Supporting our volunteers running local Business Associations across the Cairngorms National Park
GrowBiz has been successful in receiving funding through the Community Led Vision Fund from the Cairngorms Trust and Cairngorms National Park Authority to create an additional administration post over the winter to support six Business Associations across the Park area.
The aim of the project is to provide support and training to the volunteers who run the Business Associations, tackling volunteer 'fatigue' and upskilling the Associations to help make volunteering on their respective committees easier in future. The project recognises and supports the valuable work carried out by volunteer Business Association committees, contributes to Community Wealth Building across the Park and demonstrates a collaborative approach to building the Wellbeing Economy.
To enable the committees to continue, GrowBiz has recruited a self-employed
administrator to work with the Business Associations carrying out tasks such as booking meetings, managing membership, sending newsletters, supporting fundraising activity and events and marketing. As well as performing admin tasks, the administrator is looking for opportunities for the Business Associations to collaborate and share resources to make things easier for each group going forward.
Ginny Hall, joined GrowBiz in November and is now working with all six Business Associations across the Cairngorms National Park. Ginny also lives within the area and has her own guest house business.
GrowBiz’s CEO, Jackie Brierton, said: ‘We’ve been supporting the Business Associations since 2020 on various levels and had identified volunteer ‘burn-out’ given what we’ve all experienced through the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis. The funding has enabled us to bring in an experienced administrator for the Business Associations, bringing in processes and automation to make the running of the associations and other locally-led projects less reliant on volunteer hours.’
The Park’s economy and the vibrancy of its communities rely heavily on tourism and the administrator will provide support for projects which will prepare the communities for the 2023 season as they continue to recover from Covid and through the current economic challenges.
GrowBiz is also delivering training to the Business Associations' committees to improve their use of technology, which will help them to streamline their communications and processes, reducing the volunteer hours needed.
This is a collaborative project between GrowBiz and six Business Associations across the Park, working in Partnership to achieve a community led vision. The Associations involved in the project are: Grantown Business Association, Newtonmore Business Association, Kingussie Business Forum, Blair Atholl Business & Tourism Association, Braemar Tourism Association and Ballater Business Association.
These local Business Associations are providing an important contribution to the development of a Wellbeing Economy in the Cairngorms National Park - directly benefiting their local economy, their local area and the vibrancy of their communities.
For more information on GrowBiz visit