It seems that some of our Can Do Places people get inspiration and Town Centre Ideas, not just from the events we run, but on the journey to and from those events. Jill Davies, for instance, project manager with Coupar Angus Development Trust, said she often gets ideas in the Megabus travelling down from Perth. […]
Author Archive | Iain Scott

Postcard from a Stalled Space
It’s the last thing you’d expect to see just off an unremarkable stretch of the busy Cathcart Road on the South Side of Glasgow. But there they were - a bunch of young folk having a barbecue on a Gorbals gap site, beside the remains of an Alexander “Greek” Thomson church. What was going on? […]
Postcard from Neilston
The small town of Neilston (pop. 6000 approx) in East Renfrewshire made the headlines recently when it was declared to be Scotland’s most desirable place to live. This was based on a study by the Centre for Economic and Business Research which considered factors such as good schools, green spaces and communting times. What the […]
Postcard from Sirolli
At our packed Can Do Places event ‘Collaborate or Perish’ in January, we were joined by Ernesto Sirolli. Ernesto is the founder of the Sirolli Institute, the global authority on bottom-up economic development. Ernesto is not your man for benchmarking, key performance indicators or other metrics of what he calls “the dismal science” (economics) as […]

Postcard from a Farmers’ Market
Great and inspiring programme on BBC Radio Scotland’s “Kitchen Cafe” about Scotland’s farmers’ markets and their future. Presenter Clare English spoke to (among other excellent contributors) sheep farmer, Jim Fairlie who was responsible for setting up Scotland’s first farmers’ market which launched in Perth in 1999 with 12 stall holders. Jim recalled that his “eureka” […]
Postcard from Bike Town: Update
Just three months ago, our Postcard from the Healthy n Happy Community Development Trust (covering Cambuslang and Rutherglen, near Glasgow), highlighted the launch of their Bike Town project, aimed at encouraging local people to get on their bikes and at turning Cam/Glen into such a bike friendly area that cycling visitors would be streaming to […]
Postcard from Falkirk: Update
Great news from the BID for Falkirk, “Falkirk Delivers”! During the Challenge, they spoke about an initiative aimed at encouraging people who were visiting the area’s famous Falkirk Wheel and the even more famous Kelpies, to visit the town centre as well. Local bus services already linked these three attractions but if you weren’t from […]
Postcard from Elgin: Update
David Urquhart, who took part in the Challenge for “Embrace Elgin” (Elgin’s BID), reports that a local initiative to “help promote the Moray area to the wider world” (while also boosting the local economy and providing a fun day out for the community) has been shortlisted for a tourism award.
Postcard from Woodlands Workspace
Delighted to hear that the Woodlands Community Development Trust in the West End of Glasgow, having “stalled” with the Woodlands Workspace project that Sam Macgregor spoke about during the Challenge, have now got official “permission to use” the gap site from the local council and hope to sign a 15-year lease with them in the […]
Postcard from Coupar Angus: Update
When Stuart Heslop, from the Royal Bank of Scotland’s real estate finance department, introduced himself at the Can Do Towns Talkoot in October (he was a member of the experts’ panel), Jill Davies’ ears definitely pricked up when he told the room: “I can introduce you to the right people if the need arises.”