As we celebrate Community Tourism Day 2026 I am delighted to highlight the award winning work undertaken by the Friends of Dundonald Castle SCIO (https://dundonaldcastle.org.uk/) as an excellent example of how everyone can empower communities through tourism. The Friends of Dundonald Castle SCIO showcase how communities can harness heritage-led tourism as a catalyst for empowerment and sustainable development through tourism.  

Friends of Dundonald Castle run a very successful programme of heritage and community focussed initiatives at the site, with a social enterprise approach. The Friends have won a number of awards in recognition of their work:

• Regional (West) Scottish Thistle Award Winner 2024: Celebrating Thriving Communities
• National Scottish Thistle Award Winner 2024: Celebrating Thriving Communities
• South Ayrshire Partnership Award Winners 2025: Adult & Family Learning Awards
• Trip Advisor Traveller’s Choice Award Winners: 2025 (Top 10% of things to do worldwide as voted for by  visitors – achieved every year since 2015)
• Visit Scotland 4-Star Visitor Attraction Award
• Green Tourism Bronze Award
• Voluntary Action South Ayrshire Volunteer Friendly Award

The key components of this success are listed below, however this is not a menu to be picked from or copied – it is a list of attributes that other communities can learn from and potentially adapt to suit their needs and most importantly, their local heritage and their local community. Each heritage asset and the community that supports it are unique – context is key.

• Proactive and experienced staff: the management team and staff are very passionate about what they do – a combination of celebrating heritage and community. The castle and the heritage associated with it is at the core, however the Friends understand and appreciate the important role that the Castle and Visitor Centre play at the heart of their community. Staff are very proactive, willing to consider new initiatives and promote the castle as an asset for the community to use, whilst never losing sight of their core mission.
• Committed trustees: staff are supported by a group of very committed Trustees, who bring a combination of experiences from their backgrounds in the private, public and third sector. Attendance at meetings is high, actions are delivered as required and the trustees are often on site, literally getting their hands dirty and doing whatever is needed to ensure the Visitor Centre and associated activities run smoothly.
• Excellent volunteers: volunteers are essential to make the operations at the site sustainable – volunteers can be found doing basic maintenance, helping in the café, guiding visitors around the site and generally doing whatever tasks are needed. Nothing is too much to ask and the Friends have a significant bank of volunteers to draw on as necessary.
• Risk positive attitude: within the parameters of the Collaboration Agreement that has been signed with HES, the Friends have shown a willingness to consider new ideas and embrace risk as a necessary part of that process. Typically, the Friends will seek some financial support (via external project funding) to test something out, before mainstreaming it if it proves to be successful or popular
• Willingness to try new things: the Castle and Visitor Centre offer a wide variety of activities, designed to cater for all ages and abilities. In order to support the overarching mission of the Friends, these activities are offered at low, or no cost. Striking a balance between making the activities and the site accessible to all, whilst ensuring that the organisation is sustainable in the long-term is difficult and an ongoing management priority and they are seeking to develop a range of income generation streams.
• Community support and buy-in: the Friends cite significant and ongoing support among local residents for the castle in general and more specifically their operations and variety of services as being central to sustainability. High levels of community and visitor engagement (direct and indirect) with the Friends when they are seeking feedback and input ensures that what is offered meets needs and aspirations
• Strong partnership: the Friends benefit from a strong partnership around them, with support from HES, the local authority, VisitScotland and other agencies who can help from a business development, community engagement and volunteering perspective. This partnership is built on effective relationships between these organisations, and are maintained through the ongoing hard work of the Friends staff and committee members.