Nominee Summary
Coigach Community Development Company is the development company and charity for the people of Coigach. Its boundary matches the Coigach Community Council, and it exists to support the community to thrive through delivering projects, giving grants, and owning land on behalf of the people. The community set up CCDC in 2010 in response to the housing crisis and fundraised for a wind turbine, which now contributes a stable source of income to allow the organisation to function and support project delivery and grants.
Overcoming Challenges
Initially it was having an income source to enact change. This was over come with the installation of a community owned wind turbine in 2017. Then, it was access to land, the development company fundraised, sought, and negotiated the purchase of a 3-acre site for housing between 2010 and 2023. This was very hard work and largely carried out by volunteers. Now we are facing the challenges of the economic climate and its effect on housing development, costs have soared in recent years but we are almost there with planning permission for ten affordable housing units.
Supporting the community
CCDC purchased the schoolhouse in 2015 and converted this into two flats. This was the first new affordable housing available to the community since Island View was built by the council in 1974. Since the first giftaid payment from the wind turbine CIC, CCDC has been offering grants to the community for education and training, children and young people's development, and since COVID-19, for wellbeing and help with fuel bills. Community groups can also apply for funding and have delivered a range of community projects helping the rowing club, heritage group, gaelic group etc. Currently, CCDC is scoping out the community's priorities which are to create a community run gym, a community garden, play parks, biking and walking trails, a community skip and workshop units. In 2024, CCDC was gifted the Badentarbat Estate, a 3000 hectare crofting estate which it is now learning how to manage with the community on behalf of the whole community. This is the community's first ever chance to have a say in it's own destiny and CCDC is working really hard to be a collaborative, caring land owner delivering on the priorities of the people who live and work the land.
Ethical/environmental standards
CCDC has strong ethics, demonstrated by its total commitment to enhancing the area for current and future generations. This has included employing local people with good quality jobs, utilising local contractors for building, fencing, gardening and many other services. Whenever we tender work, knowledge of the community is a key indicator that we use to make decisions. We participate in Fair Work First and we are Living Wage employers. We are members of the Highland Climate Hub, subscribe to the Volunteer Charter and participate in NorthWest2045, a collective of local and regional organisations working together to reverse the depopulation crisis in the region.
