Blackwood Estate Woodland
Types of work: Business planning / Feasibility studies, consultation and options appraisals
Conducting a feasibility study for community ownership of Loch Wood, South Lanarkshire
“We felt all the team members we worked with were professional, knowledgeable and fully engaged with our proposal. They were keen to listen, adapt their programme where necessary and provide positive feedback and suggestions to improve the study as it developed. This was particularly helpful in the current "new normal". The final study report has been invaluable in both informing and reassuring potential funders and we are now well on our way to securing full project funding. We would wholeheartedly recommend Community Enterprise."
- Blackwood Estate Community Association (BECA)
The challenge
Blackwood Estate Community Association (BECA) was formed to safeguard Loch Wood, an ancient woodland near the villages of Blackwood and Kirkmuirhill, for future generations. The Community Association was seeking support to carry out a community consultation and, on the back of this, refresh its business plan.
How we helped
We carried out community consultation within the restrictions in place at the time due to Covid-19, including an online survey and remote interviews with key stakeholders, and helped BECA to build on their previous business plan.
The result
£67,000 for land purchase secured through the Scottish Land Fund
BECA used our report to both inform and reassure potential funders that they had a clear plan for moving forward that had the support of the local community.
They secured funding for land purchase from the Scottish Land Fund and, since then, have continued to be successful in securing funds to make additional improvements to the woodland.
Feeling inspired?
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and would like free support to become more sustainable
and enterprising, check out our Accelerate programme.