Tracing the changing pattern of the Scottish Borders community

Tread ISSUE 2 TRACING THE CHANGING PATTERN OF THE SCOTTISH BORDERS COMMUNITY

WORDS ALANA BLACK

Firmly stitched to its textile

manufacturing heritage, the Scottish Borders’ patchwork of rural towns presents unique challenges. With a focus on building confidence and wellbeing, the Scottish Borders’ collaborative, human approach to cultivating strong communities is what makes it stand out.

During the 19th century, the Scottish Borders became a hub for textiles manufacturing. With this new industry, whole communities formed around the mills and factories, providing stable jobs, a thriving economy, and vibrant social networks.

Things began to change in the 1980’s and 1990’s when shifts in consumer attitudes – especially toward the quality of clothing - occurred. This, coupled with the major outsourcing of production to adapt to globalisation, resulted in huge changes for people in the Borders.

The knock-on effects of diminished manufacturing in the area have continued to have an impact, many generations on.

Approximately 122,000 people call the region home. The National Record of Scotland cites that, between 1998 and 2019 the population increased by 8.9%. On face-value, these figures seem positive, but when you scratch beneath the surface, the numbers paint a stark demographic picture. Of those relocating to the Borders, the 65 – 74 age group grew the most – by just shy of 50%. In stark contrast, the 25 – 44 age group suffered a significant decline of just under 25%.

Like many rural areas, the Scottish Borders suffer from limited suitable and affordable housing, few job opportunities, and poor transport links. This ecosystem of disadvantage forces many young people to flock to the cities, in search of new experiences, for work or further education. Often, they never return. Or, when they do, it is later in life to raise their family. This results in an imbalance in diversity of thought, experience, and people.

Our communities are only as rich as the people in them, and young people are their lifeblood. The burden to support young people in rural areas is often heaped onto the dynamic and innovative social enterprises and community groups that form to address some of the endemic challenges.

KNITTING TOGETHER A SENSE OF COMMUNITY

Local funding programmes such as LEADER have played an important role in supporting projects that strengthen the community.

LEADER is a bottom-up method of delivering support to communities for rural development. Grants are awarded by Local Action Groups to projects that support delivery of a Local Development Strategy.

The aim of LEADER is to increase support to local rural community and business networks to build knowledge and skills and encourage innovation and cooperation in order to tackle local development objectives.

Gary White is the Chair of the Scottish Borders’ local LEADER Local Action Group (LAG) which has supported a number of youth focused projects.

“Scottish Borders has some of the best youth work provision in Scotland,” says Gary. “ Our youth work networks are well organised and deliver some really innovative work, but there are still a lot of young people in need that aren’t accessing those services”.

Gary adds: “Many young people particularly if they’re struggling with confidence, may not be attracted to traditional types of youth work”.

So, how do we create a community that appeals to broader range of young people? “Young people particularly after the recent lockdown, can find themselves isolated and getting into spirals of negativity. To reach those isolated young people we need to understand and support what wellbeing means for them personally. This can have a consequential effect in terms of building confidence and empowerment”.

“...the Scottish Borders suffer from limited suitable and affordable housing, few job opportunities, and poor transport links”

Food Punks at Peebles Market

“Through our own work, and the projects that LEADER support, we’ve found that it’s starting with the basics, it’s about building that self-assurance through the application of practical skills” says Gary. “Small wins can be hugely empowering”

FUELING CHANGE

Teaching young people practical skills to positively impact their lives was the inspiration for Dave Hodson to set up Food Punks in the Borders.

Food Punks is one of Tweeddale Youth Action’s income generating social enterprises and was established in 2015. It started as an initiative to teach simple cookery skills that would help young people learn how to cook local fresh food from scratch and lead lower carbon lifestyles.

It’s now evolved into a popular catering business where any profit generated goes back into youth work and services for young people. This skills-based youthwork is an example of empowering young people to challenge the sometimes negative stereotypes they receive.

Dave says: “Using a kitchen as the medium, some coin in the pocket, hard graft, a bit of fun, in a pretty highpressure atmosphere - it’s essentially an exceptionally good way of reaching young people perhaps on the fringes.”

Food Punks isn’t alone in their skills-based approach. Connect Berwickshire Youth Project, also LEADER funded, support young people to attain Rural Yachting Association qualifications, alongside Cirdan Sailing Trust.

Empowering young people, building their confidence and making them feel part of something – whether that is a kitchen team or a sailing crew – means that they start to value themselves and their community.

SEWING THE SEEDS OF SUCCESS

Simon Lynch, Scottish Borders LEADER facilitator, has helped a number of groups, which support vulnerable aspects of the Scottish Borders Community.

He says that we need to change our mindset on how we approach these problems to a more collaborative human approach.

“As there is only a set amount of money to support all of these organisations it can, unfortunately, lead to competition between them instead of collaboration.

“If we levelled the playing field and encouraged cooperation,I think you’d find that this would free communities and projects up to be innovative, to be more disruptive and to take on bigger projects, because they’re not constrained by this competition and the funding structure itself.”

Simon commented “The future focus for funding should be looking at personal wellbeing, understanding the needs of our communities, working in partnership to address complex issues and having learning and capacity building as key outcomes”.

Regardless of the changing industrial landscape, the River Tweed continues to weave its way through the hills, inspiring the textiles still produced there with its hue.