A unique partnership with the Social Enterprise Academy has resulted in Dunoon Community Development Trust investing £300 into four new social enterprise ideas being developed by Dunoon Grammar School pupils.
You don’t need to look very far in Dunoon to find a social enterprise. Just take a wee walk along the high street and up to Hillfoot Street and you will go past charity shops which support a range of good causes, Cowal and Bute Play and Therapy CIC on Ferry Brae delivering essential mental health services to young people and families and POP shop enterprises CIC providing work space and heritage inspired solutions to climate change. These are just a small handful of the organisations across Dunoon tackling social and environmental challenges through trading.
Scotland leads the world in social enterprise development, and the Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) is a key learning partner operating globally to support this movement. The SEA provides inspirational development opportunities to people working in the sector. They also facilitate a national schools programme, Social Enterprise Schools, that has the goal of supporting every school in Scotland to have a social enterprise run by pupils.
Dunoon Community Development Trust teamed up with the SEA to provide S3 pupils in the Business and Computing Department at Dunoon Grammar School with seed investment for start ups.
“This initiative gives young people practical business skills that they can take into future work” Says Mr Spark, a Business Studies Teacher at Dunoon Grammar School.
“We have had great support from Hannah at Dunoon Community Trust and the Social Enterprise Academy to help the pupils to come up with their ideas and share them. Social Enterprise Schools The programme is great for getting pupils thinking about issues in their local community and how they can go about making positive change"
Pupils from Mr Spark and Ms Lister’s S3 year groups developed business plans and presentations that were then showcased at a small Dragons Den event at the school.
The four enterprise ideas that were awarded money were:
Candle Care – raising money and awareness about mental health issues through the decorating and sale of candles.
Joe’s Delivery – a pay for delivery service for young people living at Dunoon Grammar School hostel to raise funds for improvements to the recreational facilities in the hostel.
Roll on Friday – making and selling filled rolls for teaching staff to raise money and awareness of food poverty.
Clothing Clinic – Paid for clothing repair sessions to support young people to mend clothing and divert clothing waste from landfill.
Dunoon Community Development Trust is committed to working with young people and staff at Dunoon Grammar School to develop projects that bring local benefits to the community and provide learning opportunities for young people. We know from our own research linked to the develpoment of a Local Place Plan for Dunoon and Kirn, that young people living in the local area can feel underserved and under represented when decsions are made about the town.
Alongside this project with the SEA, we have also worked on a series of activities to explore new ways of engaging young people with sustainable regeneration through creative and environmental activities.
For example, pupils from Dunoon Grammar School developed their film making skills through a project at the Grow Food, Grow Dunoon site at Struan Lodge. These films will be screened as part of Dunoon Film Festival in April 2025.
Back in September 2024, 20+ young people were given £20 to spend in local charity shops, presenting their outfits at a community fashion show at the Queen's Hall as part of our Second Hand September season.
We think more that can be done to ensure that local young people are at the heart of regeneration efforts around the town, and we will continue to work with partners to develop activities that are creative, place-based and positive for the community and local environment.
Are you a young person passionate about your community?
Get involved with Dunoon Community Development Trust. You can become a member of the Trust from the age of 14 for free. Membership gives you access to a host of benefits, including opportunities to test out ideas and meet with our team to input into local regeneration efforts.