Dear friends and supporters,

Since the public meeting on 16 April, we have made significant progress towards taking Portobello Parish Church and Halls into community ownership. Some of you will be more aware of what’s been happening than others, but hopefully this Update provides a useful summary of what we have been doing, and how you can help going forward. If you would like to help the project, there is a list of volunteer opportunities at the bottom of this page.

Cabaret Night

A wonderful and packed fundraising cabaret night was held in Bellfield Hall on 26 June. The cabaret featured drama, dance, comedy and music and showcased Portobello talent, as well as Bellfield as a great community venue. The event raised awareness about the campaign and recruited volunteers for petitioning. Thanks to everyone who attended. A short film of the Cabaret night is available on our Facebook page.

Community Backs Community Ownership!

During the month of July, a team of volunteers has been knocking on doors throughout Portobello to gather signatures for the ‘Save Bellfield’ petition. The response has been hugely encouraging, with over 1,500 people signing in the space of just a few weeks. This figure represents 25% of the target population (our Community Right to Buy bid requires 10% support!). Thanks to all those who helped!

Community Right to Buy

Despite our offer to pay full market value, the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland decided to go ahead and put the church on the market – and this is likely to happen in a couple of months time. To prepare for this we have been working on a Community Right to Buy registration. The Scottish Government have confirmed that our new Articles are fully compliant with the legislation, and have also been advising us on completing the registration application form which is almost ready to go. 

Action Porty

In order to be able to take the church and halls into ownership, the Friends of Bellfield group have set up a company called Action Porty which is now registered with Companies House. Over the coming weeks we will be inviting local people to join Action Porty as members. A large membership will reinforce community support for the project, and ensure that Action Porty works in the interests of, and is accountable to, the people of Portobello. A public meeting will be held in a couple of months at which a board of directors will be elected.

What Happens Now?

Our development grant from the Scottish land Fund has enabled us to engage a team of consultants led by Urban Animation. They are looking at the ways in which the space could be used for community, cultural and arts events, as well as other purposes, and making sure we can find the best way to keep the space in use by the community. As part of this process a couple of stakeholders meetings will be held with local community organisations in late August, and a public Open Day will be held on the 24th of September. 

Assessing Demand!

We are currently trying to contact as many of the previous users of Bellfield as possible and we will shortly be writing to all Portobello community organisations to ascertain any potential demand for future space or accommodation within Bellfield. Part of this information gathering process will involve a couple of stakeholders meetings to ensure that whatever is developed is complementary to and not in competition with existing community facilities within Portobello. If you know of any potentially interested groups or organisations please put them in touch with us!

Funding Acquisition and Development

All the above work will contribute to the community being able to submit a stage 2 application to the Scottish Land Fund in early December, and we are hoping that this will secure a significant amount of the purchase cost. We are also exploring other potential grant funding sources and alternative ways to raise income locally so that we can fully meet the costs of acquisition and development. Depending on what we are able to raise, development work may have to be carried out in 2 or 3 phases. 

Communications

A key challenge for the campaign is to raise awareness throughout the community about our plans and to keep people fully informed of progress and developments. In addition to events and door knocking we have established a Facebook page and set up a web-site. We are currently in the process of developing a more systematic communications strategy.

Key Next Steps and Opportunities to Help

Portobello Big Busk on the Beach – Saturday 27th of August from 12 noon onwards. 

Volunteers needed to staff a Save Bellfield Table 

Porty Decides – Community Drop In Event – Saturday 24th of September from 10am till 4pm

Volunteers to help publicise this event by delivering leaflets. 

Volunteers needed on day to hand out information and record feedback.

Ideas and suggestions

We are always keen to hear from anyone who has ideas about the campaign or the Bellfield project.

To help with any of the above contact – FriendsofBellfield@gmail.com 

Recruiting Action Porty company members

Volunteers needed to speak to friends and neighbours and ‘sign up’ members. 

Contact: mary_the_marshwiggle@hotmail.com

Facebook –  SAVE Bellfield        Email – FriendsofBellfield@gmail.com     Website – bellfield.scot