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Laggan community pressing forward with ambitious bid to buy village church





The agreed way forward is a community buy-out but there’s work to do and the next meeting is set for November 12 in the kirk.
The agreed way forward is a community buy-out but there’s work to do and the next meeting is set for November 12 in the kirk.

A small group of Laggan Church members have been meeting over the last four months to build the case to buy their village church.

They are taking forward the ambition to purchase Laggan Church on behalf of the community.

The action was agreed unanimously by those present at a public meeting in the summer.

“It has been a remarkably smooth run so far,” said Laggan Heritage convener Pete Moore.

“The Church of Scotland set the closing date for bids as September 13 and by that time - six weeks ago - we had an initial business plan drafted, which was then summarised to accompany our offer.

“An initial funding package was agreed, and the terms of a SCIO drafted in the name of Laggan Church Partnership - a necessary step in order to be able to handle money and also receive title of the building in due course”.

The funding to purchase the church has come from Ardverikie Estate, from a private donor and from Laggan Heritage, he explained.

“Our offer, in line with the valuation, was one of three received by the Church of Scotland General Trustees, and they gave our bid a conditional acceptance.

“They set a completion date of December 18 on the condition that by that time, our SCIO would be registered and in place.

“The charities independent regulator and registrar (OSCR) advises that SCIOs can take up to 100 days to register and at the time of application, and there were only 84 days before the deadline, so there was a certain amount of apprehension!

“However, we are delighted to announce that as of October 21 we have our SCIO.

“The registration has arrived in record time and we can now look forward to completing the deal and taking ownership of the church in just under two months.”

Between now and then, there are a few things to do in a practical sense, said Mr Moore - like opening a bank account and arranging insurance - but also, most importantly, to reach out to the community and talk about plans and timelines.

“The Laggan Church Partnership team have had to move necessarily fast to get to where we are, but thanks to OSCR's efficiency, we now have a little bit of breathing space before taking ownership.

“It had been our intention to call a public meeting even with uncertainty hanging over the deal, but we can now proceed more confidently”.

The next meeting will be in Laggan Church at 6pm on November 12.

Mr Moore said: “We hope this will provide an opportunity to update more fully, answer any questions and seek guidance for the next steps, as we move towards community ownership of Laggan Church.”


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