Test It! 2026 Cohort
We're delighted to be working with 5 ambitious local organisations in our first round of the Test It! programme:
- Doon the Beach (Raise Your Voice With Ardeer)
- Freedom Fighters
- Largs Community Radio
- Largs Viking Festival
- West Coast Furniture Bank
Between now and December 2026, they will be testing out their ideas and learning in real time about what could be a potential source of income for their projects. Developing a viable social enterprise model enables community and voluntary organisations to operate more independently, increase their financial reslience, and reduce the time spent on complex funding applications. It enables the organisation to instead focus that time and energy on the causes they are most passionate about and keep reinvesting their surplus into their organisation to ensure they are there to support the community for the long-term.
What's happened so far?
We have been working with the cohort since April 2026, getting to know more about their organisation and their ideas. This has included the groups taking part in 4 workshop sessions:
- Who, What, Where, When and Why? Defining the Basics
- Introduction to Digital Finance
- Mythbusting Social Enterprise
- Defining Impact
The workshops were delivered by Right Options and Beith Trust as co-leads on the programme, with the support of CJM Lumina for the digital accounting session. They were not only a chance to learn about some of the theory and good practice linked to social enterprise, but also take a step back and think about the original concept submitted to Test It!, and whether there might be adjustments and adaptations needed based on the sessions. The cohort have been extremely supportive of each other thoughout the proces to date, following up on discussions begun in sessions and using their networks and contacts to support the development of others' ideas.
As of July 2026, each organisation has been awarded their investment from Test It! and has begun to put their plans into motion following the first of 4 check in sessions with the programme leads. We will come back together in September to review progress over the summer, by which point some of the organisations will be moving into a different 'phase' in their delivery plan. Check back in later in the year for more updates as we see how things are going for the group!