Community Shares Scotland is raising awareness of the forthcoming Community Share offer to bring Portpatrick harbour into community ownership. This community investment programme is aimed at everyone with a personal tie to and affiliation with Portpatrick through its iconic location, coastal culture and maritime heritage.
The Portpatrick Harbour Community Benefit Society committee will be reaching out to locals and interested parties during Lifeboat Week to get behind the offer, by registering their interest and pledging to become investors – ahead of the Community Share offer launch. The target for investment is £75,000 for monies needed to make the harbour project possible and with a full head of steam, the first Community Share offer is due to be launched later this summer.
Community Shares Scotland and the Portpatrick Harbour team have been in close collaboration in recent months to develop a Community Share offer to secure the regeneration of the harbour whilst keeping it at the heart of the community. And as can be witnessed during Lifeboat Week – the harbour and pier are core to the community with the project forecast to make a considerable impact on the village of Portpatrick and the surrounding area from a commercial, sailing, tourism, heritage and employment perspectives in the future.
Calum Currie, Chair of the new Community Benefit Society said: “We are reaching a real landmark stage and the excitement is really building locally. We have worked hard to explore different ways of approaching the community harbour project and it will mean a lot to gain recognition as the first Scottish Community Benefit Society with charitable status seeking to raise a Community Share offer. In the meantime we are working in close collaboration with Community Shares Scotland in developing our Community Share offer.”
Mr Currie added: “The main aim of the project is to secure the integrity and appearance of the historic harbour of Portpatrick for the benefit of the community and all who love and visit it. The harbour lies at the heart of the village and is as important to Portpatrick as the village green is, to many other communities throughout Britain. It is a very exciting time for the village and will really put Portpatrick on the tourism map, especially with keen sailors and yachting enthusiasts from around the west of Scotland and close Irish coastlines.”
Commenting on the new Community Shares project, CSS Programme Manager, Kelly McIntyre said: “The Portpatrick Harbour team has worked tirelessly to get the project under way and we are now on the brink of launching the Community Benefit Society in collaboration with Community Shares Scotland. This will be a real first for Scotland for this type of project. We are also in the process of creating a Community Share offer which will provide all who love the village of Portpatrick with the opportunity to purchase Community Shares in the harbour thus supporting and securing the future of this unspoiled idyllic asset for many years to come.”
