Staffin Community Trust
About Staffin Community Trust
Urras an Taobh Sear ~ Staffin Community Trust exists to tackle the range of challenges faced by our rural community in the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands.
SCT works with, and for our community, in the north-east of the island. SCT is a charity and its project work is supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise's Community Capacity Building Programme.
Our Objective
Staffin Community Trust is an ambitious, forward-thinking and resilient organisation which has delivered a raft of projects in the Taobh Sear since its formation in 1994.
We are determined to support Staffin’s people and our community's economic prospects, improve services and stimulate social and cultural activities, with the Gaelic language at the heart of our work.
Our community is classed as economically fragile. A shortage of permanent all-year round employment and affordable housing, an ageing and falling population and the loss of our young people and families, are among our major challenges. We live in one of the most scenic parts of the UK with our landscape protected by a raft of designations, which makes community development all the harder.
SCT has two members of staff and is governed by a board of eight volunteer directors drawn from the local community. Staffin was the only community in Skye and Lochalsh to suffer a population fall in the 1991 Census and members of Staffin Community Council subsequently led moves to establish a development trust to try and reverse this decline.
We strives to work closely with other local organisations including Staffin Community Council, the Staffin Community Hall Association, Columba 1400, Sgoil Stafainn and course local businesses.
Our projects have included the award-winning £1.6million housing, health and business development at Taighean a' Chaiseil and the delivery of two phases of the Skye Ecomuseum project between 2006 – 2020, including new footpaths, car parking, a viewing platform, interpretation and an extensive activities programme. We are currently delivering major infrastructure improvements at Staffin Harbour which came into community ownership in 2024 and delivering the long-awaited Crofters' Memorial - Sùil nam Brà - at the Kilt Rock.
We are fully committed to supporting the Fair Work criteria and to being a Fair Work employer for all our employees and contracted workers.
Our Projects
The proposed development on the site of the former Nurse's Cottage in Clachan is phase II of SCT's housing project, Taighean a' Chaiseil, which opened in Stenscholl in 2022. The demand and need for affordable housing in Staffin - where the property market is out of reach for many families and young people - has never been more pressing.
Cidhe Stafainn / Staffin Harbour is the only community-owned and managed harbour in north Skye. This is a bustling, working harbour which is strategically placed in the north-west Highlands of Scotland for fishing, sailing, aquaculture, marine tourism and much more.
We can offer a range of services and business opportunities for locals and visitors, with further infrastructure investment in the pipeline...
Board & Staff
Director and TreasurerAngus, a crofter and retired secondary/primary school teacher at Portree High and Bun Sgoil Stafainn, was one of the founding members of SCT in the 1990s. Angus, who lives in Ellishadder, said he wanted Urras an Taobh Sear to help Staffin build on its strengths and take the lead in economic improvements for the community. He has the challenging job of monitoring the SCT’s financial incomings and outgoings, as treasurer, which is no easy task given the scale of some of its projects.
DirectorDugald, who lives in Ellishadder, first established the Staffin Museum in 1976 when he was only 19-years-old. He has a rich source of knowledge about the Trotternish peninsula’s history, archaeology, landscape and geology. Since Skye’s first dinosaur find in 1982, Dugald has been involved with local research that continues to identify dinosaur remains. In 2002, the discovery of Middle Jurassic tracks which showed the footprints of an adult dinosaur with young has attracted international interest. Dugald’s museum has gone from strength to strength and attracts thousands of people a year. In 2017, he was awarded the Mary Anning Award from the Palaeontological Association which respected palaeontology academics, Dr Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh and Dr Neil Clark at Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum, presented him with. Dugaldhas played a leading role in the creation of the Skye Ecomuseum, he is a key member of the group tasked with the current Druim nan Linntean project.
DirectorCalum was raised in Stenscholl and attended the old Staffin Primary School and Portree High School as a youngster. He later moved to London and served as a police officer in the Metropolitan Police for eight years. He returned home to Staffin in 2009 and now lives in Digg, where he owns self-catering accommodation and helps his father on the family croft in Stenscholl. Calum restored one of the oldest dwellings in Staffin, The Old Inn, near his family home several years ago. He joined SCT because he has a particular interest in the Staffin Slipway development, having been brought up a short distance away
Development OfficerHugh is the SCT local development officer. The post is funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise through its Community Capacity Building Programme. Hugh, who is from Garafad, works for SCT on most of its major projects and is in close contact with the directors, local residents and other key Staffin organisations/businesses, plus the public and private sector. He can be contacted via the SCT office on 01470 562 464 or via email staffin.ldo@gmail.com
Staffin Harbour ManagerLachie is the very first Staffin Harbour Manager for our community. He started in post in January 2024 and has extensive skills and experience having worked on a range of harbour projects in Skye and Raasay and in civil and engineering road construction. Lachie, who lives in Glasphein, is the first point of contact for the harbour and will be based within a temporary harbour manager's office where he encourages the community, slipway users and visitors to find out more about the harbour development. Lachie can also be contacted via email staffinharbourmanager@gmail.com
The harbour post is supported by the Scottish Land Fund.
DirectorAndrew lives in the crofting township of Digg, he attended Staffin Primary and Portree High School before completing his degree in Business and Management with First Class Honours. He now works as a Facilitator and Administrator at Columba 1400, a values-based leadership academy for young people and key adults, their main centre is located in Staffin.
Since he moved to Staffin in 2012, Andrew has been involved in lots of community projects, ranging from the crowdfunding campaign for affordable housing 'Taighean a’ Chaiseil’ to the EU-LAC – Museums research project youth exchange between Skye, Portugal and Costa Rica (2017-2022). This project focused on researching and highlighting the importance of sharing the culture and heritage of rural communities and promoting environmentally friendly tourism.
DirectorMaggie runs a flock of Cheviot sheep on her Ellishadder croft, alongside her main work as a Gaelic medium Early Years Practitioner. She has worked in Kilmuir Primary School for the last 23 years. Maggie is also actively involved in local amateur dramatics and has competed with Buidheann Dràma Chille Mhòire at The Royal National Mòd for around 18 years.
As a young teen Maggie grew up immersed in fundraising for a community hall in Staffin. Continuous sales of work, curry suppers, auctions, whist drives, clay pigeon shoots, darts competitions and even sheep dog trials!
Her mother, Chrissie Ann, was instrumental in getting the hall built in Staffin in the early 1980s. The lack of space in the old Staffin School domestic science room, where she ran the Youth Club attended by 36 teenagers, had prompted the push for a community hall development. In later years Maggie herself helped run the Youth Club in the hall where her three sons attended.
Maggie is looking forward to being involved in the community again by being part of Staffin Community Trust.
DirectorGed is originally from Merseyside and fell in love with the landscape, history, and music of Skye many years ago before making the permanent move to Culnacnoc in 2023. Ged studied archaeological science, environmental archaeology, and for a PhD in zooarchaeology at the University of Sheffield. Besides working as an environmental archaeologist, Ged has worked within the support and charity sectors including 12 years for a disability support organisation, as an analyst for a police training charity, and currently works remotely leading a team of data analysts for a teacher training charity.
A keen hiker and lover of the outdoors, Ged fully appreciates the beauty and cultural landscape of Staffin and is excited to contribute to such an important organisation. Of particular interest for Ged is the SCT objective of supporting younger people to sustainably stay in Staffin and promoting the language, traditions, and culture of the area for generations to come.
Support Us
Urras an Taobh Sear – Staffin Community Trust was set up to represent everybody who lives within the community of Staffin and to develop projects which are beneficial to the social and economic welfare of the district.
At present SCT is delighted to have 115 people now registered as members and would like to grow that as much as we can. SCT would like to have as many Staffin people, or those with strong links to the district, join as members as possible – and it is very straightforward.
Minutes
The board of Urras an Taobh Sear – Staffin Community Trust - meet on the last Tuesday of every month, barring July and December. Meetings are open to members of the community.
Follow this link to access all the meeting minutes from the last three years.
Explore Staffin
