, improving access, wildlife interpretation, and education and recreational development. Five local people, who have been trained in all aspects of forestry required for the project, have been employed to manage the development work. Training and environmental education will continue to be key aspects of the Trusts work.

A combination of webcams and underwater cameras will beam live pictures of the areas of wildlife to visitors at specially designed shelters and hides. Traditional paths and bridal ways are being upgraded to allow pony trekking and mountain biking to develop. Safe water access is being provided to encourage water based sport. Plans are underway to build five star lodge accommodation for visitors.

The Erisort Trust has been able to develop their plans because of the strong partnerships it has built up with its funders :
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Western Isles Enterprise, Iomairt aig an Oir, Scottish Land Fund, Forestry Commission, Forestry and Rural Development Scheme, Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB