How The
Project Started
In 2004 The Mull & Iona
Community Trust purchased the former Royal Mail workshop and adjacent,
vacant plot next to the ferry terminal at Craignure. Since then
the sites have been used by the MESS project to store materials for
recycling and/or selling in the 'Island Castaways' charity shop and as
retail space for 'Island Castaways'.
Our Plan-
‘One-Stop Shop’ for our 80+ Local Community Groups & Businesses Alike!
The Community Trust plans to develop a
multi-functional, community-owned resource centre providing sustainable,
good quality, community-based services and facilities and by doing so,
create a vibrant hub for all users at the geographical centre of the
islands.
The centre will provide
more and better quality accommodation and services. This will include a
dedicated training and conference facility - currently no such resource
exists - plus serviced workspaces and a community resource library for
existing and new businesses and community groups. Bringing together
these resources and information will help to reduce overhead costs and
provide greater benefit to the community. Although community focused,
the centre will include a commercial lettings element to establish
long-term sustainability, independent of grant funding.
What Will the Centre
Provide?
- For flexible hire by businesses,
Social
Enterprises,
charities, community groups and individuals based
on and off the islands:
- Offices
- The island's
only
dedicated treatment/counselling room
- The
island's only public access training/seminar room & training
resources
- An
Interview / ‘break out’ room
·
A new,
larger retail area for the 'Island Castaways' charity shop, selling
refreshments 'to go'
·
A
community resource library
·
An office
for The Community Trust
·
Reception
services, fax, photocopying, printing facilities, internet and PC access
Most importantly ALL
facilities will be available for hire on a long or short term with a
range of flexible options for all clients- everything from hourly
hires on a ‘one off’ basis to monthly hires on yearly contracts!
Resources and rental agreements will be tailored to meet client’s needs.
The Problems
The Centre Will Help to Address
‘The Mull Ward has the
third highest level of access deprivation in the whole of Argyll & Bute
and therefore one of the highest in Scotland’
(Scottish Centre for
Research on Social Justice – Argyll & Bute Deprivation Study 2004)
A number of community-wide
consultations have provided details of the wide-ranging problems
associated with the remote rural communities of Mull and Iona. These
highlighted several significant economic and social restrictions which
include:
-
Low wage and seasonal
employment and a high dependency on tourism-based activities,
compounded by the reduction in employment opportunities in the
‘traditional’ primary industries such as fishing and farming.
-
Lack of quality
services and facilities to help local people to develop their skills
base and reach their potential.
-
Few quality services
and facilities to support local voluntary groups.
-
Lack of accessible
social, health and information services and facilities located
within the local community.
-
Lack of access to
professional services such as banks, solicitors, accountants etc.
These issues have resulted
in significant levels of deprivation on the islands and ultimately the
outward migration of the islands’ young people.
The Benefits
The Centre Will Provide
The ways in which the
various groups will benefit from the centre include:
-
The provision of increased employment opportunities
(paid and voluntary) for adults and young people with special needs
and disabilities and other local people via the charities recycling
project.
-
Improved access to the Community Trust (which
provides a Council for Voluntary Services role for Mull and Iona)
and The Argyll and Bute Volunteer Centre: the current listed
accommodation used by these groups in the far north of the island is
inadequate, overcrowded and not easily accessible to people living
in other areas of the islands and is not compliant with the
Disability Discrimination Act
-
Local community members and businesses through the
provision of a counselling and complimentary therapies room at the
centre.
-
By hosting meetings and encouraging businesses from
the mainland and residents from other parts of the island to utilise
the centre there will be secondary spend in the local stores,
restaurants and for accommodation providers therefore the centre
will increase the diversity of the economic activity in the area.
-
Longer term, the centre will support Argyll and Bute
Council, Argyll College and Argyll and the Islands Enterprise
strategies for training and employment by increasing on-island
training opportunities and enhancing the local skills-base.
-
Voluntary and other community groups and individuals
will have better access to services through the provision of an
efficient and accessible resource library.
-
Small, locally based businesses will have access to
high quality accommodation for rent with up-to-date communications
technology and training room facilities.
-
All community members will benefit by having greater
access to professional advice and services from the public and
private sectors. Less time and money will be spent travelling to
the mainland enabling professionals to spend a day on Mull in a
meeting room, hosting client surgeries rather than having to travel
all over the island
-
A proportion of the increased income generated from
rentals and surpluses from our on-site charity shop “Island
Castaways” will be distributed to other voluntary organisations and
will help establish new social enterprise activities on the islands.
Work Completed To Date
-
Phase 1 Site Works-
Completion of ground-works for the construction of a non-permanent
recycling/storage shed and the provision of portacabin accommodation for staff
currently working on the MESS initiative. Ground-works, shed and
utility connections are now
complete and portacabin on site.
-
A comprehensive and far-reaching
market research/community engagement and feasibility study now
completed which included an Mull & Iona wide postal and telephone
survey asking businesses, community groups and individuals about the
types of facilities needed on the islands; a survey of businesses
and charities based on the mainland, who regularly visit Mull and
Iona to meet with clients; an investigation of the development
options for the sites (a technical options appraisal) and study
visits to other organisations who have developed similar projects.
To view the final feasibility
study report (including details of the market research results)
click
here
-
Following the completion of market
research study the final plans for the building have now been
published and the detailed Planning Application submitted.
Click
here to view the
plans.
For the latest updates on the
development click on Latest News
If you would also like to
help support the project please contact the Project Officer,
Siân Scott on Tel:
01688 302851 Phone/Fax : 01688 302990 Email :
sscott@mict.co.uk
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