Problem addressed

In 2018, the employment rate for people aged 16–64 with a disability in Scotland was 45.6%, compared with 81.1% for people without a disability. In addition to this nation-wide gap in employment levels, a 2015 Scottish Government review of equality evidence in rural Scotland showed that disabled people in rural areas of the country are even less likely to be employed than non-disabled people. Training opportunities can be scarce in rural areas, leaving few opportunities for upskilling and supporting people into employment.

Innovative solution

The Boyndie Visitor’s Centre and Shop (BVC) is a tourist information centre based in a derelict school that offers training to people with a disability in a relatively remote location three miles outside of Banff, Aberdeenshire, in North East Scotland. It was set up in 2003 by the Boyndie Trust, initially established in the 1990s as a community hub to train people with learning, physical and hidden disabilities in a working environment. The innovation behind the BVC is how it has combined commercial tourism and retail services with training opportunities, thanks to close cooperation with the local council.

BVC’s six acres of land include an old school building, within which is a café, retail shop, garden centre, local visitor information centre and rooms for hire. BVC hosts community events – such as a veteran’s bi-weekly breakfast – and supports the local economy, by using local butchers and grocers for its catering work. People who have a disability are offered ‘self-directed support’ from their local council, including access to a package of care services and a budget to spend on personal development. They can then join local activities, such as cookery, and arts and relaxation therapy, paid for by this budget. The Boyndie Trust offers training activities – ‘skills development placements’ – in its commercial activities, that can be covered by the ‘self-directed support’ budget, at GBP 42.00 per day.

The Boyndie Trust works with social workers and employment agencies to design the training events, ensuring that every task is accessible for each participant, focusing on ability rather than disability. By conducting their self-directed support at BVC, participants learn key transferrable skills within a real working environment, rather than a static training setting. Customer service and public interaction within a visitors’ information centre, for instance, is constant, and exposes participants to experiences that can improve their confidence and communication skills. Participants also develop skills such as food preparation within the café, and gardening within the garden centre. To increase accessibility to BVC services given their rural location, the Trust has also partnered with a local private Dial-A-Bus service and established a public bus stop close to the BVC building.

Key results and benefits

Participants in the skills development placements at BVC reported improved communication and time management skills, as well as increased willingness to be more active. A social worker from the local authority reported a change in participants’ overall attitude to life, as they became more independent and relied less on care services. The parent of one of the participants confirmed that his daughter seemed happy and confident as a result of the training offered by the Trust, and that she was overcoming many of the barriers her disability had previously caused.

BVC has also boosted the creation of local jobs. In some cases, skills development placement clients have progressed onto one of the 56 paid employment positions based at the BVC hub. In addition, BVC attracts 60 000 visitors a year due to its multi-purpose site designed for community use. The nature trail, for example, has become very popular with the local ‘mums and tots’ group, and a local history group has established an information stand on the history of the nearby former Royal Air Force base.

Potential for mainstreaming

The Boyndie Trust is a self-sufficient social enterprise, generating 60% of its revenue from the BVC and 40% from the skills development placements. This has given the organisation economic security and independence. The European Commission’s LEADER programme provided grant funding during the 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 periods, and these funds have been used to bring in a business consultant and to make capital improvements to the visitor centre. BVC has received other smaller donations from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the Scottish Government, and private contributors. The funding has been used to regenerate the old school in which BVC services are located, to ensure that BVC can continue to grow and offer more services to a range of groups. BVC is lowering the work surfaces and widening the aisles to make the skills development placement kitchen training more accessible to volunteers in wheelchairs, for example.

Surrounding councils and areas have expressed interest in implementing a similar training programme. The project is community-led, so its successful transfer to another context would rely on an assessment of the local economy and local community needs. It would also require strong partnership with local authorities to increase the uptake and reach of the skills development placements of the project. The Boyndie Trust received a lot of support from outside organisations during its initial set-up phase, and it is keen to share its experiences with other organisations and communities looking to learn from what it has achieved.