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
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.






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