Showcases

Scotland's Climate Week - Stories for Change

Community Councils across the country share their Stories for Change as part of Scotland's Climate Week 2024.

Lights, Camera, Action – Merchant City & Trongate grants funded by Hollywood

Merchant City and Trongate Community Council in Glasgow are funding community grants thanks to films and TV productions in the city.

Carnwath Hub project: one in a million!

Carnwath Community Council has secured one million pounds of funding to support the development of the new Community and Business Enterprise Hub in the village.

Tackling the rural housing shortage in Carsphairn

One of the biggest problems facing rural communities in Scotland is a shortage of affordable housing. Carsphairn Community Council is taking action to address this issue in their own area of Dumfries and Galloway.

Public consultation essential for Pittenweem action plans

Pittenweem Community Council has employed different engagement strategies to help develop Community Action and Local Place Plans.

Challenging the cost of living crisis on Barra

Castlebay and Vatersay Community Council are taking action to ensure local organisations can get through the current cost of living crisis. Funding from the Rural and Island Communities Ideas into Action Fund is supporting a range of activities across the island to tackle social isolation.

Celebrating local history in Murrayfield

Local history projects are always very popular with community councils; they provide a way to celebrate the heritage of a community, while also making local improvements through plaques or street art commemorating particular events which happened in the area.

Ferintosh Community Bus tackling transport deprivation

Bus routes in rural areas of Scotland have faced consistent cuts in recent years, as operators focus on revenue-generating routes in towns and cities, leaving many people without access to a vehicle of their own stranded. Ferintosh Community Council finally seems to have found a solution in the shape of the Wee Ferintosh Community Bus.

Helensburgh Community Council embraces online opportunities

When the COVID-19 pandemic first started to affect Scotland in March 2020, organisations across the private and public sector had to find ways to adapt quickly to online working. This was a problem which also affected Scotland’s hundreds of Community Councils. Helensburgh Community Council embraced the new technology and launched a series of webinars for its community.

Cambuslang hits the jackpot with banking pilot

What happens when a town becomes unbanked? This was the challenge faced by Cambuslang in 2018 - the third largest town in South Lanarkshire, with a population of almost 29,000 - following the closures of all three bank branches in quick succession. Find out how Cambuslang Community Council took the lead in advocating the restoration of a banking service.

Community Council Conversations - Portmoak

We recently caught up with Gordon Vance who volunteers with Portmoak Community Council in Kinross-shire and asked him about the work he has carried out in order for his community council’s website to comply with accessibility legislation.

The Diversity of Community Councils' Work

This video showcases the work of five community councils and the diverse projects community councils undertake including planning matters, health and wellbeing partnerships, and setting up group purchase schemes for buying oil.

Scalloway Community Council

Scalloway is the second largest settlement in Shetland. It was a former fishing village and currently has about 1300 residents. There is a mixed aged demographic, a lot of young people live in the village. With support from the Scottish Government’s Making Places fund and Shetland Islands Council, the local community council took upon themselves to lead on a process where the community would be central in prioritising local priorities for a new local place plan.

Clovenfords Community Council

Clovenfords Community Council in Scottish Borders has great relationships with other groups in the village, such as the Clovenfords Magazine which they help distribute.

Community Council Data Mapping for Resilience and Emergencies

Over the course of the Covid crisis several community councils have shown how data and mapping capability can be used to great effect to help engage and support local citizens. Gavinton, Fogo and Polwarth Community Council (GFPCC) is one such council, developing an online Covid response map to help volunteers coordinate activities effectively.

Showcase: Money £or Moray

Money for Moray, formed of volunteers from the Joint Community Councils of Moray, area forums, and village halls and associations in Moray, invited community and voluntary groups to put forward projects that tackled social isolation. Watch the showcase to find out more about their participatory budgeting events and the importance of working with other local groups.

How we Celebrated Community Councils #CelebrateCCs

In April 2018, the Scottish Community Councils Website encouraged community councils, through an online campaign, to share their achievements and what makes them proud to be part of their community council.

Leith Links Community Council

In 2016, Leith Links Community Council was the only Edinburgh community council to have a contested election. Here they share how they designed a local engagement process to encourage people to join the community council.

Pollokshields Community Council

Learn how Pollokshields Community Council engaged local communities in planning and direction of their place and created Pollokshields Playhouse, a year-long experiment where the community built, curated, and ran an art and culture outdoor space in Pollokshields.