We held five different ‘tours’ to different parts of the city of Glasgow and visiting three social enterprises, charities and community groups for learning exchanges, and a sixth walking experience considering Pilgrim Ways and communities which joined two of the other tours at Glasgow Cathedral and the Govan Stones, and also visited other sites on the Whithorn Way which runs from Glasgow Cathedral to Paisley Abbey (and then south).

The exchanges had an urban focus and a very valuable aspect was rural players exchanging with them. It was very useful to see the less seasonal aspect of urban operations that can operate all year and also how they tackle local day trippers as well as more mainstream tourists from further afield

The exchanges helped everyone better understand the charity and social enterprise models that had been adopted by each and how they had decided what was the best option for them given their overall purpose and community. There were learnings from organisations that had changed their governance to allow them to do things differently and also approaches to donations vs ticket sales.

A key learning for many of the hosts is recognising the role of tourism in bringing much needed revenue and putting effort into reaching out to them and also working with other tourism facing enterprises in their area

Learning Outcomes

• Better understanding of the governance of community led tourism initiatives.
• Better awareness of the operational challenges and opportunities in running community led tourism initiatives.
• Inspiration of what is possible through community led tourism initiatives in terms of community cohesion and resilience.

"We were delighted to announce at our Day 2 event that the learning exchanges we undertook in Montrose last year as part of the 2025 SCOTO Gathering had been the inspiration for the Glasgow Convention Bureau launching their 'In Glasgow - Meetings Mean More' initiative where they showcase local social enterprises and charities to event organisers and their delegates for places to eat, gifts to buy, experiences knowing that their spend is helping that organisation help their community. This is now being profiled at an international conference in Helsinki as part of the City DNA conference in April 2026 with SCOTO and Glasgow Convention Bureau jointly hosting a workshop on this theme."

The exchange provided children, young people, and teachers with a valuable opportunity to experience how Irish dance is taught and celebrated in another community. Through shared workshops and informal cultural exchange with the Rothesay group, participants were introduced to new dances, styles, and traditions. Many dancers were able to describe specific steps, dances, and stories they had learned, demonstrating clear engagement with the cultural aspects of the visit.

Teachers recorded reflections on both similarities and differences between the two communities, particularly in teaching approaches, class structures, and community engagement. This has already begun to inform ideas for future collaboration and programme development. Overall, the exchange strengthened cultural connection, fostering a shared sense of identity and belonging within a wider Irish dance community.

The exchange created dedicated space for teachers and organisers to share knowledge and discuss approaches to delivering accessible, community-focused dance programmes. Through conversations and observation, both groups identified practical ideas around affordability, inclusivity, and sustaining engagement with local families.

Learning Outcomes

• Strengthen cultural connection between communities: The Children & Young People will gain a deeper understanding of Irish dance as it is taught and celebrated in another place, building shared cultural identity and long-term links between local community groups.
• Build confidence, teamwork and wellbeing through shared dance activities.
• Strengthen collaboration and practice between community dance organisations.

"One of the most significant impacts was the opportunity it gave children from disadvantaged backgrounds to travel and take part in an experience they would simply not have had otherwise. For many, this was their first time visiting another community in this way. Meeting and dancing alongside new peers, experiencing different community norms, and seeing how Irish dance is celebrated elsewhere opened their eyes to new possibilities. It expanded their understanding of the world beyond their immediate environment in a way that felt exciting, positive, and empowering."

Linlithgow Shed are at a stage where they would like to expand and reach new groups within the community, and also offer different activities. At present they need some ideas and inspiration about how other Sheds achieve this.

The structure of the Armadale Shed gave us food for thought – they have a comprehensive handbook for their members which outlines responsibilities – we have now started to draft our own. In Armadale there is a good deal of effort expended on making items for sale to the local community – this boosts their funds but also raises their local profile and can attract new members. Finally, as a result of a devastating fire at their Shed some years ago, Armadale have now installed ventilation, dust extraction and other safety measure all in line with best practise. There was a lot in terms of their physical workshop setup that we have learnt from, and are now working on upgrading our ventilation systems to better protect our space and our members.

Learning Outcomes

• Structure of the Shed in terms of roles and responsibilities – how formal are these? How is monitoring achieved?
• Engaging with local communities – which audiences are catered to and which are hard to reach? What are the most successful ways of engaging local people?
• Practical and health and safety examples of layout, equipment etc. Linlithgow Shed has grown gradually and organically, mostly using donated tools. We’re excited to learn from an example of a Shed that has built itself up intentionally.

"We were able to see their Shed members at work, join them for their tea-break and get a lot of stories and advice/tips from them. As they were forced to completely rebuild their Shed following their fire, they had obviously given a lot of thought to layout and how to optimise their space for the work that they do. We'd love to have the well ordered and designed space they have!"

Our exchange gave us the opportunity to understand the phased approach  Culturlann Inbhir Nis had taken in terms of getting the building open and completing the initial work, beginning to run activity and then the plans for the future. In particular, it was really useful to see how they were making use of the space to allow community activities to take place while construction work was ongoing, and this will inform our approach in our own building. We were impressed by their flexible approach and their use of other spaces to maintain their profile while their own space was unable to be used and this is something we will also consider

We learned about Culturlann Inbhir Nis’s income generation strategy and exchanged ideas on what had worked for us, and plans they had that we hadn’t considered. We shared experiences and success (or otherwise!) with different funders, which gave both sides new insight and focus.

Our biggest area of learning was around the measures Culturlann Inbhir Nis had taken to make people without Gaelic feel included, while maintaining the ethos and values of the space as a Gaelic cultural centre. This was of huge interest to us as we are in an area with very few native speakers, but a lot of interest, and many people who remember Gaelic being spoken by older generations, so we were very keen to understand how they navigated this. Top tips were: Clearly communicating which events are ‘Gaelic only’ and which are ‘Gaelic first’; how they encouraged and supported inter-generational activities and learning, and how they made visitors welcome through signage of simple words to encourage ‘giving it a go’, making use of volunteers to start conversations and put people at ease, etc.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding Culturlann Inbhir Nis’s approach to phasing the project, specifically the balance between getting their programme up and running alongside carrying out the renovation work. This will inform our approach when taking on a new building.
• In terms of programming, understand what is delivered by Culturlann Inbhir Nis directly and what is delivered by partners, and their approach to balancing this in terms of workload/capacity and funding/income generation.
• Understanding any resistance Culturlann Inbhir Nis faced from non-Gaelic-speaking community members, and how this was overcome to ensure the whole community felt welcome. This will inform our action plan.

"Our visit was very useful and we addressed all the outcomes we wanted to and much more! I hope Culturlann Inbhir Nis felt it was equally beneficial, and I felt like we have made a good 'friend' organisation who we can keep in touch with in the future. It would be great for them to come and visit us in future, and we're hoping to go back and see them once the renovation of the building is complete and it's fully up and running."

Here in Portobello, Edinburgh the community (represented by the charity Action Porty) has been awarded £499,570 by the Scottish Land Fund to buy the former Portobello Police Station. We expect to complete purchase of the property in March 2026.

We plan to refurbish the building and let the 20 public rooms available to local organisations and charities. Therefore, we would like to visit similar organisations that have converted an existing building and operated it as community space for medium term let and for short-term hire.

You need to hold contingency budget to cope with surprises that you may encounter as you renovate a building. To maximise our income, we should “sweat the asset” and try to fit in as many useful rentable spaces as possible. The cost base is key to setting pricing.

We admired the way original features had been retained at Kinning Park alongside modern facilities. The building had a human feel with some pictures of historic use, a community noticeboard and tapestries. Both buildings had first class, consistent signage on doors and clear signposting within the building.

We noted that labelling on doors reduces signage clutter. This needs to be backed by good design e.g. uniform throughout. Closely linked to signage is wayfinding within the building. Kinning Park used both colour (different on each floor) and direction/naming signs at entrance key junctions. This worked well and gave a positive energy and feel to the building.

Energy use is tightly monitored, particularly when hosting tenants operating energy intensive equipment e.g. ceramic ovens. Many Studios had found that the most economical way to heat the building was to keep a minimal level of heat on at all times. At Kinning Park there first step to energy efficiency was to improve the fabric of the building (rather than the heating equipment)

Learning Outcomes

• To learn from the experience of the hosts on how to design, develop and maintain a successful non-profit community letting operation.
• To learn from our hosts about the science and the art of tenant management. This would include formal contracts, the balance of rent and service charges and building security systems. We are also interested in gauging the level of management effort required for medium-term lets vs. day-to-day room hire.
• We want to see how the buildings are presented and branded to tenants and visitors. What signage is used ? What design variations between rooms occur and are permitted?

"Our exchange met our objectives. It was clear from our visits that a hire operation will require more staff than a tenant operation, but exact levels of staffing will depend on your building size and the size of your hire operation."

The learning exchange delivered practical, evidence-led insight from three established community organisations operating in rural and island contexts. Across the visits we tested our early assumptions about what makes a hub financially viable and operationally workable, and we captured the findings in structured site reports for internal board review and wider membership sharing.

The exchange directly supported our next development stage by strengthening the realism of our Phase 1 thinking: how a hub actually operates day to day, what the true cost drivers are (energy, maintenance, staffing time, finance overheads), and what income lines consistently underpin affordability. The visits reinforced that community use alone rarely sustains a hub, and that one or more revenue anchors are typically required to carry fixed costs while keeping community access affordable. We also saw how event delivery and trading activity succeeds when it is packaged and costed properly, with the right supporting infrastructure and procedures.

For our wider membership, the site reports provide a shared evidence base and common language. They help move discussion away from abstract ‘nice to haves’ and towards operationally grounded choices – how spaces are used, what staffing is required, and what income streams typically carry viability. This will strengthen future community engagement, as we can explain trade-offs and priorities using real examples from comparable settings.

The exchange also helped to surface early risk issues that are often missed until late – such as the administrative burden created by manual booking, the impact of energy exposure, and the importance of procedures that control access, handback standards, and the hidden time around events. Capturing these now will help us avoid costly design and operating mistakes later.

Learning Outcomes

• To understand how three different hubs manage daily operations — including staffing, governance, volunteer engagement, booking systems and the balance between community and commercial activity. Comparing the Rockfield Centre, An Roth and An Cridhe will help GCDA identify operational approaches suited to Glenbarr’s scale and local needs.
• To learn how the internal spaces of each hub—such as halls, meeting rooms, social areas, kitchens and exhibition spaces—have been designed and adapted for multiple uses. This includes understanding what has proved successful, what limitations each hub has encountered, and how demand is managed throughout the year. These insights will support GCDA in refining the functional layout and design brief for our own hub.
• To gain a realistic understanding of how rural hubs achieve financial sustainability, including approaches to income generation, cost management, partnerships and seasonal variation. Learning across these three distinct hubs will enable GCDA to strengthen its business planning and ensure long-term viability of the Glenbarr Community Hub.

"Our exchange built strong relationships with three host organisations who were candid about what works, what fails, and why. This created a trusted basis for follow-up questions and ongoing peer support as our project progresses. The exchange also improved our internal capability: we were able to speak directly with trustees, managers and specialist roles (including fundraising and finance) and understand how responsibilities are structured in practice, not just in theory."

Extensive discussion was had about all aspects of how Action Porty run & manage their venue including staffing structures etc. Trustees from A Heart for Duns (AHFD) shared information about our processes and structure. It was reassuring for us to hear that both organisations face similar staffing and volunteer issues but that our approach to managing these was similar. Both of us are moving towards creating an operations manager post. Action Porty shared their volunteer coordinator job description as we are hoping to also create such a post, pending funding.

It was interesting to hear their planned approach to taking on the Old Police Station in that they are not going to make any physical changes to the building initially but aim to move in and rent out space as it is currently configured. This is an approach we hadn’t considered & may be appropriate for an empty building in Duns that the community are interested in exploring with regards possible community ownership. There was a brief talk about their use of community conversations as part of their consultation process – this is something we agreed we would revisit with them at a later date.

Learning Outcomes

• Insight into the staffing structure of another organisation managing a similar community asset, and the relationship between trustees and staff.
• We know that Action Porty have been looking at taking a second building into community ownership and are interested to learn more about the community consultation and engagement process they have undertaken around this project.
• We have been trying to raise funds to undertake a large scale capital refurbishment of our building. We know that Action Porty have recently started their own refurbishment project so want to find out how they went about financing that – including their use of community shares.

"The trip provided an opportunity for A Heart for Duns trustees to spend time with each other outwith formal meetings which enabled wide ranging discussions to happen that are hard to have during structured meetings. We all got to know each other better & have a deeper understanding of our different motivations in being on the board. We also picked up ideas for managing donations from the meeting venue, an unexpected outcome."