Not-for-profit community groups in rural areas will soon be able to apply for funding of up to £50,000 to trial new and innovative ways to address local challenges and benefit from local opportunities. The Rural Communities “Ideas into Action” Fund is supported by £1.5 million of Scottish Government funding and will be delivered in Read more…
Funded Mental Health Awareness Training
Support in Mind Scotland are working in partnership with Mental Health UK to deliver a 3-year ‘Rural Connections’ project funded by Neptune Energy. As part of this project, SiMS is offering free half-day ‘An Insight into Mental Health’ awareness training to rural organisations, community groups and businesses with less than 50 members of staff. Read more…
Scottish Rural Parliament Youth Session
Are you aged 16-25 and live in a rural or island community? The SRP Youth Session is free, fully virtual and a chance to go through a visioning exercise facilitated by the Social Enterprise Academy on themes you are passionate about, and then question high profile decision makers. To attend, register for the SRP at https://www.srp2021.scot/
New Virtual Community Learning Exchange Series
We would like to invite you to our upcoming series of virtual community learning exchanges, funded by the Scottish Community Alliance. The sessions will focus on themes identified by Rural SEN members as important to their future plans, and will be hosted by social enterprises from Uist, Tiree, and Dumfries. See the links below to Read more…
Women in the Rural Economy Training Fund
Administered by LANTRA, this fund has been created to give women in Rural Scotland more opportunities for land-based and aquaculture training. 100% funding is available for training up to the value of £500 per course and applications for training over the value of £500 will be assessed depending on the value to the individual Read more…
An eye to the future
Our next series of virtual learning exchanges will be in March. Funded by the Scottish Community Alliance they cover themes identified by Rural SEN members as key to their future development. We will kick off on March 9th with Involving Young People in Rural Social Enterprise hosted by Inspiralba. On March 16th the theme will Read more…
Social Enterprise Place Awards
Uist, Lewis and Govan recognised in new Social Enterprise Places Scotland scheme. Scotland has a longheld reputation for social enterprise activity, and on the 21st of January, Social Enterprise Scotland will recognise the impact of social enterprise as part of their Social Enterprise Places awards. Uist and Lewis will be formally recognised on Thursday Read more…
Scottish Rural Parliament 2021: March 6th- 18th (online).
Registration for the Scottish Rural Parliament is now open. Billed as ‘a grassroots democratic assembly’, it is an opportunity for people who live and work in rural and island Scotland to engage with policy decision makers and influencers. Watch the launch video here: Launch Video for the 2021 Virtual Scottish Rural Parliament – YouTube Sign Read more…
Communities Leading in Tourism – SEA
The Social Enterprise Academy are now recruiting for the final cohort of learners for their Communities Leading in Tourism programme – which starts in January 2021. Read more about this opportunity on the SEA website. What is it? Communities Leading in Tourism is a personal development programme, which will equip learners with the knowledge and Read more…
New Community-led Housing Report
Community Land Scotland have, this week, published a Report on Community Led Housing. Written by David Ross, Home Delivery reports on the communities and social enterprises across Scotland who are leading on developing their own affordable housing to address local need. The report presents a number of case studies and calls for the principal funder Read more…
Launch Me – Firstport
Firstport’s LaunchMe Programme has launched it’s 6th round! If you’re a social enterprise or community group looking to scale your business then why not attend one of Firstport’s LaunchMe webinars? Online: 12th November at 1.00pm 19th November at 12.00pm and 24th November at 11.00am Find out all you need to know by registering for one Read more…
Rural SE Hub Stakeholder Report 2020
The Rural Social Enterprise Hub has today published its 2020 Stakeholder Report, detailing the background of the project, work to date, ongoing development, and future priorities. The report is available to view here: Rural SE Hub Stakeholder Report Nov 2020 The report informs on the key objectives of the Rural Social Enterprise Hub, which are Read more…
Rural mental health and wellbeing session
We are pleased to announce an upcoming session on Mental Health and Wellbeing for Rural Social Enterprises, being run by Inspiralba as part of Senscot’s Restart Rebuild Week. Looking after your mental health and wellbeing is especially important in these challenging times, and the need for guidance and support has been highlighted as a Read more…
Covid-19 Rural Communities Survey Round 2
SRA have published a report on the second round of their Covid -19 Rural Communities survey. Responses collected from 349 people between July and August this year highlight a greater sense of anxiety, and trust and resourcing at a low ebb. 35% of respondents thought that government was not as good as it had been Read more…
R-evolution for Good
R-evolution for Good are a new community benefit society based in Moray, offering training and development to businesses, using 100% of their profit to work one-to-one with families, helping them to step out of poverty. Earlier this year, R-evolution received start-up funding from Firstport, allowing them to launch their services. However, their planned launch date Read more…
12-month Graduate Placement
Fyne Futures, based in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, are offering an excellent opportunity for a 12-month graduate placement to improve their current systems and processes. Read more here: https://www.hie.co.uk/support/browse-all-support-services/scotgrad/scotgrad-fyne-futures/ The Role: Based in Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute. Salary – £19,047 per annum 12-month graduate placement Full-time, 35 hours per week Read more…
Rural virtual learning exchanges
We are excited to announce the launch of rural virtual learning exchanges, taking place this October, supported by Inspiralba and the Scottish Community Alliance. In place of traditional learning exchanges, there is still a need for rural social enterprises to be able to share learning and solutions to the challenges posed by Covid. Stakeholders from Read more…
Brandon Clements, Young Board Director – Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust
About the organisation: Name – The Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust (IGHT) Location – Isle of Gigha, Argyll and Bute About the Area Geography – Gigha is an island off the west coast of Kintyre, Scotland Population Size – Gigha has a population of around 160 people. Demographics – Gigha has an elderly demographic as Read more…
18th August 20, Rural SEN Notes
18/8/20 notes – Scotland’s Rural SEN met earlier in August, with 34 people attending from across Scotland. The group included social and community-owned enterprises, representatives from support agencies, and supporters of and those interested in rural social enterprise. We welcomed fellow social entrepreneurs from Estonia, connected via the Erasmus+ ViSEnet project, who joined the meeting Read more…
Unlocking the potential of rural Social Enterprise
This paper reports on an exploratory study with social enterprise stakeholders in Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders focused on the potential of social enterprise to contribute to rural development. It considers three key domains that impact on this potential – the rural, the social enterprise and the policy. It argues that ‘social enterprises can Read more…
Upland: Spring Fling
Upland, Dumfries and Galloway’s visual art and craft development organisation, have had to make a quick pivot due to COVID-19 and the requirements of social distancing, since so much of their work relied on in-person events such as exhibits, classes and workshops. They introduced their Digital Diversions project, a new way of promoting, connecting and Read more…
Recommended Read: Isolation, Lockdown, Belonging
This short essay by Jen Stout explores the social aspects of lockdown, and how it has allowed the frantic pace of life to slow, and pockets of community to flourish in urban areas. She explores the contrast between the often-anonymous existence of people in cities, and the intimate nature of life in rural and isolated Read more…
Rural Lives
Rural Lives is a research project which is examining the wellbeing of people and families in rural areas, focusing in particular on peoples’ ability to meet their financial commitments and needs comfortably – having enough income to meet more than life’s essentials and to deal with unexpected financial shocks. The hope is that the project’s Read more…
