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Ford Community Project have had further reason to celebrate, following their recent purchase of land for a community centre, after receiving a £1000 prize from the ‘Dragon’s Den’.
The competition was held in Dunoon by the Argyll and Bute Social Enterprise Network (ABSEN) alongside a trade fair to promote new businesses with social or environmental objectives as well as commercial ones. The profits from a social enterprise are reinvested in the business or community rather than being distributed to shareholders or owners.
Ford Community Project grabbed second place in the category ‘Review Time’. This is for projects which have taken a step back and re-appraised their options before moving forward again. The funds have to be used by March 15 and can only be used for business advice.
Peter Creech, Chairman of Ford Community Project Ltd, said: ‘We were about two-thirds of the way down the list so there was a bit of creeping death syndrome as we waited our turn. We had time to sweat it out.
‘The event was organised very well and the biggest value was getting to meet with like-minded folk who have been running established projects like Atlantis in Oban with large budgets.
‘We still have to decide what to do with the money but we’d like to look at issues of recycling around Ford, Kilmartin, etc, and possibly set up a community recycling project so we may get advice from groups in other parts of Argyll which have similar schemes.’
Enterprise Minister and local MSP Jim Mather, a keynote speaker at the event, paid tribute to the work being undertaken by these projects: ‘Social enterprises have a long rich history in Argyll and Bute and this idea of self-help and entrepreneurial character fits well with the strong sense of community in the constituency. I congratulate the Argyll and Bute Social Enterprise Network for organising this event and I want to underline the Scottish Government commitment to supporting this sector.
Overall, funding for the Third Sector, which includes social enterprise, will increase by just over 37% and that will be worth some £93 million over the next three years. Social enterprises have the capacity to provide local solutions to local problems and to bring dynamism to the way services are delivered locally.’
