About The Trust

Employment – Since inauguration in 2008, 15 people have been employed by CGDT in various ways; part-time; freelance; full-time; and contracted.

Income – CGDT has attracted £3.5M+ of funding into the area; in addition, local contrac- tors have been employed to carry out specific tasks, and local facilities and businesses have benefitted from the extra business brought by CGDT’s activities.

The Loch Lomond & Cowal Way – With the attainment of Great Trail status in October 2018, capped a successful multi-year, Coastal Communities funded project which employed two, and upgraded all 57 miles of Cowal’s long distance trail. Over the 5 years of the project an extra £2M of visitor revenue was generated along the length of the Way, with accommoda- tion providers through ColGlen reporting significant uptick in accommodation for walkers. The benefits of this work are ongoing. Coronavirus Response – Working closely with the Community Council’s Resilience Group, CGDT has raised funding for the response to the epidemic. In the first lockdown, CGDT was granted nearly £28K of funding to purchase and distribute the food boxes, goodie bags, newsletters, PPE and other items which the community needed. Over 400 food boxes and 600 goodie bags were delivered to the community, along with five editions of the newsletter. As the time of writing CGDT has several live applications for the community’s ongoing response to Coronavirus – news of which will emerge before Christmas.

Warmer & Greener ColGlen – CGDT developed two carbon-saving projects taking advantage of the Climate Challenge Fund, and these insulated the village halls, built our poly tunnels, set-up composting locally and created carbon savings in the community. Once built, the trust handed over the ownership and manage- ment of the tunnels to the ColGlen Growers Assoc. Stronafian Community Forest – The purchase in 2013 of the Community Forest was intended as the first step to providing a longterm income for the community through renewables. With the rejection of CGDT’s application for turbines in 2016, the trust has been concentrating on amenity and forestry uses as it reconfigures its approach to the land.

People and Communities Fund – A major success for the Stronafian Forest Project has been increasing skills and employability locally for those seeking jobs. Over three years the trust provided courses in the woodlands for over 30 young people, many of whom went on to find work in the forestry and horticulture sector.

Kyles Community Broadband (KCB) – For three years to mid-2019, CGDT supported KCB’s quest to provide Broadband to our region. After two phases of procurement, KCB was unsuccess- ful. However because of these efforts South-west Cowal now has a much higher weighting than all but 10 high profile areas in the Highlands and Islands in the Scottish Government’s ongoing procurement for R100. The trust continues to monitor this situation and will ensure that weighting is applied when R100 is implemented.

Development & Consultation – A significant proportion of the trust’s time is spent developing potential projects to the point that the community can feedback on their viability and/or desirability. Examples of this include technical surveys on the potential for microhydro in ColGlen, consulta- tions on the creation of a community hub in the Clachan of Glendaruel (ongoing), and feasibility studies on the potential for a pontoon in Colin- traive. CGDT also interacts with the wider context of regional and national developments, including feedback on Community Right to Buy Legislation and Community Benefits on Renewables.