Community Shares Scotland and Portpatrick Harbour Community Benefit Society aim to bring the harbour into community ownership
COMMUNITY Shares Scotland is raising awareness of the forthcoming Community Share offer to bring Portpatrick harbour into community ownership. This community investment programme is aimed at everyone with a personal tie to and affiliation with Portpatrick through its iconic location, coastal culture and maritime heritage.
The Portpatrick Harbour Community Benefit Society committee will be reaching out to locals and interested parties this week to get behind the offer, by registering their interest and pledging to become investors – ahead of the Community Share offer launch. The target for investment is £75,000 for monies needed to make the harbour project possible and with a full head of steam, the first Community Share offer is due to be launched later this summer.
The exciting and ambitious community ownership plan to regenerate Portpatrick Harbour has been given a boost this week as the Lifeboat Week gets under way.
Local committee members will be on hand to promote their community ownership plans with six banners and signs placed around the harbour to encourage locals and visitors alike to get behind the biggest community project Portpatrick and the area has seen for many years.
Community Shares Scotland and the Portpatrick Harbour team have been in close collaboration in recent months to develop a Community Share offer to secure the regeneration of the harbour whilst keeping it at the heart of the community.
And as can be witnessed during Lifeboat Week – the harbour and pier are core to the community with the project forecast to make a considerable impact on the village of Portpatrick and the surrounding area from a commercial, sailing, tourism, heritage and employment perspectives in the future.
Working closely with the Community Shares Scotland team, Calum Currie, chair of the new Community Benefit Society, said: “We are reaching a real landmark stage and the excitement is really building locally.
“We have worked hard to explore different ways of approaching the community harbour project and it will mean a lot to gain recognition as the first Scottish Community Benefit Society with charitable status seeking to raise a Community Share offer.
“In the meantime, we are working in close collaboration with Community Shares Scotland in developing our Community Share offer.”
Mr Currie added: “The main aim of the project is to secure the integrity and appearance of the historic harbour of Portpatrick for the benefit of the community and all who love and visit it.
“The harbour lies at the heart of the village and is as important to Portpatrick as the village green is, to many other communities throughout Britain.
“It is a very exciting time for the village and will really put Portpatrick on the tourism map, especially with keen sailors and yachting enthusiasts from around the west of Scotland and close Irish coastlines.”
Commenting on the new Community Shares project, CSS programme manager, Kelly McIntyre, said: “The Portpatrick Harbour team has worked tirelessly to get the project under way and we are now on the brink of launching the Community Benefit Society in combination with Community Shares Scotland.
“This will be a real first for Scotland for this type of project. We are also in the process of creating a Community Share offer which will provide all who love the village of Portpatrick with the opportunity to purchase Community Shares in the harbour thus supporting and securing the future of this unspoiled idyllic asset for many years to come.”
Ends
For further press information contact
Fiona Stewart, Interwoven PR, Tel: 07940560453
Email: fiona@interwovenpr.com
Kelly McIntyre, programme manager, Community Shares Scotland
Tel: 0131 20 3777 Email: kelly@communitysharesscotland.org.uk
For information check out : www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
Twitter: @CommSharesScot
NOTES TO EDITORS
RNLI Portpatrick – With thanks to the RNLI Portpatrick for giving us permission to take photograph on board – during Life Boat Week.
* What are Community Shares? A Community Share is not like an ordinary share in an ordinary company. Any person who buys shares will become a membership of the Society and will possess a single vote regardless of the amount of shares purchased. You should not buy these shares to make a profit. You should not put in money which you cannot afford and which you might need back quickly.
If you buy shares you should see yourself as a social investor with a voice which will be heard. Your shares will mean that you have a say in the future operation of the harbour and your share shows you care about the future of Portpatrick and its heritage. Your investment is withdrawable in certain conditions and the Board plans to pay interest on shares after the third year of trading.
Community Shares Scotland is a national organisation based in Edinburgh and was launched in May 2014 with the aim of growing the community business market through practical application and help people progress their own community businesses. It has a pan-Scotland focus and is run by Kelly McIntyre, Programme Manager and Morven Campbell, Programme Officer. The three-year programme involves a range of awareness raising and training activities, setting up an information service and providing direct support to communities and groups interested in launching their own Community Share offer.
Examples of local Community Share projects that are running successfully include the Port Appin, community shop in Argyll that has been running since 1983; Uig, Community shop, a vital local resource since 2004 on the Isle of Lewis; FC Unite, football club who play the home league at Gigg Lane in Bury and Green Valley Bakery, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire.
Community Shares Scotland is funded by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland and Carnegie UK Trust. Delivered by DTA Scotland in partnership with the Plunkett Foundation, the Community Shares Unit (a joint project run by Locality and Co-operatives UK) and Rocket Science.
Portpatrick Harbour Community Benefit Society
The aim of the Portpatrick Trust is to become the first Scottish charitable community benefit society to raise a Community Share Offer. The committee is currently made up of a team of eight committee members, three of whom have varied professional management credentials, along with four who hold professional marine qualifications to high stands. Four of the committee have close links with the RNLI, having also served as Portpatrick Lifeboat crew for many years.
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Website: http://www.communitysharesscotland.org.uk
