Trustee expertise helps establish local community initiative

It’s not every day one can say: “We bought a school”, but that’s precisely what the people of Newhaven in Edinburgh did in 2022, when they bought a Victorian school building from the city council. The building was due to be replaced by a new school, and the process followed extensive consultation as to what uses the community would like to see the buildings offer. The decision was made to repurpose the property as a community hub, to tackle the issues of loneliness, isolation, and poverty locally. The purchase was led by a charity: The Heart of Newhaven Community.

Since then, the project has gone from strength to strength. In the first six months, three years ago, footfall was 7,000. The same six months in 2025 saw over 50,000 people using the Heart, as the centre is now known. Heart of Newhaven Community uses activities supporting the themes identified through the consultation: culture and heritage, enterprise and learning, and wellbeing, to bring people together across the generations. It now has 500 voting members.

Funded by the Scottish Land Fund, the acquisition was made through the Community Asset Transfer programme, a process which keeps local assets in local hands to provide long term benefits for local people.

And a large part of its success is due to trustees and volunteers, many of whom have come through Reach Volunteering’s skills-based volunteer recruitment platform. 

Chair Judith (Judy) Crabb has had a long connection with Reach, having initially used our services over 20 years ago when she worked for another charity.

The organisation currently has 10 trustees, and Judy says: “Our trustees are very hands-on. They have all made huge contributions.”  She warns: “The process of a Community Asset Transfer is not one to be taken lightly or by people who have no background or understanding in lots of different skills.” 

In the three years since inception, the demands placed on the trustees have changed somewhat. In the early days, the work focused on acquisition, but the emphasis is now on owning and running the organisation, with the result that some team members have moved on. Judy says: “We're now looking for different skills from trustees, and we found Reach really, really helpful in all of that.” 

The intensity of the work has meant that most of the trustee roles, as well as some advisers, are undertaken by highly-skilled recruits from Reach, while the more general volunteer roles have tended to be filled through local services. The constitution states that over three quarters of these people should live in the area.

Next steps? The 170-year-old building requires a lot of maintenance, and the management team has funding to recruit a business development manager to diversify income streams. The organisation also plans to bring in new volunteers with communications, social media and marketing skills as well as people with experience in the reduction of carbon emissions, climate action and resilience building.