What do we want to do?

• Create up to 4 new part-time jobs in our community – Development Officer, Finance and Admin assistant, increased marketing support and a Gaelic Development officer.
• Provide an income stream via two Shepherd Huts on-site. 
• Purchase a container to help us store kit and equipment to allow us to run more activities for the community. 
• Purchase and install a generator so we can become a community resilience hub for our local townships in the north of Sleat. Our friends at Sleat Community Trust have purchased one already which will service the south end of our community.

Who are we? Camuscross & Duisdale Initiative (CDI) was established to support the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of the Camuscross and Duisdale communities in south Skye. At the centre of this work is An Crùbh Community Hub, opened in 2017, a vital community-owned asset serving a scattered rural population whose residents may otherwise have to travel up to ten miles for basic services. An Crùbh brings together a cafe, shop, Post Office, community hall, meeting space, campervan park and electric vehicle chargers. It provides local employment, creates opportunities for local suppliers and offers a place where people can meet, attend events and take part in community life. A 2022 Sustrans report highlighted An Crùbh as an example of how the idea of a 20-minute neighbourhood can work in a Highlands & Islands setting. For the people who live locally, it is part of the infrastructure that helps make the community a viable place to live. However, the organisation behind this important asset has been operating under considerable pressure. Following Covid, CDI’s wholly owned trading subsidiary, An Crùbh Ltd (ACL), experienced serious financial difficulties and came close to insolvency in 2023. Since then, a small group of volunteer directors, working alongside existing staff who have taken on additional responsibilities, has carried much of the management and financial administration required to stabilise both organisations.

What are we proposing? The first part is the appointment of a 0.6 FTE Development Officer for CDI and a 0.5 FTE Finance and Administration Officer for ACL for two years. These roles will provide the practical capacity CDI now needs to move forward. They will strengthen financial administration, operational oversight, project coordination and development planning across CDI and An Crùbh. They will also enable a managed transition away from the emergency volunteer-led arrangements that have been necessary over the past two years. The Development Officer will coordinate new projects, strengthen existing income streams, identify further opportunities and seek external funding. Together, the two posts will give directors and volunteers the space to return to their proper strategic and governance roles. The second part of the project is the purchase of two Shepherd Huts beside An Crùbh. The units will be owned by CDI as a charitable asset and operated by ACL under a formal commercial agreement. ACL will manage bookings, customer service and day-to-day operation, while CDI will retains ownership, oversees delivery and receives the benefit through the organisation’s existing profit-sharing arrangements. Planning permission for the unit has been submitted (Aug 2026).

The third part is to purchase a container which can store equipment for local groups and organisations, who can then make use of the community hall. We are in the fortunate position to be off the road, with lots of parking and with a shop and cafe next door, making the hall an excellent, safe and convenient place for activities such as youth clubs, cultural events, community groups and exercise. But with very little storage in the building, these opportunities have not been maximised. Our fundraising group have raised enough to purchase a container but the ground works and transport need to be financed. Although it seems like a simple project, it would make a huge impact on our level of activity in terms of inviting recurring community groups to make use of the space. 

In addition, we hope to purchase and install a generator (cost quoted at £10,000) and groundworks for all of the above have been quoted at just over £17,000). Having a generator will allow An Crùbh to be a community resilience hub which we have been seeing a greater need for during the last few winters.

What impact will these have? The accommodation will provide a new unrestricted income stream which can help address seasonal cashflow pressures, build reserves and reduce the organisation’s vulnerability to future financial shocks. The staffing and accommodation elements are designed to reinforce one another. The new accommodation cannot reach its potential without sufficient capacity to coordinate its installation, marketing and development. Equally, staffing supported only by short-term grant funding would not provide a complete answer to CDI’s long-term resilience. By investing in people while also creating an income-generating asset, the project will give CDI the opportunity to move from managing immediate pressures towards building a sustainable future. Additional capacity will also allow CDI to return to longer-term opportunities that have been delayed while volunteers have concentrated on keeping essential operations running.

Funding Support 

Applications for funding have been submitted to DTAS and an application will be submitted to CLLD for support with preparing for a new Finance Officer and carrying out some much required maintenance work.