Launching your Community Project

Top Tips from Oban Communities Trust

1. Establish the need in the community for your project – Oban Communities Trust recognised that they needed to start using the old Rockfield School building as soon as possible – to reinforce the need.
2. Identify what the building is to be used for.  Oban Communities Trust undertook an extensive community consultation process which identified four core themes for the building’s use: arts and culture; history and heritage; enterprise and education; community well-being. These gave a focus for them to build activity.
3. Get the community involved.  For example, as soon as the Trust got the keys, they launched an appeal to get rid of the dry rot in the school and, local trades people and volunteers from the wider community pitched in and filled 19 skips with rubble from the building.
4. Generate income as soon as you can to help raise funding.  Examples from OCT – they charge for car parking, they hire out rooms to local businesses and groups, and they have opened a Community Charity Shop.
5. Raising funding – A tip from Eleanor MacKinnon, Project Facilitator, OCT – “We’re lucky in having four different themes for the Rockfield Centre project – which means we’ve been able to apply for four different funding streams.”
6. Selling community shares is another method to raise funding for your project.  Find out more at Community Shares Scotland.

Photograph by Adam Scott Photos

Links

Oban Communties Trust – http://www.obancommunitiestrust.org.uk/

The Rockfield Centre – https://www.therockfieldcentre.org.uk/

Community Shares Scotland – http://communitysharesscotland.org.uk/

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