About us...

Rhynie Charitable Trust has been brought into existence to bring something different and financially worthwhile to Rhynie - working through the existing community organisations, clubs and groups in the village including the Gala Committee.

The Office bearers of RCT are all local and cover the entire age spectrum –

Directors: Mike Davies / Colin Mumford / Martin Dow / Alastair Wilson

Treasurer: Averil Stewart

Consultant : George Beverly

As the “Ltd” on the end suggests, RCT is already a Company and, amongst other things, because it is set up as a company, it has access to funding from outside the community e.g. from the Lottery as well as other charities and local and national Government.

RCT also plans to undertake or sponsor a limited number of commercial activities which would allow this support to the community to be financially sustainable in the longer term. It should be noted here that any such commercial activities will NOT aim to be in competition with existing or potential businesses in the area. Rather these will aim to complement existing enterprises in the sense that for example making Rhynie an attractive visitor destination and a more vibrant location and hence desirable place to settle will ultimately benefit existing providers of goods & services.

As examples already RCT has provided funding to allow start-ups for the undernoted:

• Car Aid, Rhynie
• Rhynie Online
• and is involved in the allocation and distribution of funding coming from the Daluaine Garden Fund.

In addition to having the role as described above, RCT hopes in the future, when there is a need expressed by the Community as a whole, to acquire existing premises and land in Rhynie which would ultimately become a “Village Hall”.

However initially this would be developed as the physical centre for all relevant current and future activities by the Community e.g.

- providing facilities and resources for community & voluntary organisations such as playgroups, uniformed organisations, youth & the elderly

- hosting displays of local geological, archaeological & social heritage with related tourist attractions, thus stimulating visitor numbers to the benefit of local businesses.

- offering “incubator” units for small creative enterprises, both commercial & social

Aims

RCT aims to be the overall structure which will coordinate the Community’s efforts to raise funds as well as to develop and manage initiatives, projects and programmes. These efforts will be in cooperation with individuals and organisations in the Community, as well as the wider public or private sector, which are capable of assisting RCT to achieve its objectives. You will see that RCT is a Charity as well as a company which gives it some advantages over non Charities.

The outline Charitable Objectives of the Company are to:

- “...plan and encourage measures that will be of recreational, social, educational and/or environmental benefit to the Community and the public generally...”

Thus RCT plans to be the focal point for, and manager of, funding for locally initiated voluntary group activities, social enterprises, community businesses etc.

A survey was carried out by the Trust to obtain the views of the community with regard to the development of a village centre. The results are available to download here.