A new facility in Tain focused on boosting sustainability, wellbeing, employability and education has received a £250,000 funding boost from Social Investment Scotland (SIS) to support the initial stages of construction work.
Set off the NC500 route and neighbouring the Glenmorangie Distillery, the Gro For You community innovation campus is due to open next year.
The campus will provide learning and training opportunities in areas such as food production, hospitality and green business skills, as well as being a visitor centre with a café, farm shop, play area and gardens. The plans include distinctive transparent sphere structures, called geodomes, constructed using recyclable materials – similar to those seen at Cornwall’s Eden Project and Walt Disney World’s Epcot.
Gro For You is a collaboration between two local social enterprises, Farmer Jones Academy, a hospitality and agriculture training provider currently supporting more than 200 apprentices, students and school pupils per year, and Gro for Good, a community-run aquaponic food production initiative. Together, the project team aims to create opportunities for young people, increasing employability rates and supporting the future of food and hospitality businesses.
With groundworks complete, students working towards qualifications have started constructing benches and pre-fabricating some of the play equipment and fencing that will feature in the final build.
Others are developing the rewilding areas and wildflower meadow, while some are concentrating on planting trees for the campus Orchard.
Sarah Mackenzie, co-founder of Gro For You, said, “Construction at the community innovation campus is underway and we are already seeing the benefits of the project for local people, the economy and the environment. The facility is like no other, combining training and business support facilities with visitor experiences on one site.
“Employment and skills development opportunities among rural communities in the Highlands are limited, but our ambition is to create positive change. Green technology and transferrable skills are a huge focus of what will be on offer at Gro For You, and we see these as essential elements of preparing the future workforce to enter the world of work.”
John Cornwall, investment manager at Social Investment Scotland, added, “Gro For You is an ambitious and exciting project with huge potential for the local area. The facility will create new jobs and provide hands-on experience for people taking part in training courses and apprenticeships, as well as its environmental benefits. Through access to affordable finance, SIS is pleased to support the social enterprise to deliver a meaningful impact for the community.”
