Scottish Government

APPENDIX 1: ANALYSIS OF THE CASE STUDIES

Acharacle Community Company

Summary of issues

• Community initiative led by response to rescue post-office
• Inherited location and building
• Community apathetic and divided
• Insufficient input from directors

Funding and finance issues

1. The tea room and post office are both self-sufficient. The tea room also pays a lease to the company. Initiative at the Edge and the Information Technology Initiative who share the office space, however, depend upon external funding - in the form of Scottish Executive and/or European grants. Highlands and Islands Enterprise-Community Land Unit support was essential for the acquisition of the building, and Community Land Unit-Scottish Land Fund support essential for acquisition of the adjoining house, leased to key workers through an arrangement with the Housing Association.

Location, design and layout

2. Location of the main facilities - the tearoom, post office, Initiative at the Edge Office and the Information Technology Initiative - was really pre-determined. The building was already the existing post office, which was under the threat of closure due to the retirement of the operators. The thought of losing the community post office was one of the sparks to develop something within the community.

3. Had the community wished to relocate elsewhere it may have proved extremely costly. Regulations in the area seem to stipulate that it is not possible to build anything on a new site, without allowing access by essential services:

"The single biggest problem is that when we do get sites that you can develop, by inference they've always got to be fairly close to services, and that means a road, and it's the bloody Roads Department who are making life extremely difficult now… If you build more than four houses, or if a development within five years is likely to exceed four houses, every single service attached to it, including the road, has to be able to get a fire engine, or an ambulance, a bin lorry, everything about. (laughs) That's the four house rule."

4. Therefore, whilst the location of the building with the post office in it could not really be altered, the interior was changed substantially to incorporate a shared office for the two Initiatives, and a larger area was set aside for the new tearoom and attached kitchen.

5. In addition, a wood fuel system has been installed in the building which will provide heat throughout the year, not only within the post office building but also within the adjacent house which is also owned by the community:

"We've now successfully improved the control system on it, so it will extend over a winter and a summer. And everyone's now trained up on it. We're going to expand the system into the house next door."

Everyday running and management

6. Five Directors have the ultimate responsibility for Acharacle Community Company. However, it was noted by a number of Respondents that this is a group which meet infrequently, does not represent the geographical area that the Company seeks to cover (the Ardnamurchan peninsula) and do little to help the Company advance. Complaints were made that they do little to extend their remit. There was the suggestion made that the Directors, who are volunteers, had little competition for their place due to the apathy of the rest of the community who take little interest unless it affects them directly. The five directors thus faced no competition for their positions and also seem to be pretty relaxed about their role:

"They meet infrequently, and not a lot of business gets done…they should perhaps broaden their remit."

7. Apart from the direct role the directors must play, there are two major community meetings in the year, one in March and one in September/October. Over and above that, there tends to be one meeting a month with office bearers just to do the business side of things.

8. However, in general there are no meetings over the summer simply because everyone is too busy:

"There was a lot of things going on, and the decision was taken not to have our meetings for June, July and August. So we're having one now in September"

Advantages/ disadvantages to users and providers

9. As would be expected in a community led initiative, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. See the table below.

10. Apart from the obvious advantages of locally owned services, one of the advantages of the community owned services is that the people responsible for running them ensure that they do not conflict with services already existing in the community:

"You've got the Post Office, which has a bit of a shop, but doesn't conflict with the Bakery and other shops. You've got the Initiative at the Edge Office, you've got the Information Technology Initiative, and you've got the Tea Room."

11. Owning the facilities means that the community have control over the services provided to them. As long as they can be accommodated, the community has the opportunity to take charge of the services in their own community. In addition, having a community company provides a vehicle for developing and undertaking new community initiatives, such as land acquisition and housing.

12. However, community-owned facilities do place a certain amount of burden on locals - to attend meetings and volunteer for a place on the managing committee or board of directors.

Advantages and disadvantages to users and providers of Acharacle Community Company

Factors hindering further development

13. As already suggested, a major factor hindering further development is the amount of time and effort needed to sustain all the different projects:

"I've just been ploughing on with funding and trying to get projects rolled out. But there's a certain amount of burn out happening as well. We are short of people, we don't have enough people. And with all the projects all of the time, it's difficult for the same people to be doing all of the work."

14. One respondent also brought up the fact that any actions seem to be reactive rather than proactive. It is only when something negative is about to happen that the community seems to react. As the business is sailing along nicely at the moment, there is no urgency to actually do anything:

"The biggest problem is the business efficiency of the unit. It's great, it's here, it's been successful, it's established itself, it does have a steady rental income, but it's not going to be there for ever, and it should be building up a better financial base for itself now. And there doesn't seem to be the same urgency for the company to move forward, I don't think they realise how precarious a position they are actually in."

15. It could be argued that once again, as with other case studies, there is heavy reliance on volunteers to manage the facilities - volunteers who have full-time jobs, children and a life which is busy enough without any extra pressures on their time.

16. The community facilities are undoubtedly well used and certain people in the community do have ideas to expand these further. However, as with all the case studies, finance is a major factor limiting expansion. Whilst this is not a particularly relevant problem for the tea room, it is an issue for the continued existence of the Information Technology Initiative and the Initiative at the Edge post, as well as any further developments, including development of the 'wood school' in the pavilion recently passed on to the group by the Forestry Commission, and close to Salen.

Sustainability

17. Acharacle Community Company seems to survive because the initial planning and community response to the threat of the post office closure was strong. The impetus was there to react and so people became involved. However, since that time, interest has diminished. The company has a net positive income from renting out its properties, and to that extent is sustainable. But many, including some directors, argue that it needs to be more pro-active in developing new ideas to meet community needs in the wider geographical area. One respondent suggested that should the present situation continue for much longer, the community were risking losing what they had built up to a variety of different agencies.

Overall assessment

18. Acharacle was a necessary initiative, saving the post office from almost certain closure, providing a useful café/restaurant all year round for both locals and visitors, and acquiring a much needed house for rent to key workers. It also provides useful space for the Initiative at the Edge and for IT training. It seems to be facing formidable challenges in moving forward, however, perhaps largely because of sharply divided views within the community. An opportunity exists to develop new activities at the recently acquired 'wood school', and there may also be future opportunities to develop community housing on land which could be acquired from the Forestry Commission. Acharacle Community Company does provide a ready-made organisation for new community initiatives.

Ardnamurchan Community School (Àrainn Shuaineirt/The Sunart Centre)

Summary of issues

• Creation of a variety of new services
• Demarcation between school use and community use
• The importance of forward planning
• Choosing a location
• Pressures on staff in remote rural areas
• Funding issues
• Local housing shortages for staff

A school facility and a community facility

19. Residents of Ardnamurchan and Morvern now enjoy a wide variety of high quality community services under one roof. The services in the Ardnamurchan Community School ( ACS) include the secondary school itself, the nursery school, a mothers and toddlers group, community education activities, further and higher education activities supported by the Lochaber College Outreach Officer, a library which includes internet access and which functions both as the school library and the community library, youth club activities, sports and theatre facilities for public fitness and entertainment events as well as space for out of hours childcare. Although the original proposals included a health centre, this did not happen for various reasons (which included that the local Primary Health Trust did not want it). Some of these were explained by one Respondent:

"I think the GP's were consulted on this, but they decided they didn't want to access this building. Because they wouldn't have 24 hour access here because it's a PPP building. That's one reason. The other reason is against privacy - would you really want people - would the community want to be coming in here to see their GP, and passing their children? So I think it's an issue that has certainly not been solved here, and I don't know if there's an easy answer to it. I think there would have to be a separate entrance, and then you run into all sorts of security issues."

20. Nevertheless, the ACS also acts as a focus for new things to happen in the Community, such as youth activities and the new proposal for a book festival:

"There has been a community initiative to start a book festival here, and we are planning a book festival for 3rd and 4th December, right in the heart of winter, to brighten things up then. And we have applied for funding to the Scottish Book Trust for a certain number of authors to come, and they've told us our answer is in the post, so I'm hoping it's going to come today."

21. Naturally, with so many shared facilities there are some tensions between school use and community use. The building and its facilities are run by the school, and education system, rather than the community. Nevertheless, in this case at least, the Headteacher holds regular liaison meetings with all those in the building including the centre manager and the college outreach officer. This seems to be reflected in good relations between the parties, and in smooth running.

22. Entry to the 'school' part of the building is subject to the kind of strict security that is common in this 'risk society', and further that the school has priority use of facilities during the school hours (related to security issues). However, the access to the library is not subject to this strict security 9am to 4pm weekdays

23. There are also some problems of opening and closing times which are inherent, for instance with the different needs and availabilities of different users being the main case. Some issues with the opening and closing times are specific, however. The Public Private Partnership operates rather rigid opening times for community schools, which are 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm Sundays. Outside these times it is necessary both to book in advance, and to make additional payment.

24. There have also been some problems with Health and Safety regulations. For example, proposals to develop woodworking skills in the community have so far been frustrated because there is no-one available locally with the qualifications required by the Health and Safety regulations.

25. In the case of Ardnamurchan Community School, the majority of the services are new to the area. One of the exceptions to this is the library facility. Prior to ACS a mobile library service was already in existence. The improved static library services centred on the building itself to some extent threaten the existing mobile service, at least in the immediate area of Strontian. In this case, it is likely to be those who are for any reason less able to come to the library at the School who will suffer:

Interviewer: What is the relationship between yourselves and the mobile library?

Respondent: "I'm very aware of the mobile library at the moment because it's one of my responsibilities as Acting Area Library's Officer…. we are in the process of re-scheduling, or discussing re-scheduling the mobile. And certainly the Strontian stops are under review because it is felt that it is no longer necessary for the mobile to stop at Strontian with this branch being available here. There are obviously going to be some people in the community who are not happy with that, but it's definitely an option that's going to have to be looked at seriously, because the mobile has to reduce its working week by two and a half hours …"

Planning and management essentials

26. With the inevitable problem of demarcating community use and school use, planning has been and continues to be an essential component of the community school both in the design of the building and everyday management of the facility.

27. Different users of a one-stop shop may have different needs, and these differences affect the design and layout in sometimes complex ways. A school faces particular difficulties because of the so-called 'risk society' and related security issues, but any multi-use facility must also have different client groups, and hence needs, which must be considered in designing the physical layout of an OSS. It is clear that these issues, despite considerable prior thought, were not always sufficiently thought through. As such, the layout of the building adds to some of the tensions that exist between school use and community use:

" I think the layout of the building is difficult, I think it's not particularly secure. I don't allow adults to access the fitness room during the day, just because of where it is. It comes back to my ultimate responsibility being the health and welfare of the children during the day … I think if a little bit more thought had been put into the planning, then these things could have been sorted out. I think you have to have a member of staff here full-time on the community site if you're going to have people in during the day."

28. With regard to opening hours and the use of facilities there was prior consultation with the community especially with key community services such as the library. One interviewee felt that forward planning of opening times and consultation with the community was essential for the success of any OSS. For instance, the local economy in Ardnamurchan and Morvern relies on tourism. As such, the opening hours of the library facility reflect the Saturday turnover of Bed and Breakfast facilities:

Interviewer: " And how do you deal with things like the community's wishes over opening hours and that kind of thing?"

Respondent: "They did discuss fully with the community the opening hours, and had decided them and set them up before they actually appointed a Librarian. I believe the community did affect the choice of opening hours, particularly the Saturday one - 2 o'clock to 4 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon - which might not be everybody's choice, but because of the nature of the area there are a lot of people with self-catering accommodation who do turn-overs on the Saturday morning, and it was decided the 2.00 to 4.00 on a Saturday was the best time for it. Similarly, the evening openings, it was decided to time them for the same time as the Youth Club would be running. So all that went into the planning process, which I think is a very important factor in any of these One Stop Shops or partnership arrangements. It's the forward planning that's really vital."

29. The library also offers a way for families to go shopping while leaving some of their members using the internet, or reading books, in it:

"I have in fact met parents shopping in Oban who tell me that part of their family is at the library, (laughs) you know, so on their way to Oban to do the shopping, drop off here and come back and collect them on their way back. And of course the Centre is available for them." ¹

30. In addition, for everyday operation there exists a booking system which on the whole seems to work quite well. However, its success seems to rely on good management on behalf of the Centre Coordinator as well as a good working relationship between the school administration assistant and the Centre Coordinator. These conditions evidently exist at the School at present, but they may not always do so in similar cases:

"… because of the PPP[Public Private Partnership] building we've got our core hours, which are the building should be open between 8.00 in the morning and 10.00 at night. And the Centre Coordinator will take bookings for these times. And the Janitors, who are employed by a company called…… who runs the building, they are responsible for the opening and closing hours. So in many ways that makes it easier. What we have to do is have a very smooth running booking system, and that's where having our full-time Centre Coordinator is invaluable. It's really a question, as always, of good communication between the school's Administrative Assistant, who is responsible for all the clerical work, and the Centre Coordinator. We've got a very good on-line database for bookings."

31. There can also be problems in mixing school age children and adults at community events, for instance over things like licensing. As such, an able manager has been essential:

" I'm Line Manager of the building, I'm a Highland Council employee, and I have to make sure that there are no conflicts. So far there haven't been. There have been one or two issues, for example, how to deal with under-18's accessing the building when there's a concert and when there's a licence. But these are all issues that we've dealt with quite openly at the Management Committee, and come up with policies and guidelines for that. It's just a case of working through things."

Where to locate?

32. In the interviews we also discovered that although the school was originally intended to cover all the secondary school children in Ardnamurchan and Morvern, in fact the majority of those from the Kilchoan end still travel by daily ferry to Tobermory High School. This ferry is supported by Scottish Executive as an all-year-round ferry, at least for three years.

33. In this context, it is important to recognise that the roads in Ardnamurchan are usually narrow single track roads, and that time taken to travel is significant - for example, about an hour by car or school bus from the Kilchoan end to Strontian where the Community School is based. That said, we heard almost universal support for the School from its users (parents) whose children formerly went either to Fort William (weekly boarding) or Mallaig (up to four hours a day in the bus). Moreover, in cold call interviewing in Kilchoan, two parents of below school-age children said they would be sending their children to Strontian because of better access to Gaelic language and music training there. Therefore, in this case it was not local services that were replaced by a single OSS, rather this meant a new service that was not previously provided in the area. We note in passing however that the decision to subsidise the all-year-round ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory seems to have reduced the scope and perhaps the viability of ACS, and comment that surely all concerned would have benefited has the resources been devoted to much needed road improvements in the area. Is this a failure of 'joined up Government?'

34. It might also be noted in passing that some respondents told us that there was local disagreement around the situation of the school in Strontian, rather than more centrally in Salen or Acharacle, and that some residents in Strontian were opposed to it. The latter is hard to comprehend, as ACS has widened opportunities for sports, adult education, pre-school activities, and library and related facilities (fast internet access), but it does mean that bridges remain to be crossed even in the immediate locality.

Staff pressures

35. With so many facilities within the building, many of which are centred around children, there have been numerous pressures on existing staff and local residents to assist with activities. This is especially the case for activities immediately after school. Currently, the main problem is the gap between school and evening youth activities when pupils still have a considerable distance to travel:

"There have been pressures on the facility to provide a Homework Club, or a holding facility, particularly on the evenings of the Youth Club - that's between 4 o'clock and 7 o'clock." "Otherwise the kids have to go home and come back. Now neither the Head Teacher nor anyone else has suggested it should be the library that's open at that time to do that. I can see that it would appear fairly obvious to have that arrangement in place, but it has enormous implications with staffing. And at the moment I'm as flexible as I can be, and until just recently I've been living in the school hostel, which makes me even more flexible. And to be honest, I am here between 4 o'clock and 7 o'clock."

36. Whilst the school is currently looking into this issue, the solutions seem to rely on extra hours from existing staff at the Centre such as the librarian, or volunteers from the local residents ²:

" …we've asked for volunteers, and we're able to pay them a little, so we shouldn't need extra staffing, it would just be utilising the staff that we've got, paying them a little bit extra."

37. Indeed, one of the issues of living and working in a rural area is the fact that practitioners, be they in the health service or the education service tend to become 'generalist' in the sense that they are expected to carry out a variety of different tasks, some of which they may not in fact be specialists in:

"Yes I think that is something that happens in a facility like this. Once you speak to … [Centre manager] I'm sure you'll find the same thing. Once you've got somebody there, everything snowballs and they start acquiring more and more (laughs) duties and responsibilities, taking on more things, plus the hours they are needed to be there increase ." Interviewer: "Yes you need generalists in areas like this, and of course in towns you've got specialists to deal with these things ." Respondent: "Well you need the support of specialists, yes… The generalists need to be trained by the specialists, yes, yes. But it is not always recognised. It's a bit like being a doctor - you have to be a psychologist and everything else … in the larger centres you can get away with your own specialism, but here you have to do a diversity of things."

Sustainability

38. Funding is a major issue for the long-term sustainability of many of the activities in the Centre. The Management Committee in particular are very active in applying for grants from a variety of bodies to ensure certain services. For instance, one of the things that has made it easier for young people and others to use the school in the evening is the Rural Transport Initiative Grant which has provided bus services for the purpose. Yet, as with so many other initiatives, this is three-year funding, and no-one knows what the future holds. Nor has getting the grant been easy:

"It's been a lot of hard work to get the Rural Transport Funding, and I think transport is always going to be a problem because that's got very strict - we can't use that for school use, the Transport Grant cannot be used for anything that goes on in school. And we don't have our own mini-bus, so transport is always a problem, every time we go anywhere it costs a lot of money, and we can't afford to buy a mini-bus. For example, last week I was down at (Sleat) and I took the children down - that bus cost us over £300. And I'm going down to (Stoneycrest) in Glasgow on Friday - that's costing me over £300. So that's a lot of money for a small school… But I don't think that children should ever be disadvantaged because of where they live…"

39. In the case of Ardnamurchan Community School, non-school users must pay user fees for the facilities, although many uses actually lose money or have costs met by other project funding.

40. Budgets are always constrained, as for example in the case of library acquisitions:

"And the vast majority of my budget - the stock here comes out of Lochaber Library funding. I only get £200 from the Head Teacher, £200 a year, to buy resources to support the curriculum. So as you can imagine, we wouldn't have very much. But all the stock that's here is accessible to any other Highland Council library. The school's stock³, by common practice built up with their own funding, is reserved for that school - although school library resources appear on our catalogues, we are not allowed to borrow them because they belong to a school".

41. However, all Ardnamurchan High School library purchases are also available to the Community here for reference, and even loan in most cases.

42. Reflecting the general shortage of housing and housing plots in the Highlands and Islands, staff housing is an evident problem in this case - none of the teaching staff have been able to buy or build a house in the area, and all are paying steep rents:

"They've all got a roof over their heads, they've all got long-term lets, but none of them, I don't think, have been able to buy a house."

Overall assessment

43. Despite a number of difficulties, the venture can be considered a success. Our observations were that the most-talked about benefit by all groups was the fact that most children were now able to attend secondary school on a normal daily basis, without travelling for more than three hours a day. This had little to do with the fact that it was a community school, and was a benefit not shared by those at the periphery of the catchment area (Kilchoan and beyond), who chose to send their children to Tobermory. The staff and students seem very happy, not surprising given that class sizes are small, each pupil has a tablet portable computer, and facilities are very good compared to most schools in the region. The only problem for staff is one shared by everyone trying to establish themselves in the region - shortage of housing and house sites at affordable prices. New things have happened, and more is available for the community - a better library, high speed digital communications, good concerts catering for a wide range of tastes, facilities for sporting and fitness, a youth club, and possibly in future a book festival. All of these things improve the quality of life and enhance economic activity as well as the 'thickness' of the economy [more spent locally as opposed to outside the area]. All these impacts are very good for a fragile area like Ardnamurchan and Morvern. Nevertheless, most community events appear to be subsidised by someone, and the school clearly runs at a high cost per pupil, raising questions of long-term sustainability and replicability. If this is a one-stop shop [and we note that nearly all employees are from one service in Highland Council], then it has certainly enhanced services in the area, although one issue of potential (if partial) displacement arose with respect to the mobile library service serving the peninsula:

Interviewer: " Would you say, overall, this has been a success?"

Respondent: "Yes I think it's a great success. I think there are lots more

things we can do, I think we can try and get more people into the building, but I think considering that we're two years down the line, I think it's a great success."

Interviewer: " And the community have welcomed it? "

Respondent: "Yes."

Interviewer: " The building and facilities?"

Respondent: "Absolutely - we had a few, let's say mavericks in the community who didn't want the place built, still don't want it built, and they would be quite happy if it were removed overnight. But they are people who have moved up from very busy lives, and just wanted a rural idyll and didn't want noisy teenagers wandering about, and we're never going to change them."

Coigach Community Hall

Summary of issues

• Persuading funders was a challenge
• Importance of community involvement in planning and design of facilities
• Restrictive legislation hindering social activities
• Reliance on volunteers
• Success created new problems

Funding and finance issues

44. Pulling the funding package together was a challenge rather than a difficulty. Persuading people from the Millennium Commission (London) that putting such a large amount of money into a small rural community with such a small population was good value for money was quite difficult. The committee knew that it would be hard though:

"We got a lot of advice from other committees. But we didn't really find many halls that weren't struggling to pay for themselves - that was the other thing, the finance was difficult. So we set out then to look for the money."

45. A particular problem seemed to be persuading funding agencies that the community knew what they wanted:

"One of the hardest things we found, I think, was particularly at the planning stage, is actually getting people who have their hands on the money, or who are assessing a project, to appreciate that although we're amateurs we have done a lot of research."

46. There was reluctance from the Highlands and Islands Partnership Programme ( HIPP) who manage the Objective 1 Programme to put in European funds. An application for funding was submitted and deferred on numerous occasions. No formal response was ever received:

"Yeah I mean fund raising has its ups and downs. I think Europe were a little bit frightened about it. There was Objective One money around at the time, but it would have been a big project for them, and they were a little bit apprehensive. As indeed I think the Millennium Commission were apprehensive…"

47. The building cost was quite substantial and although over £70,000 was raised by the community this was only a fraction of the required cost. The project was fortunate in that it received the site from Ross and Cromarty District Council for £1, helping to keep initial costs to a minimum.

"We were fortunate, and we were fortunate because Ross and Cromarty District Council were winding up, that they let us have this site which originally had been zoned either for light industry or community use, we had this for a nominal (£1)".

48. This location was also ideal for the community, being close to both the school and community housing:

" It turned out to be a perfect site I think, in that it's just opposite the school and there's heavy school use of the hall, and it's adjacent to community housing".

49. A variety of bodies finally supported the project including Ross and Cromarty Enterprise, Highland Council, the Scottish Office, and the Millennium Commission which, after their initial apprehension, provided the largest share of funding. At the moment the Hall generally makes a small surplus, with the health and library partners underpinning the running costs .

50. From the outset there was the issue of generating sufficient income to at least cover costs:

" Now the other thing we were very conscious of was income. Now the advantage of having the statutory services in, like doctors, nurses, and we'd call the library that - the school use of the main hall…but it's only really the NHS services, and to a lesser extent the library, the funding from those people, a small amount of money to those bodies can be quite a lot of money when it comes to looking at the other activities in the hall. So to some extent they underpin and subsidise the community aspect of the hall. And we did have to negotiate those charges and put a little bit of pressure on."

51. The fact that these partners are underpinning costs has allowed the Committee to set low fees for other community uses. It was hoped that low prices for wider community uses would encourage higher community usage and hence in the long-run lead to greater levels of income generation. In an area which does not have a high wage economy this was a particularly important issue:

"And to get that usage in an area like this, which is not a high wage economy, we were conscious that we had to keep those charges as low as possible. And we think now probably that they are certainly the lowest I've come across. Nominally it works out at £1 per hour for each of two people, so if people play snooker they pay £2 for an hour, and if two people play badminton they would pay £2 for an hour, and so on and so forth."

52. With regard to maintenance costs, to date there has been very little spent as the facilities are still very new. However it is likely that later this year the flooring will need to be retreated and some other maintenance works will have to be carried out. Insurance is an ongoing issue, from a number of perspectives.

Facilities, design, and layout

53. Design aspects were very important for the success of Coigach Community Hall, as was the involvement of the community in that process, and close relationships that developed with the architect and builder. Required facilities were well thought through and the layout was therefore considered with the potential users in mind:

"And it was well researched, and there were people on the Committee, who spent a great deal of time. We went and looked at a lot of other village halls around the Highlands to see - well we went there looking for good ideas actually, and mostly came away thinking, "Right, let's not do that, let's not do that, and this doesn't work." But you can learn a lot from that."

54. In addition, due to the musical performance traditions and talent in the area the Committee prioritised acoustics in the design. A substantial amount of effort and thought was put into getting the acoustics correct. The modular design adopted also allowed flexibility of use to meet the different needs of the community and partners.

55. Many years of thought had gone into the services the community would like to see in such a facility:

" In the old hall we had had a visiting doctor, so knew that that would work, although it was pretty primitive down there, and I think confidentiality was only really assured by the nurse playing the radio while the consultations were going on. So we really discussed, now going back ten years ago and probably slightly before that, what services we wanted."

56. As such, functionality of the Centre was extremely important and hence so too was the design. There are some probably four or five aspects to the hall which were viewed as more or less critical to its easy, efficient, economic running. An important aspect, for instance, was the notion that one area could be used for several different functions, and importantly that each different area of the hall could inter-link with another area for ease of use. Running costs were also considered and as such under-floor heating installed. Once again there was a lot of thought and community involvement in this process:

" OK so those were the facilities which we identified. We got our heads together and tried to work out, in consultation with the various bodies, roughly what areas we thought that they would each need - I mean with different figures, but then really averaging them out and goodness knows what, and working out what we wanted. And it turns out something like 568 square metres in total, which was about almost two and a half times the size of the original hall. Right and then it was a matter of how we laid them out. And the very important aspect to the design of the building is to have a centre which is functional, so your foyer and lobby really is the hub of the wheel, but nevertheless is a functional area where people can sit around and drink coffee, or it makes a very good bar area for functions. So that's the hub of the wheel, and your other activities really radiate off it, with quite conveniently the medical services down a short corridor at one end of the building, so there's quite a lot of privacy down there."

57. The design is such that the functions are played out along 'spokes' of a wheel, allowing an element of cross-linking between the spokes for the different events that take place:

"An economical way to build is to have all your rooms opening off the Main Hall, but of course then as soon as you have a big function in your Main Hall, you block the use of the other rooms independently. And so we set out to create a building that we could use for different things at the same time."

58. Therefore, the main hall can link with the kitchen, the kitchen can link with the lounge, or all three can more or less link together and be used for a function. The lounge can also link with the library and so can be used for a reading area. Respondents viewed this as being a highly successful design:

"…or the lounge can link with the library, because we've got a common door so that the lounge can be used as a reading area now for the library, and so on and so forth. Some eight zones can operate together or independently… it works very well."

59. In addition, a modular stage system was installed which is held in high regard by the management committee and users alike. Although perhaps this option was slightly more expensive it means that units can be arranged a different heights, they can be tiered or they can be arranged in stages. They can also simply be used as tables and thus function for such events as a wedding:

"Without that system, it would be much more difficult. It's all movable."

Everyday running and management issues

60. Access to the building is gained via an electronic lock system. A card access system is in place so any member of the community who applies and pays their £5 deposit can easily use the facilities. The advantage of such a system is that it is all computerized, and each card is individual and identifiable. The building is operated on a trust basis and people's movements in and out of rooms can be logged through the key card. Use of the rooms can be booked through one member of the community. A great advantage of such a system is the fact that a member of the Committee does not have to come down to let people into the building.

61. However, one of the problems highlighted by many of the respondents in the everyday running of such a facility, is the increasing amount of legislation which makes using the facility difficult for informal community use. In particular, health and safety requirements were viewed as unnecessary and an infringement on community events. There is now a requirement for whoever makes teas and coffees, for instance, to have attended a food hygiene course. It seems this simply discourages people from providing such a service. People with limited time and money do not wish to attend such a course which. In their eyes, all it will qualify them to do is carry out voluntary services that many of them have been doing for several years in any case.

62. Nevertheless, the health and safety requirements stipulate that a Health and Safety Officer be nominated. This person may then be required to stop people from doing particular activities. Not only does this prevent 'normal' community activities taking place such as coffee mornings but it is a very difficult role for a volunteer who has no official role or function. As a result, to date there has been problems in getting someone to take on the role of health and safety officer for the area:

"... And local people often go down, and at the moment there is a volunteer making coffees for people waiting in the doctor's waiting room. Which is a big social time on a Wednesday morning, people exchange their books at the Library, there will be a soup and sandwiches fund-raiser on maybe. But then we are told, "This person, has she got a Hygiene Certificate?" Now this is somebody who has been making teas and coffees in this village for 50 years, and could probably give the bloody course, you know. But you know what I mean, it's that sort of petty thing that's holding the place back. Because it actually stops the next person doing it, because we think, "Oh well God we'd maybe better send somebody off on a Hygiene Course." They don't want to do it, they don't have time and, you know, "Sorry then, we'll just not do it." So, you know, in the next couple of years there won't be teas and coffees. People will be, "Well if you want it, get it yourself, because you take the responsibility for your own tea and coffee." (laughs) But I mean that's the sort of petty thing that really cuts the feet out from under volunteers."

63. As with many of the other one stop shops in this study, there is a huge reliance on voluntary effort to keep the hall functioning on a day-to-day basis which can create some problems. The voluntary effort needed in this community is even more considerable due to the active part that the hall committee plays in organising social events which act as fundraisers to contribute to hall funds. It is unlikely that the current level of voluntary effort can be maintained in such a small community. There is already an issue with volunteer cover in the main holiday periods. There is also a problem finding office bearers:

"However my year is coming up to an end very shortly, and in actual fact we are having great difficulty in identifying another Chairperson, or indeed a Vice Chairperson. But I mean even when I've finished being Chairperson, I still want to help out on the Committee and help to get things organised, but just won't be able to take such a big part in it".

64. To date, the hall has relied heavily on one particular volunteer who has been putting in a great deal of time and effort to keep the hall operating on a daily basis. As this person was so efficient it led the community to believe that the hall ran itself. It seems there was little appreciation of the phenomenal input of time that is needed. Now that this person has less time on their hands, the community are struggling to find people to fill his place:

" We had relied on, until very recently, an amazing local guy, retired up here, very capable guy, with lots of drive and enthusiasm, and he was down there at the Hall 24/7. He was doing maintenance, he was answering calls, he was filling in all the God-awful paperwork that comes in. But I mean even since he stopped doing it, and the new - a different committee took over, he's not been available there 24/7. So we were really nannied in the four years after the Hall was set up by that man - in the nicest possible way. But it led the community to believe that, "Oh the Hall virtually runs itself," and of course it doesn't. It doesn't, it requires a phenomenal input of time."

65. The hall committee, made up of volunteers, feel that they already have a considerable workload to take on board. There are proposals to develop an all weather sports pitch, which is being undertaken by a sub-group of the committee, and people who use the pitch will then use the showers and toilet facilities in the main hall. However, this means even greater responsibility for the volunteers:

" And also with the new playing field, I'm sure that's going to happen, we're going to draw down funds for the playing field itself. But the Hall will be the changing room and the loos for the playing field, so that's another thing that's got to be worked into the pattern of all the activity, it's got to be managed really well. I mean to get the most out of the playing field, it's going to have to be some of the Hall's responsibility to do that. And that's something else landed onto the Committee pretty much."

Factors affecting development of services

66. The Hall Committee does not see it as their role to develop further services or facilities as such. They are there to support the development of further services as required either by the community or the public/voluntary sectors.

67. There is space within the hall for a more regular day care facility for the elderly in the area but to date none of the social care providers in the wider area have made an approach to develop such a service. While there is probably demand for this within the community no work has been undertaken to quantify this and look at what the options might be. There is also some interest in the development of some sheltered housing close to the hall, which would link to the Community nurses, and any possible day care facility but again no work has been undertaken in this area.

68. There is recognition that perhaps there could be more use of the hall by the young people in the village and perhaps more development of the internet access facilities but while this has been seen as a gap there were few suggestions on how this could be developed as again it would likely rely on voluntary effort, and currently these resources are stretched. Already there are more people using the facility than had been anticipated in the original plans:

"There are probably more people doing more things in there than perhaps we'd allowed for. And there are some things which we thought would be very well supported, which haven't been. We had envisaged having more computers in the building than there are. There are actually four in there now."

69. A broadband link would assist the doctor's surgery in providing the same level of information and care to the local residents as is afforded patients who attend the Ullapool surgery:

"But there are lots of other things we'd like to see happening there. We'd like

a Fitness Room, or a fitness space. Now it would have to be a dedicated Fitness Space, because you have to bolt down the equipment. There's a lot of demand for that, I'd say especially for the teenagers, you know, from the 16-25 year old age group. They really want that, and there's really not the money to do it. There has always been an idea that how wonderful would it be to keep our old people here when they become less able to look after themselves, and have some sort of supervised, you know, 24 hour care. You know, a couple of small flats or supervised rooms or something to add onto the Hall. Because at the moment, if you become really unable to look after yourself you've got to leave the place, and it's such a distance that elderly friends can't possibly visit".

Advantages/disadvantages to users and providers

70. The table below summarises the advantages and disadvantages that emerged from our interviews with Coigach Community Hall providers and users.

71. Several advantages were listed by both users and providers . Obviously the variety of services within the hall was a one of the clearest advantages. Respondents listed numerous facilities which they see as a great addition to their community. These ranged from cheap facilities for weddings, funerals, anniversaries and birthday parties - especially due to the fact that the kitchen means catering can be done by friends and family; the sports facilities; the library; nurses and doctors on location meaning that there is no longer the need to travel to Ullapool 52 miles away; social clubs; community room and meeting room; and musical entertainment. The fact that all of these facilities are under one roof means that people only have to make one trip to access a variety of services. This it seemed was particularly relevant for the elderly in the community who were used to travelling long distances - even just to access one of the services provided in the new community hall. Now they can make use of the library at the same time as seeing their doctor, as well as fit in a coffee with other members of the community.

72. It is doubtful whether there would be a doctor's surgery in Achiltibuie without the Hall, and the Doctor indicated that if something happened to the Hall, they would have to think very seriously about asking patients to travel to Ullapool. One of the reasons for this, however, is the slow telecommunications speeds in the absence of broadband:

" Now we do have a branch surgery computer, we have a little laptop we take with us, and it connects via the Internet at 28 kilobytes a second or whatever. It's pathetically slow, you can't read Word documents down it. So the level of service they'll get in Achiltibuie, you know, is not quite as good as it is in here (in Ullapool). So I think if the Hall were to burn down tomorrow … we'd have to think very hard whether to continue with a branch surgery ... Because it's obvious when you look at - one thing the computer has allowed us to do is look at the service delivery, to see whether there's equity. And I haven't got figures to give you, but I don't think there is equity for outlying patients, in that, you know, they don't, because the computer there is slower, because things take longer to do, you don't always dots the i's and cross the t's on every person".

73. The quality of the health care provided by the GP service to the local community it is argued is nevertheless higher than it would be in the absence of the facility:

"Yes … we're all measured by quality points now… The UKGP Contract has decided that there are certain things we have to do, and certain conditions, and if we met that then we have this quality point system. And if you're really, really good and you get maximum points, you can get up to 1100, and that's if you've done all the blood sugars and done all the blood pressures, and if you've got the blood sugars down and the blood pressures down, and seen the epileptics and sorted out their medicines, and you've dealt with your asthmas, and all your annual reviews. Now our current point total is 904 out of 1100. And that's actually very high, and it's actually a good result. Because some of the points are give over to administration, for example, 70 points are for a patient questionnaire, which we haven't done yet. So it's about 900 out of 1000 points. Now you couldn't do that if the Hall in Achiltibuie didn't have a reasonable amount of points share. Because about a quarter of our patients live in Achiltibuie. So if you were abandoning that quarter you just couldn't (reach those points)."

74. A major advantage is not only having the services under the one roof and actually in the immediate area, but the opportunity the hall provides for socialising. With so many facilities under one roof people are there at all times of day:

"Well I saw the nurse about 10 minutes ago walking to the kitchen, and I see the library is opening up now. And in about another hour, even though … things quiet down in August, I think one will see some of the advantages as people start coming in for the doctor and for the library, but at the same time taking advantage of (coffee sessions), just hanging around and chatting and…. it's a place where people can meet."

75. Another of the advantages is said to be the ability to retain or attract back young people with children to the area. The community hall is seen as a particularly attractive feature of the area:

"This has made a great difference to people because, you know, it just makes it more possible for young families to come back here, because the facilities are all in place. If you know, if you've got a 3 year old and there is a place at Nursery here for them, and they can move smoothly 20 yards up the hill to the school at the end of that, it becomes - plus the doctors and nurses are there, and the children at Nursery get to know the nurses because they're passing, you know, they're part of the main building - it just becomes such a focus, a sort of a kernel of activity. And there is no doubt about it, that has definitely led to people moving back here, you know, really active, socially active, economically active people coming back to this area in a way which just wasn't happening 15 years ago."

76. However, there are some disadvantages. The downside of having a community building or service point in one place serving a scattered rural population is that while some people are nearby, and find it convenient, the same people always have to travel from the outermost parts of the area serviced. Coigach Community Hall serves a small community of about 300, scattered over a 12-mile radius. Ideally, perhaps, one-stop-shops should also deal with the provision or organisation of transport for those lacking their own transport or otherwise less able to use it. Moreover, the Hall poses some competition for existing local businesses, especially the local pub:

"Yeah the disadvantages are that I think probably the people down at the other end always feel they have to trail up to the Centre for things that are going on. And I know that one or two businesses, particularly the pub business down at the other end, feels that with the hall activities all on at the other end, people will make use of the other pub. And, you know, she's quite right about that, it's true."

77. One further disadvantage which is particular to this one-stop shop is the way in which the doctor's surgery operates. Rather than making appointments, a drop in system is in operation. This was in fact the system which the community wanted and a vote was taken on this at the time:

"There was a local vote taken on whether the community wanted an appointment system, and they said no they didn't want that. And I think one of the reasons is that a lot of them see it - I'll have to be careful what I say - almost as a social event, coming down to the doctor, because they know that if they don't have an appointment they will meet a lot of people, and they will have a chat for an hour and see the doctor probably for about the usual 10 or 15 minutes or whatever he can allow"

78. Whilst this system means that people can come along whenever they feel like it and enjoy the social aspects of visiting the doctor, one problem has been the lack of necessary records in the surgery because the doctor does not know who will walk through the door. However, with computerisation of records this should not pose too much of a problem and was only mentioned as a minor issue by one of the respondents.

Sustainability

79. The hall is viewed as a success in terms of the level of use that the facility gets. This is in terms of the range of user groups (and users) and the percentage use of the different spaces within the hall. Analysis of the booking records would indicate a high level of success on this basis.

80. Although no formal monitoring has been undertaken of the use of the hall, general feedback is positive and in such a small community any complaints or issues tend to be raised directly with committee members who then get the opportunity to deal with these.

81. The library and the doctor's surgery have both undertaken small surveys of users asking about access to their services and the majority have requested the status quo given that there is unlikely to be an increase in resources, which would allow for expanded services. The timing of the availability of these services would appear to suit the majority.

82. The doctor's surgery will be looking to undertake a more formal survey relating to their service provision in the next year or so.

83. The Hall was also in the fortunate position of both receiving substantial grant aid towards the building costs, and currently enjoys core income from some public sector partner service providers, especially doctors, nurses, the school, nursery and the library. In fact they were in the habit of making surpluses with the previous community hall, and they are still able to make surpluses. These should allow them to maintain the building, continue the policy of low user fees, and also provide some development capital for new services and activities.

84. The community are also at an advantage because they are used to running and operating a village hall of some description. The community has had a village hall of some description since the 1950s which was also running at a profit. Hence this project is not a new venture. As such, its chances for long-term survival would appear to be higher:

"Certainly in the run up to this hall, and this would be the early nineties or late eighties - early nineties in particular, we had shown that we could really run at a profit an establishment of that kind, and we were pretty confident that if we got what we said we wanted that we would be able to run it, and it would be sustainable."

85. Nevertheless, the management of the Hall is heavily dependent on volunteers on the Committee, and as services expand and users (and uses) become more complex, a stage might come when paid management is needed.

"The success of the place depends on people putting in their time for nothing. And if that doesn't happen in the future, then we've got to find a way to take the load off the Committee, and perhaps pay as Secretary or pay a book keeper or whatever it is. Because the bigger the building, and the more things you've got in there, the more work is involved in the day-to-day running."

86. With such a successful one stop shop it seems inevitable that the work load is too much to expect from volunteers. However, the main issue is where to gather enough revenue from to pay for a manager or caretaker:

Respondent: "…but I mean I just guess, you know, isn't it a fact that if the Scottish Executive are going to think, "Oh these One Stop Shop type things in communities like this are working," and I'd say it is, but you've really got to back that up with some support for it."

Interviewer: " What kind of support?"

Respondent: "Money so that we can employ somebody. Because we need an employed person down there. I mean there's nothing clearer than that. I would say it's just a 0.5 post, you know, three mornings and two afternoons a week, and perhaps a morning or an evening at the weekend, would make an amazing difference. But the Committee could then stand back and do what they're good at, which is giving best possible support. But there's not planning happening, you know, there's not forward planning happening for developing the resource, which it should - you know, it should be seen as a developing resource".

87. It was also made clear that the revenue would have to be sufficient to ensure that a paid manager post would attract a suitably experienced person.

" But you have to have somebody there as a manager who is able to deal with, and preferably has experience in dealing with a whole range of people from outside, whether it's doctors, nurses, (that sort of thing). But that's probably almost a stage at which we are at.

Overall assessment

88. Since the building has become operational it has been hailed as a success by many of the agencies involved and is regularly visited by other communities wishing to develop similar facilities.

89. It may come as a surprise, therefore, to note that there was very vociferous local opposition to the hall from a small number of local residents, which in the early stages did cause some concern for the funders. Initially the hall was seen as being too good - 'pristine' - to enable the full range of community use (also smoking limited in most areas of the hall). Over time this has reduced and full community use made of the facilities:

" We had to find a site, and there was a bit of controversy in the area as to where it could be, indeed I think in some people's minds as to whether there should even be a hall."

90. However, Coigach Community Hall is undoubtedly an extremely successful community facility. One of its strengths is the thought and planning that was put into it from a very early stage. Most importantly, it was the community itself who were responsible for pushing for this facility and as such they were largely responsible for what was to be in it and the way in which they would like it to be designed. This was not a top-down decision imposed upon them:

"We certainly wouldn't have got the right thing unless we'd planned it ourselves. It's got to be done from within the community."

91. Respondents also felt that they had been extremely fortunate with the architect who is enthusiastic about light and space. People seemed to be very pleased with the design of the building and the fact that it can be used for a variety of purposes. Although comments were made that more use could be made of it by the under 18's age group, it is nevertheless, a facility used by the entire community.

92. One of the most important aspects of this facility is the fact that it is self-sufficient. The Hall was fortunate in that it received grants for the building. Unlike the Public Private Partnership building in Ardnamurchan, the community own this building and do not have to pay rentals. As such, they can actually generate some profit from the facility, albeit relatively minimal:

"It was bigger than any other village hall that had been built in Scotland I think when we put it up, which was one of the arguments against it. And yet it's possibly running at a bigger profit than any other hall in Scotland without charging people much money for going into it. That's mainly because it's got enough under one roof I think, it's because we've put more things in one place, that it's successful."

93. The profits allow the community to employ a cleaner part time, and they are able to afford maintenance costs themselves. Unfortunately, however, this amount is still not enough to employ a part-time manager.

94. Indeed, the sheer success of this venture is such that it has created new pressures, particularly related to management. Volunteers cannot be expected to work full-time as well as put all their free time into managing the facility.

Dalmellington One Stop Shop, Ayrshire

Summary of issues

• Top-down initiative
• Access only during the working hours of 9am to 5pm
• Location in an area with good road and bus links
• Services under one roof worked well with staff and public
• Complaints about lack of privacy when accessing medical facility
• Will always require money from public purse
• Increased use of services

Funding and finance issues

95. As with several of the case studies, an initial application for funding was down to a few people. In this case, most respondents commented on the work of two people in particular - one from East Ayrshire Council and the other from the Primary Care Trust:

"I think obviously - I mean at the start obviously it was down to[individuals], you know, from East Ayrshire Council and from the Primary Care Trust. I mean they were the ones who forged ahead obviously the funding and everything like that. But I mean they put in loads and loads of work to actually get the money, to actually be able to do it."

96. Finally the centre received funding of £2.3m from European Structural Funds, East Ayrshire Council, Ayrshire and Arran Primary Care ( NHS) Trust, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Coalfield Area Social Inclusion Partnership and Strathclyde Police.

97. The initiative is not self-financing and requires revenue funding from the public purse. However, it is generally assumed that overall there are monetary savings due to the fact that previously dispersed services now operate from one location, under one roof, hence sharing heating bills and such like.

Location, design and layout

98. Prior to the Centre being built, people had to travel several miles to access various services scattered across a wide area. Many services, for instance were located in Ayr, 15 miles away:

"I had to go to Ayr… 15 miles...It's made quite a difference, hmm, hmm… Saved quite a bit of time, it has yes."

99. There seems no doubt that the new building has improved physical access for users, as its location is convenient for both car and bus transport and parking, and also because several services are under the same roof:

Interviewer: " And the fact that the services are all together in one building, has that made a difference to you at all?"

Respondent: " Yes it's handier that way. Everyone knows where everything is now, rather than walking away up a hill looking for a dentist, or into the middle of the Scheme looking for a doctor, or round looking for an ancient building where the Registrar was. Everything's here, accessible here, and right in the middle of the town."

100. Indeed, the location seems to have been one of the reasons for the success of the centre. One respondent stated that they believed the fact the centre is in the middle of the village has contributed to it being an even bigger success than the planners could ever have hoped for:

"I'm not normally in here very often. But I think with actually the seating outside, and the fact that it's in the middle of the village, it's more of a community resource than I think anybody expected it to be. I think it has proved a bigger success than even the planners thought it would be."

101. In addition to location, a great deal of thought was put into the design and layout of the building in the planning stages which has resulted in a community facility that is very user friendly. The success of the design could be attributed in part to the fact that all groups were involved in the design and layout of the building. From the outset, a group of people, made up of employees who would soon be working in the building, formed a Project Team to discuss plans with the architects:

" I think the Project Team was fantastic. I think that was an excellent idea.

Without us having the Project Team I don't think it would have worked. I think you needed to have all those people from different sections and at different levels round the table to actually, you know, sort of say, 'Well this would work; that wouldn't work'…"

102. The Project Team discussed how the centre would operate, and how the centre would develop. They also considered the layout of individual offices. This made the transition from old offices to a new office in the centre much easier:

"It made it easier so that you could actually do the transition from one office to another. Because there wasn't a week or something where the offices were closed, you basically moved in and had to start working, so it was quite good to actually know exactly what you were getting, where everything was going to go. Also from a working point of view we sort of drew up protocols about how things would work within the office."

103. Nor was it just one or two members of staff that were involved with discussing design and layout. Two large meetings were held for all the staff that would be working in the building. Once the building was complete, they also had an induction where they were given a tour of the building before they actually moved in:

" It's like managing change, it's what makes people aware of what's going to happen, and involve them in it rather than just say, 'Well you're moving to a new building on Tuesday and this is what you're going to be doing'. Because people don't react well to being told what to do" " I think it's been fairly well thought through. It's quite well designated, the medical side and the social - the housing and council side - it's been quite well designated as to which window to go to, I think it's quite well signposted. Everyday running and management issues

104. There are currently 70 staff working in the centre. The general consensus amongst the staff seems to be a positive appraisal of their new working arrangement with many claiming that it is much easier to work together with other service providers. Not only do they find themselves working under one roof, but given the fact that there are communal staff areas, it is easy to meet people from other departments:

"Because you became friends, and it's easier to work together. And I think that was really good. And I think from my own point of view, which obviously I (know) my point of view, but I think there are a number of people in the building who, more than others, have worked hard to try to make everybody pull together. And I think that does make a big difference."

105. Not only does this make a difference to working relations amongst staff from different service departments, but it also benefits the public who can easily be passed from one department to another if necessary:

"That's right, and the fact that there are leaflets, and that the staff are aware of the other resources available is good. Whether it's medical or social, I think it does work very well, because you can get referred from one to another very quickly."

106. Nevertheless, the centre provides access to additional services out-with the building. Facilities include a video conferencing unit, which can be used for a variety of purposes such as linking up with the Benefits Agency in Ayr, and also the Pensions Unit in Irvine:

"People that are having problems with their benefit can come in and speak to myself or one of my colleagues at the front desk, we can phone the Benefits Agency and get somebody to go on-line, and they basically sit and talk into a television screen."

107. The centre also has space for a variety of agencies to visit once a week. For instance, the Citizens Advice Bureau has a space every Tuesday morning in the centre. The Benefits Agency also come once a week. There is also space for others such as community psychiatric nurses.

108. As for the costs of running the centre, these are divided between the agencies, based on desk space and number of people in the building:

"But I think cost sharing, I mean the way it's done it's on a sort of per capita basis, so every department - I mean my section, there's actually only two of us, so we would pay 'times two'. You know, whereas in Housing there's going to be about, I don't know, 13 of them or whatever, so they would paying for the desk space really, and it's all sort of divvied up between everybody."

Advantages/ disadvantages to users and providers

109. The main advantages and disadvantages of the Dalmellington One Stop Shop are listed in the table below. Dalmellington and the Doon Valley are recognised as highly deprived areas. Rural deprivation in the Dalmellington area is highlighted by above average unemployment rates, lack of job opportunities, and the poor health of inhabitants compared to other areas of Scotland. Thus, it was pin-pointed as somewhere that really needed help to allow people access to services:

"And I mean I think that's absolutely brilliant. They can come in and they can use all these services. Generally it's just - I mean it was a really good idea."

110. As previously suggested, the location and the fact that the services are all under one roof has greatly benefited the local population. They no longer need to travel great distances, often on a limited budget, to access services:

"I think that works really well from the public point of view, I mean I think it's great for the public that they can come in and they can get all these services under the one roof, and are not having to trail to different premises round about the village. It's all very user friendly. It's all - you know, we have disabled access, we have facilities for people that are hard of hearing, all that I mean is of great benefit."

111. Staff are obviously full of praise for the centre and the advantages it provides. One staff member was particularly happy with the fact that it is so easy to send clients, without any fuss, to the correct department or agency. As a result, clients are using agencies they would otherwise not have travelled to and receiving the assistance they need. One group mentioned as particularly benefiting from the centre are pensioners:

"So we've actually managed to get a few people through the door, and their incomes have been boosted enormously. Because there's quite a number of people out there that didn't know they were entitled to Pension Credit. And the Pension Credit, the way it works, if they get onto that it actually opens doors to other benefits."

112. Users also benefit from the additional services provided in the centre due to the forward planning of architects and the project team. The open space that has been created in the centre for visiting agencies and bodies to book, such as the community psychiatric nurses or homeless persons office, has meant that the local population need not travel huge distances to access services not provided on a daily basis in the centre:

"And I think, to me, there just seems to be a whole - a whole lot of doors have opened for people in the area where they can get access to a lot more services in the one place, you know. And at no cost to them really, because, you know, they can walk here really. So I mean it's been excellent from that point of view."

113. There are few disadvantages mentioned regarding the centre. However, some do exist. Whilst the centre is open during normal working hours, outside these times, clients have to make use of out-of-hours services where these are provided. Of greatest importance to customers in this respect are medical services. Out of hours the A-Doc service, located in Ayr Hospital, is used. Other services such as the police, dentist and council are not so convenient, however. As for Council services, they cannot be accessed at all out of hours:

"The Police, you have to contact Cumnock, that's the nearest police station. The dentist - there will be no dentist, you would have to go to Ayr and hope that there is an emergency dentist on".

114. In addition, there was some mention of lack of privacy when accessing certain services such as the medical facilities:

"The only disadvantage that I find is the lack of privacy. If you're here to see the Doctor, anyone waiting to see the Registrar or whatever else can hear every word that you're saying to the Receptionist, or the Doctor. So there is a lack of privacy there, because the waiting room is the same, the waiting room is a shared waiting room"

115. As far as providers are concerned, the only disadvantage mentioned is the fact that agencies on the front desk are the ones who must pick up most of the general client queries. However, these seem to be minor complaints considering the great benefits that the centre has brought to the area.

Sustainability

116. Whilst this one stop shop obviously works well, it is not necessarily a cheaper solution to service provision in rural areas, although the evidence suggests that providers benefit from cost sharing in the building:

"It works, but is costly to provide in a more rural situation"

117. As long as the government continues to fund the centre, then it will certainly be in a position to continue to operate. It has also gone down very well in the local community.

Overall assessment

118. Dalmellington has benefited greatly from the new centre and the facilities contained within it. Users and providers alike speak highly of it. The increase in usage highlights its success. For instance, the number of people using more than one service during a visit has increased, as has the number of visits to GPs and nurses who have reported a 10% increase. Similarly, the police state that reporting of crime is up by 33%, and this is considered to be because they are in the same space as other relevant services:

Interviewer : "Do you find it easy to access the services here?"

Respondent: "Very easy. I do like the idea that you can come in and you could find everything under one roof. And I could imagine that if you rented a house, it would be so nice to be able to come into one place and say, "Here is my rent. I want to report this, who do I talk to?" and just have somebody there straight away. It's really nice, yeah."

119. Thus, clients in particular have benefited from having services under one roof. In one case, for example, a woman who went to the GP with mental health problems as a result of difficulties experienced with housing, was immediately referred to the housing department in the same building:

Interviewer: And would you say the services here are better than the services that there were before?

Respondent: " Yes definitely … They're easier to access, and there's more of them. So I think it's a vast improvement in this area."

120. Similarly, the various service providers enjoy sharing a building with others. In particular, staff mention more collaborative working, easier referrals, friendliness, user-friendly space, disabled access, cost-effectiveness, and improved quality services. The centre has been so successful that other local authorities and agencies have visited to see how it works:

"I mean we've had a lot of people visiting from other councils and other agencies, and everybody on the whole seems to be quite impressed, so we're obviously getting something right."

121. Overall, easier access, having services under one roof, better access to information, and time-saving are mentioned by users and staff alike. For the local community, the quality of services has improved, as has their accessibility and integration. For staff, there is greater satisfaction from being able to refer clients to other services easily, and work more closely with these services.

Gairloch Community Learning Centre

Summary of issues

• Top down initiative - funding led
• Low budget operation
• Young people, not the community, were a priority from the beginning
• Restrictions of use
• Centre run by the Council, High School, and not the community
• Hard to find tutors
• Management problems
• Uncertain future
• Limitations on expanding services

Funding and finance issues

122. The New Opportunities Fund ( NOF) has provided annual operating costs of £15,000 for three years. This covers the manager's time, tutor fees, training materials, accreditation and marketing. The Highland Council contributes equipment, venue and staffing to the same value. However, the Centre arrived with NOF money almost accidentally:

"Well we were actually delivering evening classes through Community Learning originally. And that was my initial role, the coordinator for that side of things. And I think it's through the Education Department, they're actually putting a funding package up in Brora and they're putting up a Brora Learning Centre. And what happened then, I think people were surprised there was nobody at the (Centre). So somebody, I think it was the education people, actually went for - he just put in an application for Gairloch and Fortrose and nobody knew about it. And what happened was, we found out that um Community Learning - it wasn't myself - but somebody from Community Learning and the Education Department got this money. (laughs) And it was like, "Oh what are we going do about it?"

123. There are no costs saved as such due to extra services being offered by the facility. Highland Council are incurring additional costs in providing for the school building and equipment to be used (including janitorial services) but this is budgeted for under the Council's commitment to providing Community Schools.

124. However, had the Centre been provided in its own building then it would have had to find capital costs and running costs.

125. Some respondents argued that there should be an ongoing future commitment for the community learning centre and associated funding on a more stable long term basis. In an ideal world the Centre would develop into a dedicated community learning facility within the school grounds. At a very minimum there should be a change of location for the existing Community Learning office, which is not hugely visible or accessible within Gairloch High School.

126. Although the project has only about 18 months left to run under the current funding arrangements, ⁴ little formal forward planning has been undertaken. There seems to be a desire to develop the centre further but the lack of a liaison or management group means that management planning to date has been limited.

Location

127. The very fact that this is a top-down initiative meant that there were restrictions on the way in which the money could be spent. In addition, a community learning centre with a limited amount of top-down funding meant that it had to be located within the school.

128. Compared to other case studies, little time was taken in the location, planning and design stage. Rather it was an issue of receiving the money and deciding how to deliver services to the community, and as quickly as possible.

129. Any planning tended to focus on dealing with the challenges presented of working within shared premises:

"So I suppose broadly the challenges were the same challenges that there always are when you're in shared premises, and with responsibilities to different parts of what has now become the same service."

130. As a result there exists some reservations concerning the location of the Centre - at the back of the school:

"It is rather tucked away. It doesn't have a very high profile here, which I'm not used to, because obviously I've only been here for about 18 months. And I'm loathe to be critical, but it doesn't have the sort of profile that I am used to, even in schools. Community Education would have quite a big sort of front, you know, you'd go into a school and you'd know that was the Community Education."

131. According to one respondent, all this does is put people off from coming into the facility. In addition, it does little to give community education a high profile:

"Yeah you'd have to be pretty, pretty motivated to get yourself in there, which

is not what I think it's about. I think it's about - um you know, it's quite hard to approach something and to do something like that. I think especially for women, and you've been with the children, and you're isolated, and these are quite difficult things to get round, and these barriers are huge for them A School Facility and a Community Facility 132. From the outset, although this project is meant to be a community learning centre, it was made clear that young people, and not the community as a whole were a priority from the beginning:

"I made it very clear at that stage that anything we developed in an adult-led thing in the Community Learning Centre must have spin-offs for the school as well."

133. The fact that the Centre is based in a school does little to promote the 'community' element of the community learning centre. Indeed, using the school building has created certain barriers:

"And, you know, we are using shared resources so we've always got to work around the school. Because at the end of the day, the education here, you know, it does take priority, you know, with the school. So we've got to work with that."

134. One respondent said that the project is partly delivered within the library, bringing certain challenges and certainly some limitations. Compared to other learning centres this is seen to be restrictive. For instance, in similar projects both in Fortrose and the Black Isle, there is said to be a dedicated space for distance learning.

135. This facility also shares some of the challenges highlighted in the Ardnamurchan Community School case study, namely security. Whilst issues relating to security are understandable, at the same time it does create certain barriers to creating a community facility. One respondent even suggested that the tight security made them feel like an intruder in the building:

"That's right yes, and it's all this security. And you've got to get in through the door as well. But it feels as if you're an intruder. I even feel like that going to the library that I'm an intruder. So it's definitely something to do with the building, and the ethos about the security and everything else."

136. Security also creates challenges for providing courses during daytime school hours:

" But because it's a community school, I don't think there's very much going on in the day because of the security with children….."

137. The physical design of the building has also created other problems for the service providers. Most importantly there seems to be some problem with essential facilities such as toilets for users of the community learning centre (although we were subsequently informed that outside school hours, visitors can use other toilets in the building, otherwise they have to go to the leisure centre which is close by):

" And there's other practical issues like toilets, you know, there's no toilet for the library. I mean if you've come sort of 20 miles (laughs) - and if you've got children and that toilets are a big issue, and for me as well. And I don't think there's - I don't believe there's one in Community Education either, you know, that you can access it. So it's only a small thing, but all these little things are enough to put you off."

Everyday running and management issues

138. One clear challenge in providing a service within a shared building is managing the service whilst dealing with other users of the building. Fortunately for the Gairloch Community Learning Centre, they managed to find one person to carry out three different roles.

139. The project has a part time manager who is also paid on a part time basis directly by Community Learning to deliver more traditional adult education classes in the area. The manager also works part time in the library on a separate contract. This enables a certain amount of synergy between the services, which would otherwise not exist:

"So, you know, she has responsibilities to … the Head Teacher, she's got responsibilities to the Library Service, she's got responsibilities to Community Learning."

140. People at the centre held this person in high regard and attributed her to the smooth running of the centre. In particular, the fact she does all three jobs helps to integrate the different elements within the school building:

"So it's wonderful that she has all of these roles, because that makes integrating the Learning Centre and library and school so much easier I think, because it's the one person doing it all. You know, I think she is clear about what she's doing when, she's not compartmentalized, but she wears a big hat, and other things are dealt with at an appropriate time."

141. There was the general feeling that whilst this would work with three different people, managing the facility would be more of a challenge:

"It's not to say that it couldn't work with three different people coming together and doing it, but there perhaps needs to be more training and support for people to understand other people's roles and, you know, negotiation skills, I suppose, to get the right outcome."

142. Additional management issues included the fact that the facility is fairly remote from support and higher management. Another reason why it has been so beneficial to have one person carrying out the three different posts, especially as it was noted that there is a lack of any formal management meetings:

"I mean it would make sense to me if the main sort of managers involved were able to sit down on a regular basis, quarterly or maybe even monthly, you know, and just be brought up to speed and helped to plan what's going on and helped to - also in terms of helping to link it in with the other services that are around the area."

143. The success of the project so far is to a certain extent due to the competence and abilities of the staff member who has had to work on their own initiative to a great extent. Support for the post is provided through Community Learning in Dingwall and the head teacher of Gairloch High School. Although there is no formal liaison or management group, good communications are maintained thus enabling easy use of the school facilities and development of new ideas.

144. On another level with regard to daily management, as with the majority of schools, there is a reliance on building managers - in this case the janitors - to open and close the building for evening activities. Whilst this has not been a significant problem in Gairloch, there have been a couple of 'blips':

" And I mean there's been one or two blips like, you know, the janitor couldn't come, because there's only one janitor to open up, and if they're working all day - there's been a few issues like that. But I think you find that anywhere."

Advantages/disadvantages to users and providers

145. The table below highlights some of the disadvantages and advantages to users and providers. It is clear that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. People have access to free courses that would otherwise not be available in their community. In addition, support provided is good due to the small numbers in each class. Not only has the community benefited but so too has the school which now has training accreditation software.

146. However, there are a number of disadvantages. Often people cannot see the purpose of attending a computer course if they do not see the link between it and local employment opportunities:

"The disadvantages are, we are in an area which has not got very many opportunities to use the course that you do. There's maybe a lot of computer courses, but from an employment point of view, a lot of people don't see the benefits of trying to get a qualification because there's no jobs here they can use that for."

147. Given the small nature of the Centre and the limited funding, it is not always possible to find a suitable tutor for a particular course:

"The disadvantage is we can't always juggle for four people at once…I think it's the fact that not having qualified staff that can do it."

Factors hindering future development

148. The future of these courses is not at all certain. A major issue with the long-term survival of the facility is the question of funding beyond the initial three years. Once the three-year New Opportunities Funding grant runs out it is not as yet known whether it will be extended. When questioned about future funding proposals, respondents expressed uncertainty:

"No there's nothing at all at the moment. That's why we're very keen on the buying the centre strategy, we're quite pleased that we've got 'learn direct' status because we're hoping we're going to - I think we've proved that we're leaders in the community."

149. Already staff time is being spent thinking beyond the three-year period and finding a solution to sustain the learning centre. Staff are aware that there are mechanisms within the Council in which they can bid for additional Council funding to sustain the venture, but this too is uncertain:

" We have to look at some sort of way of sustaining it beyond the three years, if that is what we want to do….And making the assumption that yes we do want to continue, how that's going to be manned I really don't know."

150. There has been an expressed desire to establish a user group in order to provide a clear focus and a sense of continuity:

"It sort of um - it's sort of - can't think of the word - there's not the continuity that I would like to see, it's odd things put on here and there without a clear pathway for leading from one thing to another. And I know it's very difficult with funding and everything, and in a small community it's very difficult isn't it?"

151. Forward planning has not been helped by the considerable structural and staffing changes within the Education and Community Learning services within Highland Council. This lack of continuity has meant limited support for the GCLC staff, which while not affecting the day-to-day operation of the facility has meant a lack of forward planning and hence may adversely affect the future of the Centre.

152. For a number of reasons, not least the limited budget provided by NOF and Highland Council, courses are only run at a basic level. Ideally there is a need for progression and repeat courses:

" Yeah I felt it was a pity there wasn't a follow-up that we could take it to a more advanced level, because this is absolutely the basics, and an intermediate one would have been really nice. And perhaps to re-run the course as well, because I also would look to that for the staff, because I think it's quite useful for them to have those skills."

153. While there is the argument that people should pay for the courses, on the other hand, many of those who need to improve their skills and gain some additional qualifications are those who cannot afford to pay anything:

"…so the next level would have been really good. But then, for me, it would have to be free. My salary is so low and, you know, as I say, with a large family it is a huge issue about - it's not just about time or the venue, it is about the cost as well, and I would have to justify it. And I could possibly negotiate terms through my work, but it is always an issue for me."

154. Additional resources are also needed to attract tutors. Currently the centre has difficulty in recruiting tutors. In part this is due to the fact that Gairloch is a rural area, but it is also a problem encouraging tutors who may be on benefits to come off those benefits for the winter to provide seasonal courses. Thus the casual nature of employment at the Centre does little to attract staff:

"And the place is geared for tourists. But when it hits winter, you know, it does affect people. We try to provide, you know, activities that people will do, and enjoy doing. But when it comes to teachers who have the skills, if they're not working and they're on benefits, if we employ them to tutor, that's (spoils that), you know, they're not entitled to benefits. And sometimes that's a barrier for people to come forward, even though they're enthusiastic they just financially cannot do it, because, you know, we only employ them on a casual basis."

Sustainability

155. As far as the courses are concerned, respondents were very satisfied:

"I thought it was superb. I thought the tutor pitched it incredibly well. I know he teaches in the school, and he tailored it for adult learning. I thought it was very good. I've had a lot of different courses for different things, and yeah I rated him quite highly."

156. Although there is no formal liaison or management group, good communications are maintained thus enabling easy use of the school facilities and development of new ideas. In recent months the centre has been given Learn Direct status and increasing links have been made with other training providers as well as with other services such as the Careers Service.

Overall assessment

157. Detailed records relating to every course and every attendee are kept and this information is collated and reported back to the New Opportunities Fund on a regular basis. All course participants are expected to complete a detailed evaluation form, which allows modifications to be made to future courses. Success is measured more in terms of outcomes. The ability to reach people that would not normally take up these opportunities and then making a difference to them in terms of personal development. Courses provided by the Centre have been greeted with enthusiasm by participants.

158. It is impossible to criticise those running the Centre. However, there are some issues which, in many respects, can be attributed to the way in which the Centre came about. This was a top-down initiative and ultimately this case study was funding led rather than community led. The funding itself is also extremely limited given that it was provided to support IT courses. The building, whilst providing a home for the Centre is inadequate for the purpose and, due to the very nature of a school, is restrictive. Even staff feel as though they are intruding.

159. The fact that funding is limited to three years places the staff and community in a very insecure position; energy that should be spent on providing a service to the community is instead focussed on finding funding.

160. Difficulties with location also raise the question of whether or not a mobile service would be more appropriate in a rural location. As with all one-stop shops in rural areas, there are those who have a two minute walk to the facility, and those that still have to travel a considerable distance:

"Because there are communities, there are facilities dotted around, where possibly going out more would have been better. Which is the Fortrose model, the Black Isle Virtual Learning Centre has got laptops, and the ability to go out to small village halls or other places in the community, to take it really directly to where people are, rather than expecting people to travel into the Centre."

161. This is a poignant issue for certain groups within society - for instance women who may be at home with children but with no form of transport to take them into Gairloch. However, we understand that Inverness College provide some limited IT outreach training, and it was decided not to compete with them.

Kemnay Youth Cafe

Summary of issues

• Location - youth wanted a location outside the school, but this has created some problems for staff and security
• Opening times are limited by budgets
• Youth involvement in planning, design and management
• Angry young men remain angry young men, so far the sense of ownership which was hoped for and expected has not stopped anti-social behaviour - this was unexpected and is challenging both to staff and to the youth
• Staff recruitment is difficult
• Positive benefits are however seen by local partners, youth and the community in general
• There are no relationships or exchanges with other youth projects in the North East

Funding and finance issues

162. Funding for capital and operating costs came from a wide variety of sources. The police made the old police house available at a peppercorn rent. Aberdeenshire Council made available funds for the fireproofing, toilet and kitchen facilities. Other funders includes the local churches, a local businessman, the Community Fund, and Communities Scotland through Langstane Housing. The latter seems a tortuous process - the Wider Access Fund run by Communities Scotland can only be accessed through an approved Sponsor organisation, in this case Langstane Housing. Indirect Scottish Executive Funding came through the Forum on Drugs (equipment and running costs). Half of staff funding comes from Aberdeenshire Council and half from Communities Scotland through Langstane Housing.

Location, design and layout

163. The young people were looking for a venue outside the school, and yet local. The police knew this, and offered the old police house:

"The young people were delighted, if a bit surprised! It was near a chip shop and car parking, and very central in the village…"

164. They were also closely involved in the project from the beginning:

"The young people were consulted on all plans and chose the colour schemes. They had a youth forum that was represented from the start on the project steering group. This steering group comprised the different agencies in the village - health, education, police, etc - local business, and three young people from the youth forum. These young people went back to the youth forum to check plans out."

165. However, the building is not ideal. It remains a house in structural terms, and is on two stories:

"Because it is still a house, the rooms are small. Being on two stories, there can be hi-jinks on the stairs, especially the boys, so safety is an issue…"

Everyday running and management

166. There is now a management committee made up of the young people. They decide on the rules for the building, although ultimate responsibility lies with the Community Worker.

167. Budget constraints limit the times of opening. Young people want it to be open every evening. Staff would like other opening times for one-to-one advice sessions on drugs etc., and for local expert workers on health, drugs, alcohol etc to come in a give group sessions.

Advantages/ disadvantages to users and providers

Factors hindering further development

168. Limited budgets remain a constraint, particularly in terms of the additional staff required to deal with disruptive users. These young people had problems before, and although it was hoped that involvement and sense of ownership would make them more responsible, this has not happened. The other young people find it impossible to police their own rules (that would in fact ban these young people from coming to the Café), while the staff feel threatened. More staff are therefore allocated to the project to help deal with this situation, and this is more expensive than predicted.

169. It is also difficult to recruit and retain good youth workers. Except what the community workers do themselves, there is no formal training for youth workers in the North East, and few young people apply for the jobs. Some have also threatened to leave because of disruptive behaviour by a minority.

170. Yet young people are coming up with their own ideas for new activities, such as First Aid training and a Media Course which will train them in film-making.

Sustainability

171. The project needs on-going funding, principally for staff and youth workers. Better training and more recruitment of youth workers is needed in the area. The project addresses core social issues, common in most rural areas, but which remain largely untackled elsewhere.

Overall assessment

172. The project tackles a common and urgent social problem, and yet remains fragile due to staff and budget shortages and building deficiencies. Although there are projects such as Foyer in the city of Aberdeen, which is highly regarded and well known by most of those working in this field, it is hard to provide similar facilities in rural areas. However, there are thought to be a few youth projects in Aberdeenshire - e.g. in Ballater and in Buchan - but there is no forum for these projects to meet and exchange experience.

Loganlea One Stop Shop

Summary of issues

• Poor location and design
• Limited objectives of the society
• Reliance on voluntary staff
• Dependence on grant funding
• Significant use of fitness facilities
• Importance of Centre Manager

Funding and finance issues

173. The Miners' Welfare have a mature and legally correct organisational structure which allows the 'club' to gift surplus to the 'charity'. The Club itself is specifically formed within its constitution to 'support the charitable activities of Loganlea Miners Welfare Charitable Society.

174. The Miners' Society has always been eligible for most grant funds available such as European, lottery and local authority. One concern raised, however, was the limited objectives of the Society. Nevertheless, it was recognised that the Miners Charitable Society has, and continues to offer the easiest route for new grant investment (other than local authority) into the village.

175. Prior to the idea of extending the miners social and welfare club into a one-stop shop, a substantial amount of investment was put into the building. Over a period of seven years it received just over a quarter of a million pounds. The 'licensed' areas were upgraded to first class condition as well as a fitness suite, showers and changing rooms which have been used for local football matches as well as for members:

"Health is a big problem in this area. It has one of the - if not the - poorest health records in Scotland. So it was felt important to promote healthy living in the community. Apart from the fitness centre we offer a lot of health awareness programmes, such as smoking cessation classes which are very popular."

176. Funding for the one-stop-shop activities and facilities was raised from Sport Scotland, Rechar (European funding for areas with declining coalfields, now ended), West Lothian Council , The Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Brighter Futures Fund.

177. Loganlea Miners' Welfare Charitable Society is well known as a proactive organisation with a great deal of experience in fundraising. The Club was recognised as having a track record of accessing and managing capital funds as well as an experienced management committee.

178. Although the Club already had a suitable source of commercial income in the form of bar income, the Trust could not afford the equipment for the new fitness suite, and so introduced fees for membership:

"The Charity had no choice but to take out a charity bank loan. To pay back this loan, we were going to be dependent on memberships from local folk. We needed thirty members to break even. Much to our surprise, forty-five people signed up before the facility was even open, and now we have over eighty even though we have only been open for weeks."

Location, design, and layout

179. The Miners' Welfare and Social Club is a stand-alone building located at the west end of Addiewell village. From the outset there were questions related to location.

180. The club was identified as having the potential to be upgraded to a 'one-stop shop' with a number of additional uses such as a local food co-op, the citizens advice bureau, credit union, a games room/ fitness suite and youth facilities.

181. The external appearance of the building was in complete contrast to the internal. The building was characterised by a flat roof construction with a grey render finish to the walls. There were no windows as such and it was suggested that it lacked any welcoming character which may attract new users. However, the building has been recently renovated, and £500,000 was raised for this purpose, mainly from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, National Lottery and Comic Relief. This has allowed a distinct community wing to be added on to the facility with an open area for exhibitions etc., and a further three large rooms, fitness suite, soft play area, multipurpose room with computers for community use and tables and chairs for community meetings.

Everyday running and management

182. Until very recently, the club has been run entirely on a voluntary basis by the Miners' Welfare. However, the recent renovation and expansion of facilities has led to the appointment of a full-time Centre Manager who has now been in place for three months.

183. Nevertheless, there is still a heavy reliance on volunteers. The Charitable Trust and the Social Club are both integrally involved in the project. The Trust has its own constitution and management body made up entirely of volunteers. This Trust not only owns the land and the buildings, but is responsible for recruiting staff, health & safety issues, etc. As such it is responsible for ensuring that there are enough volunteers to run the building - currently there are over twenty. Finding volunteers to run the facilities does not seem to have been a problem:

"This has not been a major problem. Loganlea is one of the most successful projects I have seen when it comes to volunteering. It could be said, however, that things are currently going so smoothly due to the enthusiasm of the current manager."

184. Moreover, the Club makes a surplus, which helps to sustain the Charity:

"The Club is a separate body with an occupational licence, and rents space from the Charity. They rent the bar, and they covenant any surplus to the Trust."

185. However, despite the support from volunteers, the facility now needs to be open seven days a week, and this has led to a need for more employees:

"We could be doing with more staff. The main priority is recruiting more staff, and there are bids currently in to enable us to do this."

Advantages/ disadvantages to users and providers

186. The advantages to the local community are considerable. These are listed in the table below. Given that this is an extremely deprived area of West Lothian, the services contained within the one stop shop have been very welcomed in a community with very few services.

Factors hindering further development

187. The design, location and appearance of the building appeared to be constraints on the future development of activities and services, but these have been largely overcome by the recent redevelopment. However, the food co-operative in the original plans has yet to be realised. It would seem that in this case, the volunteers ran out of energy:

"The food co-op is still on the cards. It was meant to be another organisation in charge of this. However, the committee - which was voluntary - lost its impetus as many of these voluntary organisations do. Nevertheless there is still an enormous demand. The current discussion is that the Miners' Welfare might take over the food co-op itself"

Sustainability

188. The focus of this one-stop shop is on health by way of leisure and recreation, and the mental well-being of the local community. On the one hand, the bar provides a main source of revenue for the Trust. On the other hand, the fitness centre, financed by the Trust, seems to be able to sustain itself from user fees.

" The facility is still very new. But there's been a good response from the community, and usage has been excellent. I hope this won't just be a honeymoon period. I don't think so, the facilities are excellent."

Overall assessment

189. Considering this facility is so reliant on the local community for support, its recent expansion and high community usage are very encouraging. The combination of bar and fitness centre revenues, while somewhat ironic, seems to assure sustainability in the long run. Perhaps one of the keys to its success is the fact that this is an area of very high levels of deprivation, unemployment, and poor health where facilities of this kind would not exist without community based action. However, it is heavily reliant on volunteers, with only one paid member of staff to run a facility, which is open seven days a week. The Trust is fully aware of this issue, but it does give it a level of independence.

Mearns Healthy Living Network

Summary of issues

• Although the project was funded by the New Opportunities Fund under a scheme for Healthy Living Centres, older people had already been identified as a key target group by the parent body, Mearns Area Project ( MAP).
• Five-year funding gave the project and staff more stability than with the more common three-year funding
• Local community representatives on the Mearns Area Project ( MAP) became key figures in Mearns Healthy Living Network
• Due to changes in local government between the establishment of MAP (under Grampian Regional Council) and Mearns Healthy Living Network (proposed under Grampian Regional Council but operated under Aberdeenshire Council) and structural changes within the Social Work department, the involvement of social work in Mearns Healthy Living Network became a problem
• Mearns Healthy Living Network had to deal with confidentiality issues, and the project officer had therefore to train as a 'disclosure officer'
• Location in the same building as other community workers, and with full time receptionist, is an advantage
• Sustainability is an issue, especially for cross-cutting activities

Funding and finance issues

190. Mearns Healthy Living Network ( MHLN) was funded by the New Opportunities Fund of the Lottery for five years under a programme for Healthy Living Centres. The bid emphasised the importance of a 'network' rather than a 'centre' in a rural context, and was strengthened by the track record and community representation of the parent body Mearns Area Project, itself a partnership. MAP had already received Rural Challenge and other funding ( e.g. for a community minibus, from the Rural Transport Fund). Probably for these reasons, MHLN was the only project of its kind funded in Aberdeenshire:

"The involvement of local people in MAP strengthened the bid. It was the only Healthy Living Network funded in Aberdeenshire."

191. In addition, Aberdeenshire Council has given in-kind support in the form of rent-free offices and no charges for phone or electricity.

Location, design and layout

192. The MHLN shares a building occupied by other Community Learning staff and Community Workers, and which has a full-time receptionist. This not only saves costs, but also provides a more full-time contact point than would otherwise be possible:

"We pushed the Council to provide space for MHLN alongside other Community staff and the Duke of Edinburgh award programme officer. The Council were persuaded by arguments concerning partnership working and serving communities better."

193. The location was also considered to be good for the elderly - in the main market town, Laurencekirk - on one floor with disabled access, close to a council estate and having a full-time receptionist on duty for the whole building. However, as the following quote indicates, the project recognised the need to serve the surrounding villages of the Mearns:

"We did not want MHLN to be associated with a building. We went to a lot of effort through contact with health workers, schools, village hall committees and communities' representatives on MAP/ MHLN to extend to the surrounding settlements. The 'gentle exercise programme' ('moovin aboot') was held in different communities, as was the IT learning programme for the most vulnerable elderly."

194. The community bus, funded under the Rural Transport Initiative, was also important in helping the rural elderly to access MHLN activities. However, there are some problems in getting a mini-bus that is suited to all groups that make use of it:

"The MAP community bus is shared with the school age users, and apart from the elderly it is used by school sports teams and other community groups. It is not therefore designed for the elderly, or disabled, and there are some challenging issues - the elderly and disabled need more space…"

Everyday running and management

195. The project has a part-time project worker and a quarter time clerical and administrative person, plus a bank of volunteers to assist with the various activities. They also have access to the other community workers and the adult education coordinator at the Centre. There is a shortage of space, but this is outweighed by the benefits of being together in one building. For example, the full time receptionist serves everyone in the building including MHLN staff, so there is full time telephone support for staff and for the elderly. Moreover, the project worker could not have progressed the project taking IT to the most vulnerable group of elderly people without the support of an IT Tutor accessed through Community Learning:

"There are issues of space in the office, but the benefits of locating there are greater than being in a separate site."

Advantages/ disadvantages to users and providers

Factors hindering further development

196. Regular consultation with users and organisations is important in order to identify gaps in provision. Under NOF funding rules, more funding for new activities can always be applied for. However, problems exist because central policies are not yet sufficiently 'joined up':

"There are fewer constraints on the funding side. If our regular consultation with users and partner organisations indicate needs that are not currently being met, then we can always apply for new project funding. The main problem is that central policies are not joined up!"

197. There are also pressures to extend the geographical boundaries of MHLN. These have been resisted so far because of a lack of human resources & current commitments on the staff. However, it does illustrate that the need is recognised.

Sustainability

198. Those concerned have obviously discussed this issue in detail. If funding were to cease after five years, then it is felt that some activities would be 'mainstreamed' by the various partners because they have proved their utility. In this respect it is helpful to have many partners. However, other activities - especially those that cut across agency remits - will probably not continue:

"We have discussed the issue of sustainability at some length. Although in principle successful activities could be mainstreamed by the existing agencies, many of our activities cross over the responsibilities of different agencies, and if MHLN were not sustained, then these might well fall by the wayside."

Overall assessment

199. As the table above shows, MHLN is clearly filling gaps and providing new needed services for older people, rather than necessarily saving costs for existing providers. In many cases the gaps would not be filled, and new needs of older people, would not be met without a partnership structure with separate funding that is not tied to single agency or department remits.

200. A strength is the involvement of local community representatives and the elderly themselves in the design and management of the project. So too is the social audit process, and the sharing of building space with other community workers serving the Mearns area, which allows for synergy - and cross-cutting activities - to develop.

201. The five-year funding allows more time to develop trust with the client group and communities involved as well as between partners. It is also helpful for staff recruitment, and means more effective use of staff time.

Pultneytown Peoples Project

Summary of issues

• Initiated by local community steering group after Citizens Advice Bureau meeting
• Funding was initially a problem - both in securing it and then receiving it
• Highland Council initially in denial of needs that the project intended to address, but later very supportive
• Some residents initially saw Pultneytown Peoples Project as a threat
• Positive association with North Highland College, linking action with training
• Facing space limitations - plan to move to new hall, but need to raise funds
• Key staff funded on short term basis, and may leave - makes projects vulnerable
• Lack of long term funding makes it impossible to plan ahead

Funding and finance issues

202. Funding has come from a wide range of sources including Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, Highland Council, The New Deal, New Opportunities Fund, Awards for All. However, it was not easy to secure the funding. It took quite a bit of negotiation to establish the funding for Homelink as it is unique in terms of the services that it offers. It is restricted in terms of the client group that can be supported. Initially there was also some reluctance from the Highland Council to acknowledge the scale of the problems encountered in Pultneytown and the level of support for doing something about it. After a new administrator was appointed by the Council, the Council became more extremely supportive.

203. Nevertheless, Pultneytown Peoples Project ( PPP) was fortunate in the awards and support it has received, and especially the support from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, North Highland College and Highland Council. Awards for All provided £5,000 towards start up costs (including equipment purchase) and the Highland Council also awarded the group £2,000 towards equipment and £9,560 towards running costs. Two part-time staff are funded through the New Deal, and the full-time Funding and Finance Manager is funded by Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise. The Highland Council also provided the community house rent and rates free.

204. However there were a number of initial start-up problems with the funding. It took three months for the first tranche of core funding to come through which caused problems with initial cash flow:

"It was the funding, that was the problem. So once that was solved everything after that just seemed to take off."

205. Even some of the staff were not paid for the first three months of the project:

"But when we first started, we went for three months before they paid us."

206. In many ways, the project has secured Council backing because PPP could be described as an organisation which provides services that are normally perceived to be a Council responsibility. The Council, however, believe that the PPP provide a lot more, and that the PPP probably do it better:

"So in some ways, all it's doing is it's an organisation that's helping that person to get the information to us, maybe in a better way than they would originally."

207. The group operate four accounts and has an average monthly income of around £16,000 for all its work.

208. The main account ( PPP) covers the core running costs of the groups and the salary for the Economic Regeneration Manager and the part-time Funding/Finance Manager, along with any general running costs. The salaries of the two posts are being met for the first 2 years by Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise/Community Economic Development [funding stream of Highland Council]..

209. Homelink has a separate account, which is funded on a monthly basis by 'Supporting People' through The Highland Council. These funds pay for staff costs, travel costs, day-to-day running costs and also pays a monthly fee to the PPP account for office rental and admin/management. This costs just under £40,000 for the year.

210. The MAASK (Morning and After School Club) project which operates the breakfast and after school clubs is funded through the New Opportunities Fund with some input from charges. The grants pay for staff costs, equipment and meals. The Highland Council provides the use of the school through its commitment to community schools.

211. There is also a general Fundraising account, which is used to handle all monies raised and spent on community events and activities.

212. The project does not directly incur or save funds for specific service providers. It does however help these service providers meet the needs of client groups that were previously under-served.

213. The work of the group also reduces pressure on a range of services, in particular housing, the police/criminal justice and social services. At present there is no way of measuring the impact and therefore the cost savings to these services. Housing have, however, reported anecdotally a reduction in problems of rent arrears and in damage to property.

Everyday running and management

214. The Pultneytown Community Association Steering Group was formed in April 2002 in response to a public meeting, which had been held by the Caithness Citizens Advice bureau to highlight the findings of a Social Policy study that highlighted the deprivation and social exclusion experienced in the area. The Steering Group formed a constitution and developed a detailed action plan to help them achieve their aims.

215. PPP has a management group comprising members of the community with input from various agency support staff. The management group members have now become directors of the newly formed companies that have been established. There is also a Residents Group that meets monthly in the South School. It is regularly attended by between 30-50 people and this is where any member of the local community can have an input into what the group is doing.

216. Initially the running of the project was hindered by the suspicions some residents held against PPP staff. Moving in to the area was quite challenging as initially some residents saw the presence of the PPP staff as a threat - they would be spying on behalf of the agencies. Some local residents did not like the PPP being based in their midst and this led to quite a lot of vandalism to the Murchison Street property in the initial months.

217. It is clear the PPP has a good working relationship with some of its funders and supporters, and in particular Highland Council, Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise and North Highland College:

"They're providing such a wide range of services, not just for housing - you know, with just the housing issues there's all sorts of things that they deal with. And I think we just have such a close working relationship with them, and we know what's going on. But I mean nobody's ever asked us to provide kind of written evidence of our contact with them, and I'm not really sure what purpose it would serve anyway even if we did."

Advantages/disadvantages to users and providers

218. As the following table summarising advantages and disadvantages to users and providers shows, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Generally advantages include the friendly, personal, local, and supportive services PPP can offer. The project has even managed to help individuals previously inaccessible.

219. Highland Council, one of the funders, regards the PPP as particularly advantageous. One reason suggested is the approachability and community nature of the PPP project, and the fact that it is not regarded as an authoritarian body by users:

"I think there are more advantages than disadvantages. Because they're local people, and it's a Pultneytown project…it does provide um - I suppose some people probably see the Council as this body, this authority, which they find difficult to approach. Whereas a locally placed community organisation, they probably feel that it's easier."

220. So, in other words, PPP help the Council in a number of different ways:

"And even for the community, I mean (rent payers), I mean some of them will come in with their forms, and if they're not sure about this form, they're helping them to do that. And I mean they're really helping the Council in one way as well, because our clients, they don't have their rent arrears and stuff like that, because they help them with filling in the form."

221. PPP also network with other agencies. As the clients know the staff at PPP, they have the trust and confidence to approach them. Due to the relationship PPP staff have with their clients, often staff are able to persuade them to come forward and encourage them, for instance, to attend a training course at the College who work in partnership with PPP. This can be quite a major achievement:

" For a lot of these individuals, just being prepared to actually go and put a foot over a threshold of an education institution - probably the first education institution that they've been in since they left school - is a big step."

222. In addition, PPP provide a variety of services that the Council simply would not provide:

" If PPP were for some reason not to exist any more, the services that they provide, particularly some of the Council type services, just wouldn't happen. There wouldn't be anybody - there's nobody else that provides the same kind of service."

223. Perhaps one telling example is a recovering local heroin addict who attributes his continued recovery from addiction to the project. It is doubtful whether or not he would have approached some other Council service in the way that he felt he could approach PPP. The personal service provided by PPP has provided high level of care and personal attention:

"If it wasn't for the Pultney People's Project like I - I would, long before now, have been - I would be back on the heroin, I would be back, the house would be a tip, and I wouldn't be caring about it, you know, I wouldn't be in - I probably - you know, my life wouldn't be as good as it is without the help of the Pultneytown Project."

224. This is obviously a view shared by many:

"Me, I'd be… I'd be under a stone…. I'd be lost. I'd just be back to where I was in the first place….., getting my bills over me, and trying to get them paid, and too much bills on my back. And now I've got my bills up to date, and it's been more for myself as well."

225. PPP give many in the community something to look forward to. Not only is it providing activities, but in doing so it is helping to reinstall a sense of community in certain areas of Pultneytown:

"Since the Pultney People's Project came in they're bringing things back into the community. You know, they're bringing a lot of stuff over, they're bringing a lot of activities into the community now, and days out, and you've got events, you know."

226. Naturally there are some disadvantages, however. Providing such a personal and caring service can mean certain users become dependent on this support.

" I don't know where a lot of us would be actually without this place… if there was any threat, you know, I don't know …but I mean if this place was to go anywhere, and they had to cut it and things like that, we'd just (go down again) basically. We actually need this place to keep us all on our feet."

227. For others, limited spaces means that they can not easily access the services and when they try to, some feel as though they are imposing upon something to which they are not welcome. Lack of childcare was also cited as a drawback to the service and so too was the timing of classes which could be improved on occasion to fit in with school/ childcare arrangements.

Factors hindering further development

228. As with many of the other case studies, PPP also suffers from the ongoing challenge in maintaining project funding for the different aspects of the initiative. The lack of availability of long term funding means that it is very difficult to have a long-term development plan or strategy. Of particular concern is the heavy reliance on one or two key individuals without whom the project may falter. The funding to pay for their posts is not secure and therefore this could potentially inhibit the development of the group and its activities. Lack of funding also hinders any forward planning:

"And nobody knows what to do next because you think, "Well should we plan for it, because will we be here in three years' time, will we have the money?" You know, that is always a worry, I think, with any of these organisations that are funded like this. And from our point of view, it would be a huge disappointment if that was - if the funding wasn't available for any reason."

229. At present it is not clear where the ongoing funding for the core staff who manage the work of the initiative will come from. While there are moves to make the initiative more self-sustaining this will take some time to achieve. Therefore, core-funding support would be desirable.

230. It has also been suggested by Highland Council that the PPP are restricted in expanding any further due to limitations in their premises:

"I think there is an awful lot that PPP themselves are wanting to do. I mean even in the short time that they've been going they're developing more and more services, and outgrowing the small premises that they have just now."

231. Indeed, a number of the PPP staff highlighted some of the difficulties they face in expanding any additional services. Extreme limitations of space mean that it is impossible to develop the full range of activities that both the community and the group would aspire to:

"We don't really have the space for anything to develop it more. You could offer more services, you could offer um hopefully (general) services, somewhere for the kids to come, and for the kids to hang out to meet teenagers, their own place. Because….so if we had a bigger premises we could have more in the hall, and using it more. We could perhaps do courses and classes in it."

232. Staff are also pressured for time:

"I haven't got time to do as much as I'd like to do. There's a lot more we could do, but it's the time and the space to do it."

233. In general even more support is required to meet the demands for PPP services. In particular this would include improved drop in facilities for residents as the area currently has a dearth of facilities and places to meet people with similar interests and problems.

234. Additional supported housing facilities are also required to provide a stepping-stone for young people about to take on tenancies. This would enable more direct support to be given to young people to prepare them for the responsibilities of taking on a tenancy of their own.

Sustainability

235. Nevertheless, despite the problems, there are plans afoot to improve PPP. The project obviously enjoys much support and encouragement from its users. It has been suggested that part of its success is the fact that once it helps one person, that person then wants to pass on the benefits to another person:

"So it's had a knock-on effect with the help that they've received. They've seen what help they've received and would now like to help others."

236. At present negotiations are underway to secure a site across from the Barrogill Hall, adjacent to the Old Pultney distillery. The new Centre would allow for a wide range of increased activities, including space for young people. The Barrogill Hall has been secured by North Highland College who hope to use it as a base for their performing arts degree. They have been in discussion with PPP about the potential of using the proposed Community Centre as a base for all non-academic aspects of their requirements e.g. toilets, changing, and cafeteria and possible additional teaching/workshop space. North Highland College are also interested in the possibility of running other courses for the community in the proposed Centre.

237. Recently the group have become more formally constituted as two separate Companies Limited by Guarantee. One to co-ordinate the Homelink Project and one to co-ordinate all other activities relating to PPP's work. The need for two separate companies was identified due to the nature of funding for Homelink, which is a Caithness-wide project, which was of a scale much greater than the other work of the group.

238. It is also clear that local residents have an aspiration for a much larger and more accessible community facility. At this time the group are exploring the opportunities for developing a Community Centre.

Overall assessment

239. Success can be measured by the level of uptake of the services that the group currently provides, backed by the continued interest of the local community. The high level of participation in the Residents Group provides a clear indication of support.

240. The growing level of support for the work of the group from the funding organisations and the increasing level of collaboration with the agencies and service providers is also an indication of success. Moreover, there is Highland Council recognition that the project has been a much greater success than originally anticipated:

"I do know that they need bigger premises, there's no doubt about that, because they've already outgrown that place, it's far too small. But then of course, it's grown out of - I don't think anybody expected it to take off the way it has done."

241. Moreover, the success of the project is greatly attributed to community involvement. Staff recognise that without the backing of the community then there would be no point in providing services in the first instance:

"The community use it. The main reason why I see it as a success is the community is behind. If the community wasn't behind you, the funding is one side of it, but if you didn't have the community backing it wouldn't be a success. Because there's (no point) getting funded if you haven't got community involvement."

242. There is also evidence from examining the outcomes of the different projects run by PPP that an impact is being made on improving people's lives particularly those on low incomes and with social problems.

243. A respondent from North Highland College assesses the effect of PPP very well:

"As someone who grew up in the area, in the Pultneytown area, I'd really like to say I have been impressed by the impact that they have made. And I think they are certainly deserving of that, and I've looked around other areas and haven't been able to identify an agency that's made such an impact over such a short period of time as they have - in a fairly difficult environment, it has to be said. And I've been impressed by the determination, the doggedness to succeed that they have."

244. Similarly, the Criminal Justice System has commented on the success of PPP:

"And we have feedback through Criminal Justice, we're invited to reviews, panel reviews and things like this, you know, to see how well the clients are doing. And we've actually had a few clients who, before they were involved with Homelink, didn't attend the community service, so it was getting quite scary for them, you know, the fact that if they don't keep their appointment they could end up in jail. But through Homelink they've actually attended their appointments, completed their community service, and never re-offended. And I mean that's in the space of a year we've seen a huge improvement in quite a few people. So it's worked."

245. This project is addressing some of the most challenging problems of deprivation and social exclusion faced anywhere in Scotland. These problems were evidently not being dealt with, and sometimes not even being recognised, by the official bodies and agencies prior to the establishment of PPP. Yet it functions in physically inadequate premises, and with mainly short-term funding.

Voluntary Action Lewis

Summary of issues

• The resource centre has different, but compatible, organisations under the single theme of voluntary work
• There is one key managing agency (Volunatary Action Lewis). Other organisations pay rent.
• There is a mix of voluntary and statutory bodies giving stability as well as core revenue support
• Some partners have long term funding, but most have a mix of short term funding with all of the problems associated with that.
• The Centre plugs into a whole range of networks within and beyond Lewis - Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations ( SCVO), Transport networks, etc, creating useful synergy
• The partners adopt a whole range of practical, tactical and strategic projects using short-term funding schemes
• There is synergy in the mix of partners - people are easily transferred between partners to meet their needs.

Funding and finance issues

246. At one time Voluntary Action Lewis ( VAL) was in the position of leasing their premises and paying rents in excess of - or beginning to build up in excess of £8,000-£10,000 a year. However, lack of space meant that new premises had to be acquired. The group were lucky that a site became available. Although the site is actually owned by Stornoway Trust, VAL only pay £1 a year, if asked. They also have a certain amount of security as they have a 50 year lease.

247. Despite the fact that VAL has now overcome the problem regarding premises, it cannot be ignored that finance was one of the key barriers to the group extending out of their existing premises. Finance was still highlighted by Respondents as a problem area. In particular it is felt that if opportunities arise then there is never enough time to acquire appropriate funding:

"The other difficulty that existed, and still exists by and large, is that if opportunities arose to develop or to buy sites, by and large they would come and go very quickly, and there wasn't necessarily the time to acquire funds - and given the lead-in time, which could take anything from a year or two years. So actually getting hold of somewhere that could be developed was one of the - I suppose one of the key barriers that existed, and was quite sort of critical."

Location, design and layout

248. VAL has existed for a number of years. However, as already stated, it was expanding to such an extent that it was growing out of its existing premises. The problem was that the cost of suitable premises was quite high. As early as 1993 a great deal of thought was put into what the group required and, following consultation with both the members and the wider community, plans were created:

"So we looked at all these issues, and developed our own plans here. It was about '93 when we kind of consulted widely with our membership, and indeed wider than our membership, to try and get some idea as to what kind of facilities were wanted, and which could meet not only our own immediate needs, but could meet a wider need over time. At that point we had identified the current site we're on as a potential development."

249. The new building was designed in such a way that it is easy to access by any member of the public. The fact that there are so many services under one roof means that people could be entering for a huge variety of purposes and hence confidentiality is retained. Over 7,000 people accessed the building in the last year. People could be coming off the street, they could be coming to access the Volunteer Bureau, which is housed within the building, they could be coming into the Careers Service, which occupies one of the wings of one of the upper floors, or coming to use the IT service, or see about getting help with the garden for an elderly relative. They could also be coming in to use the mini-bus, or to obtain information from the Library, or access the IT side. They could also be coming in to talk to our Choose Life Coordinator, who is dealing with issues of self harm and suicide, which is an inter-agency project funded through the Executive:

"So you could have people coming in for a variety of purposes, and nobody can actually finger them as to why they're coming in. And I think that in itself offers, in a community which has a relatively small population, and one where people tend to know each other, it gives that degree of confidentiality."

250. It was difficult, however, to plan facilities for the future, being uncertain what future demand may be. People within VAL were even being told by certain outsiders that the whole venture was a white elephant and would not last. Such attitudes did little to help in the complex planning process. Ironically, it was the very success of VAL that made it particularly hard to judge and determine future requirements:

"The more you do, sometimes the more you get asked to do. So there's a question of its success, in a way, brings success. But at the same time, I would recommend to anyone who is looking at development to both look at quality, but also try and maximise for future growth as much as possible - always very difficult to judge and determine."

Everyday running and management

251. Currently VAL employs 14 people. There is also additional staff if you take into account the Careers Service staff. If you include the other organisations that are sharing the building, then there is actually a sizeable workforce working out of the one building. It provides an element of sustainability and continuity about it.

252. VAL is an Investor in People accredited organisation as well as a Scottish Quality Management accredited organisation, both of which are externally validating organisations. By the nature of a lot of the work carried out by VAL, particularly the project activities, then it is essential client records are kept.

253. The success of VAL means that there now exists a lot of additional work in partnership with the statutory authorities. Strong and ongoing relationships with Enterprise Network have been created, in part due to VAL's involvement with the training side, but also due to its community development focus. VAL has also developed strong links with Housing and Social Work in the local authority, and indeed with the Sustainable Development Department:

"The juxtaposition of the voluntary and statutory agencies is a real strength…. The resource centre provides a sort of matrix effect, with organisations, people, and ideas criss-crssoing."

254. Whilst the work can be very broad, any staff with specialist skills find that these are often put to use. To a certain extent the smooth running of VAL is due in part to the wide range of staff resources and skills:

"And by both working in individual projects, but also being able to support each other on that side, develop our team that's working there, we've been able to find that one project has been able to help another."

255. Staff meetings are held regularly, which has helped to built the staff team. For the resources centre as a whole, the complex is really a series of separate units with separate management committees. There is little overall strategic discussion between organisations, though they all have opportunities to influence the agenda and each organisation expressed a desire to work more closely together with the others. The centre obviously provides a great opportunity to share ideas and pool knowledge, combining the enthusiasms, skills, and networks of neighbouring organisations:

"The resource centre is generally a good idea - the various organisations feed on each other, and on clients, and try to specialise on different purposes - but there is also an element of serendipity."

Advantages/ disadvantages to users and providers

256. As the table below highlights, VAL is advantageous for numerous reasons. Not only does it provide training and development to help people get into work, but it is there for other members of the community too. In the last year it had well over 70 people go through European Computer Driving License modules. A similar number were also able to do a learning programme aimed at simply teaching users how to use email and Internet:

"If I give one example, we had, in the last year, an 80 year old woman whose daughter is an Aid Worker in Afghanistan, who wanted to come in because she wanted to learn how to use email, so she could contact her daughter. And this lady is now making arrangements to go and actually visit Afghanistan, which I think is very, very brave. But, you know, it shows you the kind of steps that illustrates in one way the kind of help that can be given to communities - to individuals rather."

257. A great advantage of VAL for the volunteers is that VAL have been able to help develop, at least in some cases, skills for the volunteers. This has sometimes resulted in up to six months paid work either with VAL or another organisation:

"We have, for instance, in that regard, three staff who are currently going through counselling training, one of which, in a few weeks time should be in the position to be able to deliver, be qualified to deliver counselling training here in the Western Isles. And that's something which there has always been a difficulty with. And that's something that should enable us to be able to offer some accredited training to Health and Social Work professionals as well. Obviously it then saves people having to go to the mainland to that kind of training."

258. Simply by the nature of what VAL is, it has always been able to give some degree of continuity and after-care support. It is not only interested in ensuring somebody gains a qualification or a bit of work experience, but VAL has actually been involved in encouraging people to continue with voluntary work, or some other activity, even if they haven't got a job.

259. Staff claim that one of the great advantages of VAL is the broad role that its type of organisation plays, and the flexibility that is there to be able to respond to different agendas and different issues:

"And I think that flexibility, which means our having the capacity to engage in things ranging, as you know from the Crofter Union days, to developing other things"

Factors hindering further development

260. As with the majority of the case studies, funding is a major issue for future activities:

"I think the difficulties certainly go back to a lot of activity is still project based funding. So developing facilities and sustaining them obviously is always an issue. We've just put forward, for instance, a European Social Fund application in conjunction with SCVO and our other CVS's across the Highlands and Islands, that's looking at a package of activity that, for Lewis, would be worth £400,000 next year."

261. Despite moving to new premises seven years ago, VAL could already use larger premises. Its success is such that it seems to constantly expand and need room for expansion:

"The constraints that are here are probably to do with size. We built to the maximum, at the time that the resources and the site allowed. I could easily do with more space, and use more space if I had it. If I had additional space, we might be able to offer say something like some elements of childcare provision, which would be useful in some situations. There's limited parking, which is a problem anywhere."

Sustainability

262. VAL is obviously extremely successful in what it does:

"I mean last year our activities amounted to nearly half a million pounds worth of activity. Now that's a factor of ten times our Scottish Executive core grant. It wouldn't have been possible to do that without having the type of facilities here."

263. However, VAL is fortunate that it has the site it is currently for virtually zero per annum which provides a certain amount of security:

"That itself gives security, an element of security to be able to plan in the longer term, and because we can make assumptions about things. And I think that itself is a major factor, because we can look to the medium term, and to the longer term, not just to the short term."

Overall assessment

264. You only need to be in the resource centre a short while to feel the buzz of activity and observe the number of people passing in and out to recognise the centre fills a real need. The growth of the organisation over the last half-dozen years, both in size/variety and also in confidence/capacity to provide a variety of services locally indicates that they have hit upon a very successful formula:

"It's good for the voluntary bodies to work alongside the professionalism of the statutory agencies… The mix of bodies in the volunteer resource centre gels well together, there is a good vibrancy about the complex."

265. As the activities of the organisations (especially VAL) expands, there is a constant tension between the provision of a valuable service, and bringing in sufficient funds to ensure the viability of the contribution it makes to the whole complex, but VAL seem very adept at the balancing act. No doubt an increase in core funding would help to stabilise the uncertainty of projects funded for a short-term, and this should be considered:

" VAL has a very entrepreneurial approach, with a mix of old and new projects, the trick is to harness the synergy of different agencies."

266. The centre, though based in Stornoway, is a natural location for co-ordination throughout the island, and the staff demonstrated an awareness of including the more rural areas in their activities. The complex provides both a resource base and a shop-front for anything connected with voluntary organisations in Lewis, and could provide a very useful co-ordinating structure to support and stimulate a wide range of community activities and organisations throughout the region:

"The social 'glue' is not funded, and there is often a cost to organisations of collaboration, it is easier just to do their own thing, but not so beneficial in the long term."

267. There is little doubt that the success of the volunteer resource centre model has been considerable, and that with improved central support to help their co-ordination and facilitation role they would prove an invaluable networking mechanism for a much wider area.