Community facilities: Town Centre First

Dunbar Community Bakery was set up by the local community development trust, Sustaining Dunbar, over a two-year period from 2009 to 2011. Since then, it has been baking artisan and traditional breads, patisserie and savouries, selling through its High Street shop and cafe (a former newsagent) and wholesale. The team also produces for local schools and those in need in the community, runs bread and patisserie courses, ensures zero food waste by donating unsold products, and sources local ingredients where possible.

Turnover has steadily increased from just under £50,000 in 2011 to over £200,000 in 2017, employing 4 full-time bakers and 2 full-time shop staff. A core group of volunteers provide a reliable workforce of regular drivers for daily deliveries. Volunteers are also essential to the bakery’s presence at major community and tourism events, when local businesses are able to have market stalls. And the whole operation is of course led by a strong volunteer management committee, who are focussed on creating employment and bringing life to the high street.

The bakery was one of the first community businesses in Scotland to be established by local residents via a community share offer, supported by the Plunkett Foundation. During the two-year setup period, shareholders grew to over 300 people who invested more than £40,000 into the project. Ten years on, the bakery has over 1,000 shareholders who continue to provide funding in the form of donations and loans to support ongoing maintenance costs such as shop refurbishment.

For more information, please contact the Plunkett Foundation: info@plunkett.co.uk.

One of the most historic buildings on the isle of Cumbrae, Garrison House in Millport has been part of the island’s heritage since it was originally built in the 1700s to stop smuggling on the Clyde. Following a major fire in 2001, the building became a derelict eyesore – right on the seafront at one end of the high street. The local community quickly formed Cumbrae Community Development Company with the purpose of restoring Garrison House for the benefit of the whole community, raising over £5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, North Ayrshire Council, Historic Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the European Regional Development Fund. Renovations were completed in 2008.

The end result is a complete transformation providing a vibrant hub of activities in Millport for locals and visitors alike. The Garrison is the focal point of the island, containing a mix of facilities which also help to support businesses along the adjacent high street:

• GP surgery and NHS services
• Library and public internet access
• Museum of the Cumbraes
• Garrison House Café
• Craft shop
• Rooms for community groups and activities
• Council offices

But the community hasn’t stopped there. Renovation of Garrison House has given them the confidence and energy to achieve more. Subsequent projects have included a £400,000 business centre in the Garrison grounds, funded by the Scottish Government Town Centre Regeneration Fund – and many other community-led visitor, business and heritage projects elsewhere on the island. Meanwhile, work continues to improve Garrison House, focussing most recently on making more of the extensive wooded grounds – effectively a town centre park – for residents and visitors.

In October 2015, Falkland Library was one of sixteen libraries identified for closure by Fife Council. The library building adjoins the Community Hall, so it made sense for Falkland Village Hall Trust, the local charity which operated the hall, to consider acquiring the library to create a joined-up community space.

From the Trust’s perspective, there were three key interdependent elements required to guarantee a successful bid and long-term viability of the project:

• Vision: extensive local community engagement produced a clear vision and local support for a community-run library.
• Structure: the Village Hall Trust, previously an unincorporated charitable body, realised it needed to become an ‘incorporated’ body in order to secure funding and manage the library. A new organisation was formed: Falkland Community Development Trust, which is a company limited by guarantee. (For more information on incorporation and different organisational structures, see: Taking Action).
• People: as well as gaining community support to proceed, the Trust realised they needed volunteers to staff the library and help with fundraising and other activities.

With these elements in place, the community began the journey of acquiring the library to make sure it stayed open. Outline and full business cases were submitted to the local authority in 2016 and approved later that year, leading to an initial five-year lease starting in April 2017 with an option to renew it for a further 25 years.

The library was officially re-opened in July 2017, and is open four days a week. The library catalogue can be accessed online by users and includes eBooks. Other services include free Wi-Fi, IT, hot drinks, storytelling events, robotics and creative writing courses, a summer reading competition and meet-the-author events. Revenue from lets of the village hall, which backs onto the library building, help to subsidise future plans.