News

Further to our June 2026 communication regarding the submission of our Stage 1 (Technical Assistance) application to the Scottish Land Fund we are pleased to confirm that we have received approval to move to a Stage 2 application (Acquisition Funding).

We now have three months to submit our application and to ensure we take advantage of the additional funding streams such as South of Scotland Enterprise and Development Trust Association Scotland who have provided their expert advice up to this point and are very optimistic for the future of the project.

Once again thank you for your support!

Borgue Community Benefit Society Steering Committee

The Society now has nearly 140 members which is a fantastic response from our community and heartening to see how much everyone is invested in Borgue.

The Stage 1 funding application has been submitted to the Scottish Land Fund. This submission is the first step towards securing funding for our first project, the purchase of the Borgue Hotel. We have been advised it will be around three months before we hear if this has been approved, but in the meantime, we can get on with writing the Stage 2 application so that it is ready to go when we (hopefully) get Stage 1 approved.

Alongside this, we have had discussions with other funding streams such as South of Scotland Enterprise and Development Trust Association Scotland who have provided their expert advice and are very positive and optimistic for the project. We have also visited other community groups within Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire who have successfully taken on similar community buy-out projects. They have provided us with invaluable advice and insight into what has worked well and what they would have done differently.

We hope that our next update will be to confirm Stage 1 has been successful. In the meantime, if you know anyone who still needs to become a member, please ask them to contact us via the website, or ask any of the steering group ( Cathryn & Paul Lapworth, Chris & Kevin Evans, Angela Metcalfe, Eilidh Macfarlane and Ben Spencer) for a membership application form.

With thanks again for all your support.

February 2026 update

Thank you all for the overwhelming support, it means a great deal to have your backing. Below is an update of activity since November 2025.

Achievements to date:

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Registration.
• Registration of Borgue Community Benefit Society (BCBS) with Companies House.
• Plunkett Foundation membership, supporting rural community businesses.
• Secured a Firstport grant (£5k) for initial costs (surveys, admin, printing, meetings).
• Facebook site now ‘Live’.
• Website site now ‘Live’.
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Online membership form
  • BCBS rules

Your next steps:

*BCBS membership is now open*

Paper based application forms are available from Steering Committee members and online via our website

Of course, this is a community project and at the meeting, many of you offered support and we would like to take you up on these offers!  We would benefit from anyone who feels they could assist in the following areas:

• Commercial (e.g. Surveying, accountancy etc)
• Grants/ funding applications
• Communications and Marketing
• Business planning/ Administration

If you have any other skill that may be of use, please contact us, we are happy to accept help from anyone willing to give us their time.

Borgue Community Benefit Society Steering Committee

Angela Metcalfe, Kevin Evans, Cathryn Lapworth, Eilidh Macfarlane, Chris Evans, Ben Spencer, Paul Lapworth

A little update for everyone. We have now completed the registration with the FCA and we are officially registered as Borgue Community Benefit Society Limited.

This is the first step in the process and allows us to now apply for grants and funding from various organisations.

The funding is applied for in 2 stages.  Stage 1 funding has been applied for, this is a smaller sum than Stage 2 and allows us to proceed with things like building surveys and valuations if we are successful in our application.

We hope to have further news in the New Year. Meantime, we want to thank everyone who has supported our plans. We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kind regards

The Committee

(Angela, Cathryn, Paul, Chris, Kevin & Eilidh)