The Editor’s Post: Can social enterprise revive a small Scottish island’s fortunes?

The loss of an employer which provides jobs for over 15% of any community would be extremely hard to recover from. 

But when the community in question is a tiny, remote Scottish island, with a population of roughly 200 people and little prospect of a similarly sized organisation replacing the one that is leaving, the impact is catastrophic.  

That is exactly what has happened to the Isle of Coll, an island in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. At the start of this year, international volunteering charity Project Trust, which has been based on the island since it was founded in 1967, announced it was leaving Coll and selling the property it owned there – including its former headquarters Ballyhaugh farmhouse, which features offices, meeting rooms, space for social events and accommodation.

At its peak, Project Trust employed about 30 full time staff – there’s no other employer on the island which comes close to that number, or a building set up like Ballyhaugh, which could be a suitable base for that many jobs.

The danger for the community is Ballyhaugh could be bought and converted into a private residence, removing from the island a key driver of its prosperity. 

But, the people of Coll have taken action into their own hands and formed a steering group to attempt to buy the farmhouse for the community. In October the group secured £29,875 funding from the Scottish Land Fund to support community engagement and conduct feasibility studies on a social enterprise business model, which could include business units, hosting groups for retreats/events, accommodation for communal living, and more. 

I was lucky to live on Coll while working for Project Trust from 2013 to 2016. I’m desperate for what is a very sad turn of events to be transformed into a positive outcome for the community. When I lived on Coll, Project Trust was not just a source of economic prosperity, but also brought new people, ideas and energy to the island. Most of the Project Trust staff had moved to the island specifically to take on their roles, some have stayed and brought up families there. 

In addition, each year hundreds of Project Trust volunteers came to Coll for selection, training and debriefing courses, developing deep bonds with the island and its community. Many regularly return, and the charity’s network of former staff and volunteers creates a sort of ‘Coll diaspora’ far larger than is typical for an island of its size and population.

I’ve been using the knowledge, experience and networks from my time reporting for Pioneers Post to support the steering group as best I can, including working on a press release which secured coverage in BBC News, the Scotsman and the Herald last week. 

We included in the release a quote from Neil McInroy, global lead for community wealth building at the Democracy Collaborative think tank and former community wealth building advisor to the Scottish government. 

He said: “This sort of community-owned enterprise is community wealth building in action, and is key to addressing depopulation, the lack of economic opportunity and wealth extraction. Issues which have plagued Scotland for too long. 

“This sort of grassroots action and projects need to be more and more supported, as they are key to a Scottish economy that genuinely serves our people, our places and our environment.”

Now we have to hope a robust social enterprise business model on Coll can be developed, and financing secured to deliver it, before this truly unique opportunity for a community-owned venture becomes just another rich person’s island getaway. Keep your eyes on Pioneers Post for updates. 

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The Impact World this Week: 12 December 2025

Image: Ballyhaugh farmhouse on the Isle of Coll (credit: Bidwells).