Certainly having ideas and support to see them through to fruition helps, as does being able to learn from others doing similar things.
In this guest blog, Ian Cooke, Director of Development Trust Association Scotland, shares some of the benefits of being part of an organisation supporting communities to do just this.
Picture of Easdale Community Hall,, developed by the local development trust.
The John Muir Trust blog features a number of organisations such as the Knoydart Foundation and Assynt Foundation who are members of the Development Trust Association Scotland, but what is a development trust and what does DTA Scotland do?
Essentially, development trusts are independent, community led organisations that use a combination of enterprise, creativity and voluntary effort to address local issues and improve the quality of life in their respective communities. The use of enterprise often includes the acquisition and development of physical assets such as buildings, land or woodland - to generate income, house activities and services and provide jobs - and this is the characteristic for which development trusts are perhaps best known.
Picture of Westray Development Trust celebrating the opening of a care centre.
DTA Scotland is the networking and representative organisation for development trusts, with over 145 members located throughout Scotland. About two thirds of our member development trusts operate in rural and island communities, and many have made a significant contribution towards improving the fortunes of their respective communities.
DTA Scotland is an independent, member-led organisation which has three main areas of activity:
Meeting with interested community groups and helping them set up a development trust.
Supporting and strengthening established development trusts, through networking, training, resources, information and arrange of other exciting opportunities.
Providing a national voice for development trusts and communities, and promoting and representing their interests.
“There’s so much to be gained from development trusts coming together, sharing our knowledge and experience, and working together for the benefit of the movement. Individually we can be isolated community organisations; working together we have collective strength and can punch above our weight.”
Henry Mains, Sleat Community Trust
To find out more about development trusts, or what DTA Scotland has to offer, or to subscribe to our free quarterly e-bulletin, visit our website, phone 0131 220 2456, or e-mail info@dtascot.org.uk
What are your experiences of making your community more sustainable? Would establishing a development trust make a difference? Or if you are a development trust - has it made a difference?
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