Fauldhouse Community Development Trust

BUSINESS PLAN (2013 - 2018)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Fauldhouse Community Development Trusts (FCDT) mission is to catalyse and work with local organisations and build resources and assets for the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of Fauldhouse to benefit its entire people. FCDT would also like to extend its remit to cover the Breich Valley Villages.

The FCDT is run by an elected board of 12 Directors who all live in Fauldhouse and are involved in activities within the village. The FCDT are keen to take forward their plans for the community. These plans have come directly from FCDT’s consultations with the community of Fauldhouse. FCDT’s proposed activities span a range of social, economic and environmental projects within Fauldhouse: with the aim of extending FCDT’s remit into the Breich Valley Villages. A community Consultation will take place in these communities to determine their needs and aspirations.

FCDT are taking big steps forward in their development, having celebrated (in May 2012) a year since the HUB opened to use as a Community Asset, a Permanent Office and a Community Resource / Space.

This Business Plan sets out FCDT’s projects, programs and development strategies for the next 3years.

Registered Company Number: 313776

Registered Charity Number: SCO38616

Registered Office: 10 Main Street.Fauldhouse. EH47 9HX

Accountant: Carrie Campbell FCCA. Bill Hay &co. Chartered Certified Accountants and Registered Auditors. 24a Melville Street. Edinburgh. EH3 7NS

CONTENTS

Executive Summary / 2
History and Background / 4-6
About Fauldhouse: Information and Statistics / 7-14
Strategic Position / 15-16
Organisational Outcomes / 17-20
Business Plan: Fauldhouse Community Development Trust Objectives 1- 6 / 21-33
Appendices / 34

History and Background of FCDT

Fauldhouse is a warm and welcoming community where people want to stay or return to. Although it has a population of just 4,625 thousand people, Fauldhouse feels like a village. The village grew around its rich mining resources and has its own distinctive micro climate. The industrial history of Fauldhouse has left many environmental challenges. Its location and poor transport links mean that villagers who do not have their own transport have limited employment opportunities and are isolated from resources and facilities that most residents of West Lothian benefit from. But its location and history have also fostered a strong identity and an attitude of self-help and local action so the village boasts a healthy network of voluntary groups. Open spaces, sports organisations and range of local facilities offer residents many opportunities to be active and enjoy the outdoors.

In 2005 and 2006, Voluntary Action West Lothian ran a project to raise awareness about a new form of community organisation called Community Development Trusts. Fauldhouse people were inspired and impressed by what they heard, and by what they saw happening in other towns and villages. Representatives from local organisations came together to form the Fauldhouse Community Development Trust in 2006 and the organisation was formally constituted as a company limited by guarantee in December 2006 and has obtained charitable status in Scotland.

Community Development Trusts are enterprises created by communities to enable long term sustainable development in their area.

Fauldhouse Community Development Trust:

  • wants to contribute to the sustainable development of our community
  • is concerned with economic, social, environmental and cultural needs of Fauldhouse
  • is independent but seeks to work in partnership with other private, public and voluntary sector organisations (Local, Regional and National)
  • is owned and managed by people who live and work in Fauldhouse
  • aims to generate income through trading activity that will enable us to move away from dependency on grant support
  • will reinvest income generated in the organisation or the community
  • aims to extend its remit to the Breich Valley Villages

Our vision

Our vision for Fauldhouse is for a clean, attractive and healthy village with excellent transport links that is a model for thriving locally led sustainable development; a place where people of all ages, abilities and circumstances are happy and informed, with their own part to play in the economic, environmental and social life of the village and the surrounding countryside.

Our values and beliefs

Fauldhouse CDT will:

  • Work collaboratively with other organisations
  • Promote the positive
  • Encourage self-help
  • Involve the community
  • Be accessible to all the community
  • Keep the community informed
  • Win trust and respect
  • Be active in the community
  • Be proactive to bring new developments
  • Be transparent in what it does

Key Objectives of the Trust (Taken from our Memorandum and Articles of Association)

  • To relieve poverty, in particular fuel poverty, among the community of Fauldhouse and its environs
  • To advance education and in particular to promote opportunities for learning for the benefit of the general public
  • To promote training particularly among the community of Fauldhouse and its environs and with particular reference to skills which will assist the participants in obtaining paid employment
  • To promote and protect the well-being, recreation and physical health of the community of Fauldhouse and its environs and to assist in the relief of ill health and provision of health education of such members of the community
  • To promote, establish, operate and support other schemes and projects of a charitable nature for the benefit of the community in

Fauldhouse

Membership

Fauldhouse Community Development Trust has 159 current members who are individuals over the age of 16 who live or work in Fauldhouse and its environs.

The Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is elected by the membership at the Annual General Meeting and reports to the members through the Fauldhouse website, quarterly newsletters and the Annual Report. The Board meets on a monthly basis and progresses projects through task groups. (Or sub groups as they are colloquially known) The sub groups report to the Board and have no powers. The Board has financial protocols in place and the Treasurer presents a financial report at each Board meeting.

Robert Russell (Chair) was born and bred in Fauldhouse and is a Professional fundraiser for a Scottish Children's Charity. Robert is also heavily involved in the Institute of Fundraising (Scotland) where he serves on the Executive Committee.

Tommy Lynch was born in Fauldhouse. He worked with the Health Services for over 40 years. Tommy is involved with the organisations Health in Mind (a mental health charity) and St Andrew’s Hospice in Airdrie.

Carole Russell: Lives in Fauldhouse and joined the board in 2012. Carole is a part time teacher. She also has her own small Jewellery & crafts business, ‘Awfy Braw’.

Flora Greenhorn Broughton: Lives in Fauldhouse and has been attending board meetings for several years. Flora joined the board as a director in 2012. Flora also helps with our Newsletter and is a Volunteer here at the HUB.

Albert Mancini: Lives in Fauldhouse. Retired Community Learning and Development Worker. Albert does a lot of fundraising and organises local events.

David Huddlestone:Lives in Fauldhouse. Retired Engineer. David is on the committee for the local football team and is a local volunteer

Dolly Murdoch: Lives in Fauldhouse. Local volunteer.

David Dodds: Lives in Fauldhouse. Local Councillor.

About Fauldhouse

The population of Fauldhouse is 4,625 with approximately 2000 households in Fauldhouse and the surrounding area. Fauldhouse is physically remote from West Lothian’s main service centres, being 7 miles from Bathgate and 11 miles from Livingston.

Fauldhouse lies within the multi-member ward of Fauldhouse & the Breich Valley. The ward includes the settlements of Addiewell, Breich, Fauldhouse, Longridge, Polbeth, Stoneyburn and West Calder. Fauldhouse is the largest settlement in the area and makes up roughly one third of the population of the ward and 6 out of 20 of the data zones. The Fauldhouse Community Development Trust (FCDT) would like to extend its remit to cover the other Breich Valley Villages.
Fauldhouse's population of just under 5,000 people is made up of 5.2% aged 0 to 4 years, 14.75% aged 5-15 years, 17.73% 16-29years and 63% of working age and 20% of pension age. Compared to West Lothian as a whole, Fauldhouse has slightly less children and slightly more people of pension age.

There are two primary schools in Fauldhouse. Falla Hill Primary Schoolhas approximately 190 pupils and 13.8 FTE teachers. High percentages - 23.9% - of children are registered for free schools meals compared to 14.4% in West Lothian and 16.9% across Scotland. St John the Baptist Primary School has just over 190 pupils and 11.9 FTE teachers. Only 8.2% of children are registered for free school meals.[1]

The village has a rail link on the Edinburgh – Glasgow Central line, taking roughly an hour to reach either city from Fauldhouse. Bus services include the number 6 route from Fauldhouse to Broxburn, via Livingston, the number 10 from Armadale to Edinburgh via Bathgate and the 71 Shotts to Livingston.

Fauldhouse's Community Centre has been closed since April 2008. A new Partnership Centre has been built. The Partnership Centre contains both Fauldhouse’s Medical Practices, a Dentist, rooms for visiting Health Professionals, the Library, a cafe, the Council Information Service, the swimming pool and sports hall. Fauldhouse CDT wanted to be involved in this 'Partnership' venture, but local groups were not included in the plans for the Centre until it was too late, and now there is not enough space. Instead, the Council prepared an indicative programme of what the Centre proposed to provide and also areas where they would not be able to provide in terms of community services and/or resources (noted down as 'for partnership working' - see appendix A). These include small business workshops, a venue for community groups, specifically the Credit Union and Fruit & Veg Co-op, health initiatives (with NHS and Council) and a Soft Play area.

FCDT wanted to make sure that the services and resources local residents wanted in their villages were being provided. FCDT commissioned an independent Community Consultation (Hilton Associates, 2007) - see Appendix B for a summary. From the findings of this consultation FCDT were able to determine what Local People liked and what they disliked about their Communities and what they see can be changed or improved. This first consultation found, among other things, that there was potential for the FCDT to open a Community HUB; a community building. FCDT then commissioned a further consultation (also by Hilton Associates, 2008) to look specifically at what services and resources local people needed, and what services and resources they would use in a Community HUB. It was clear (from the findings of the consultation) that the services and resources identified by local people as important for their economic, social and environmental development were not catered for in the New Partnership Building. FCDT are now looking to provide, here at the new community HUB, those services and resources not present in the new Council building; thereby complementing (not duplicating) what the Council are providing. FCDT aims (through this business plan) to provide the resources and services not included in the new partnership building. FCDT aims to do this for the benefit of Fauldhouse (the Breich Valley Villages) and its residents.

From looking at our Community Consultations and a number of statistics, we have summarised what we believe are the main needs in Fauldhouse into the following Business Plan.

EMPLOYABILITY, SKILLS & ASPIRATIONS

“The communities within Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley consistently display high levels of benefit claimants, the second highest level of claimants in any West Lothian ward. Incapacity benefit makes up the majority of these claimants. High levels of incapacity benefit claimants reinforce the link between employability and a multitude of issues that face some residents of the ward including poor health, low economic activity and low skill levels.”[2]

The Scottish Government's Households Below Average Income Statistics show the number of children living in low income families has barely changed since 2004/05 and that in the West Lothian Council area, 18,930 children or 44% of the total youth population, live in households dependent on out-of-work benefit or the Child Tax Credits. Fiona Hyslop, SNP MSP, commented, “These figures, showing 44% of children in West Lothian being brought up in low income households are a stark reminder of the huge challenges facing Scotland.”[3]

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) shows 2 data zones within Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley Wards fall into the lowest 15% of most deprived areas in Scotland; while data zones in Fauldhouse itself lie within the lowest 25% of areas in Scotland. Figures also show Fauldhouse ranking 30 (3rd. bottom) out of 32 wards in West Lothian.

Staying on rates at Fauldhouse’s nearest high school, Whitburn Academy is the second lowest in the whole of West Lothian. The percentage staying on to S5 has risen from 36% to 45%. However this falls well short of both the Scottish average of 64% and the West Lothian average of 59%.[4]

“Generations of long-term unemployment are resulting in young people having low aspirations. Whitburn Academy has the second highest rate of leavers entering unemployment on completion of school.”[5]

Census statistics showed that in the settlement of Fauldhouse 46% of people were classed as having no qualifications (33.2% was the Scottish average) and that only 1.79% of 16-17 year olds were in full time education compared to the national average of 59.7%. West Lothian Data for Fauldhouse (WLC) shows 47% of young people aged 18-24 years are not in education, training or employment. They are unemployed.

HEALTH

Health improvement has also been noted as one of three main priorities for the area. West Lothian Council's Locality Plan for Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley states,

“Hospital admissions for alcohol and drug misuse are the highest in West Lothian, considerably higher than the West Lothian and Scottish national average.” This report also notes, “In addition to substance misuse, poor diets are a common health issue for residents in the ward. Lack of exercise also contributes to the poor health and low life expectancy in the area. This issue is magnified by the lack of availability of fresh fruit and vegetables for residents.”[6]

“Evidence of significant poor health is indicated by the fact that life expectancy for both men and women is below the Scottish average and 19.5% of Fauldhouse residents are in receipt of disability benefit, the highest rate in West Lothian. In addition, hospital admissions for stroke are 78% above average, dental hospital admissions for children are 78% above average and deaths from heart disease are 55% above average.”[7]

In Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley, over 75% of those people claiming incapacity benefit have been claiming for more than 3 years, and of those, 56% had been claiming for more than 5 years.[8]

Low breastfeeding rates are also deemed to show areas of low-income, affected by poor socio-economic and cultural factors. Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley have the lowest rate in the whole of West Lothian, with rates falling over the past 2 years. In Fauldhouse less than 22 % of babies were being breast fed at 6 weeks, and only 15% were being exclusively breastfed. The pan Lothian targets for women breastfeeding have been set at 36% in 2009, rising to 39% (2010) and 44% (2011).[9]

West Lothian Councils Comparative Health Profile for Fauldhouse also shows that of the 476 people who are carers in Fauldhouse 61.55% are female, 2.73% are under 16 years of age and 17.44% are over pensionable age.

LOCAL ECONOMY & JOBS

West Lothian Economic Partnership, Key Economic Indicators Update show West Lothian’s rate of unemployment is now higher than the Scottish and UK rate, and is at its highest point since December 1998. In the first month of 2000 there was an increase in Job Seekers allowance to 469, the highest total since February 2009. Job vacancies in January 2012 were at their lowest for 7 years. Youth Unemployment for 18-24year olds has risen to 34.34% in West Lothian and in Fauldhouse the figure has risen to 47% in 2012 from 34.34% in 2010. This is in comparison to the nation's unemployment rate for the 16-24 years age group which is 5.4 %.

Information regarding available properties for those wishing to start up or move business premises was obtained from West Lothian's Business Portal Property Search[10] (which includes all major business estate agents). 503 offices, industrial, retail, land and miscellaneous properties were available in West Lothian. Of these 503, only 2 were in Fauldhouse, and these were a 3,600 sq. ft. warehouse/storage space and an 87,000 sq. ft. industrial yard. Neither of these is suitable for small businesses and business start-up. It is also worth noting that in West Lothian as a whole,