The number of open and trading community-owned pubs in Scotland has doubled from six to twelve in the last three years, thanks to the partnership between the Scottish Government’s Scottish Rural Network and Plunkett UK.

Additionally, the number of communities actively seeking ownership in the network in the same period has increased from 22 to 40 groups. Groups are located all over Scotland, from Orkney to South Ayrshire, with five classed as ‘very remote rural’ and sevem in the ‘remote’ category.

With funding from the Scottish Government, Plunkett has awarded 21 early-stage development grants of up tp £2,000 each to Scottish rural and island community pub groups since the partnership began in 2022. The support has helped projects start by paying for valuations, legal registration, community events, publicity and Plunkett membership, alongside almost 500 other UK community businesses.

Plunkett offers free, specialist business adviser support to rural groups in Scotland who are exploring community ownership. The pubs network in Scotland provides peer-learning and networking opportunities through regular Zoom calls, with attendees from 15-20 of the communities each time. This type of networking is crucial for rural community projects in growing their knowledge and confidence.

Diane Cameron, Community Business Manager at Plunkett, says:

We are thrilled to have provided valuable support for a growing number of community pub groups. Costs are unavoidable and can be hard to meet at early stages of their project. Early-stage grants remove this barrier which is most acutely felt by low-income communities.

We have seen time and again how Scottish community-owned pubs offer a range of fantastic benefits to residents. These include being winter ‘warm spaces’ with free soup, tea and coffee for anyone dropping in, and low fee Kids’ Clubs after school that include food.

Some pubs offer low-priced meals using local food suppliers, which benefits the local economy, they host meeting and workspaces, music concerts and film screenings, they provide jobs and work experience for younger people, and bring social cohesion and mental health benefits for everyone.

Some examples of the brilliant projects supported by our Scottish Pubs Partnership!

The Swan Inn offers a low, flat-fee Kids’ Club including a meal after school each week, and holds community cinema evenings, screening films for locals so that travel and accessibility barriers are removed for people with low income or no transport.

The Lochranza now stays open from Friday to Sunday throughout the winter months under community ownership. This means the local community has somewhere to be warm and socialise year-round for the first time – an incredibly important thing for social cohesion and community mental health when the tourist season ends.

The King’s Arms is in decile 3 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, and provides a cosy space in the winter months, free of charge. This includes homemade soup, teas and coffees inclusively to anyone who comes in over lunchtimes. Under community ownership the pub has transferred to a new boiler powered by energu efficient biomass pellets supplied by a local company in Girvan, widening the impact of the community business on the local economy.

Where a local boy who has been working in the kitchen since he was 15 was a runner up in the Young Person Award category in Plunkett’s 2024 Rural Community Business Awards. His confidence and skills have grown hugely since being involved with the pub.

Has now taken on the adjacent vacant building as a pop-up wine bar and restaurant, engaging different local catering businesses each time. The group has also taken over another vacant building and given a lease to a small local bakery business, and is planning a kids’ activity centre inside an old church. This is a testament to the confidence and agency this community now feels in making an enormous change to their own facilities and services in Port Bannatyne.

Are you a community group that could qualify for the support from this partnership?

Communities in Scotland who want to more details about the programme, or the free, specialist business adviser support we provide to community groups, can contact Plunkett UK by emailing info@plunkett.co.uk or calling 01993 630022.

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