Glentrool and Bargrennan Community Trust are an entirely volunteer led development trust in a remote rural part of the South of Scotland, sited within the Bio-sphere reserve and the Dark Skies park, a village of 100 people trying to keep their village living and viable.  We have worked with them for over three years to support their desire to take assets into community ownership so as to ensure they are available for local people and not lost to private developers.  

We undertook a feasibility study and business plan for the Trust into the old primary school.  They then secured funding to commission us for two years to provide capacity building support to develop the enterprise as well as securing the asset and funds to develop it.  We have provided new financial procedures to help the craft gallery run more smoothly.  Bold, our design division has also delivered a new brand.  We supported the development of the plans and the submission of funding.  

Over a period of a few weeks in June, things just came together.  They now have the funding to proceed with the ownership and renovation of the school and are progressing a separate project to take three housing units into community control.