Online members' meeting to look at community benefit society for Thurso
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A proposal to form a community benefit society for Thurso is to be explored at an online meeting this week.
The move comes from Thurso Community Development Trust (TCDT), which has been making steady progress through a five-year strategic plan that was created after community consultation in 2018.
For the past year, the focus has been on delivering community support as part of the Covid-19 response, but members of the team have also been progressing plans that were put in place pre-pandemic.
TCDT is now inviting members to have their say at an online event on Thursday, February 18, from 7pm.
Plans will be put forward for the direction of the trust and how it and the wider community will recover from Covid.
TCDT says it has found that "sometimes the needs of the community don’t quite match up with the needs of funding bodies available" and that greater flexibility would be beneficial.
For this reason, it says, and the need to generate an income, it is proposed that the trust set up a community benefit society.
Board members say they are confident that a community benefit society "offers the flexibility required to pursue the projects requested by the community while creating employment and channelling any profits back into the community".
Members are invited to attend the online meeting to hear more about the proposal, ask questions and vote on its progression.
To sign up, there is a link on the homepage of the TCDT website.
The event is open to all but only full members are eligible to vote. There is an opportunity to become a member free of charge on the website.
Trust chairperson Helen Allan said: “The trust has progressed more quickly than we ever thought possible and I’m excited about the next steps.
"We’re committed to honesty and transparency and so this meeting is to provide our members with all the information on what we suggest we do next and why.”
TCDT development manager, Joan Lawrie said: “In a few short years, the trust has been really successful in securing funding and grants to progress the goals set out by our community.
"We’ve discussed at length our future plans and, with the support of Development Trusts Association Scotland, we believe creating a community benefit society is the next step in our journey. It’s an exciting prospect and we’re excited to continue working for our community.”
