Owned by the community, for the community.

saving bellfield

Aware that its future was in question, a group of local volunteers began working together with the goal of retaining the Bellfield buildings as a community resource – owned by the community, for the community.

When it became clear the sale of Bellfield would proceed, a public meeting was held. Over 75 attendees voted unanimously to establish Friends of Bellfield to retain this vital asset.

Two processes were instigated: (1) a Community Right to Buy (CRtB) process to ensure the community had first right to buy the buildings a market prices, and (2) a process to secure funds from the Scottish Land Fund (SLF). These funds would enable us bring in the expertise we needed to put together an application for over 80% of the purchase price.

Action Porty was created as a company limited by guarantee, to meet the legal requirements and facilitate the process. Action Porty offered full membership to all voters in Portobello, junior membership to those under 16, and associate membership to those outwith Portobello. Over £16,000 was quickly secured from SLF to hire consultants, architects and business experts to help assess the business case, evaluate community needs, and to develop strong plans.

In September 2016 we became the first urban community in Scotland to successfully register our CRtB application. This required the completion of all the paperwork, as well as over 40 volunteers going door to door to secure the minimum 10% backing from the electorate for this venture. In a matter of weeks, and working to a deadline, we managed to secure the backing of 1,500 voters (over 25% of voters in Portobello). With just four days to recruit members of Action Porty before submission, 315 people signed up!

The community were incredibly supportive throughout. Over £2,000 was raised in one night in a Bellfield cabaret, and almost 200 people participated in an event at the Library to feedback their ideas and responses to the initial architects drawings and options appraisal.

Find out more about how the community in Portobello took ownership of Bellfield Church via the Community Right to Buy Scheme in this video here

Action Porty successfully acquired Bellfield in September 2017, and after carrying out some essential repairs and small improvements (partly funded by a successful crowdfunding exercise), Action Porty opened the facility to the public some 10 months later in Summer 2018.

Where we are now

Since then, and despite a couple of enforced closures caused by the Covid pandemic, Bellfield has been evolving as a successful, busy and vibrant community hub which increasingly sits at the centre of community life in Portobello.  26 community groups and organisations collectively offer 38 activities or classes on a weekly basis. This includes the programme of Edinburgh Youth Theatre, our anchor tenant. In addition, Bellfield hosts a busy and diverse range of one-off and occasional uses which include weddings, parties and celebrations, community events, performances and fundraising activities. This combined community use generates an annual footfall of almost 30,000 people through Bellfield’s doors. 

Action Porty has continued to carry out essential repairs to Bellfield, and when funding is available, make a number of improvements to the facility: the refurbishment of the Large Hall toilets, energy conservation measures, repairs to the boundary wall and some internal redecoration. Action Porty has also installed an array of solar panels on the roof of the Large Hall and, in addition, an innovative battery storage project.

Action Porty has always had the aim of making Bellfield a financially viable community business, mainly through the generation of sufficient rental income, supplemented by Feed-in Tariff income, donations and local fundraising. Action Porty has managed to both grow the business incrementally and evolve a successful business model for Bellfield, while offering facilities to community groups, local families and local people at affordable prices,. Largely though Bellfield, Action Porty has managed to return year on year surpluses and build up a healthy level of financial reserves.

This income has enabled Action Porty to build up a small staff team of four, all on part-time hours: Bellfield Administrator, Administrative Assistant, Volunteer Co-ordinator (post part-funded by National Lottery’s Community Fund) and Community Café Supervisor Coordinator. This small staff team is supplemented by around 150 volunteers who help with hosting duties, administration, gardening, communications, run Porty Community fridge and our successful Community Café. 

 Action Porty recently paid off the loan taken out to help with the acquisition of Bellfield, and the facility is now wholly owned, via Action Porty, by the Portobello community. Despite the success of Bellfield to date, Action Porty recognises that while Bellfield has managed to ‘wash its face’ financially, it remains a marginal business and further investment is required to grow the staff team and create greater financial sustainability in the longer term.