Staffin Community Trust

Staffin Community Trust has delivered a range of projects in the north-east of the Isle of Skye for three decades.

Our rural community is classed as economically fragile by the Scottish Government. A lack of permanent all-year round employment/affordable housing, an ageing and falling population and the loss of our young people in search of work elsewhere, are just some of the major challenges.
SCT has a small workforce of two full-time staff and is governed by a board of seven volunteer directors drawn from the community, with more than 110 members.

Staffin was the only community in Skye and Lochalsh to suffer a population fall in the 1991 Census and members of the local community council led moves to establish a development trust to try and reverse this decline.

To date, SCT’s work have resulted in a direct spend of £3.1 million in Staffin with major capital work projects delivered.

The SCT’s objective is to improve Staffin’s economic prospects, stimulate social and cultural activities and improve services, with the Gaelic language an integral part of that. SCT is also trying to develop as an organisation which can sustain itself through income-generating developments.

SCT strives to work closely with other key organisations in the district including Staffin Community Council, the Staffin Community Hall Association, Columba 1400, Sgoil Stafainn and local businesses.

SCT’s largest projects have included the original £350,000 development of Staffin Slipway in 2000 with the construction of a new pier and breakwater and the delivery of two phases of the Skye Ecomuseum project between 2006 – 2022, including new footpaths, car parking, a viewing platform, interpretation and an extensive activities programme. In 2022 it completed the £1.6million housing, health and business development Taighean a’ Chaiseil.

SCT is a charity and its project work is supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s Community Capacity Building Programme.