Pedal - funding unsuccessful

[wangi]

Sad news.

http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/news/1442 ... n-growing/

Portobello non-profit group, PEDAL Porty have been forced to make all their staff redundant this week after their latest bid to the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund was unsuccessful. In a blog post announcing the funding loss, a spokesperson said:

“Despite this year’s projects meeting and exceeding targets we were not granted further funds for April 2011 – March 2012. It is very disappointing news, as we were hoping to build on the successes of this year and develop several new projects, but we understand the competition for this round of CCF was very high. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed and taken part in our projects this year, and made them such a success.”

In spite of the funding set-back, the group has resolved to continue with as much of their work as possible on a voluntary basis, whilst further funding is sought from other sources. One of their projects that has not been affected is a “Grow Your Own Course” that is run in partnership with the Telferton Allotment Association. The course aims to help people improve their food growing skills. There is space for five people on the course. Participants will receive expert guidance over four weeks from experienced allotment holder, Dave Roberts. After the four week course is over, participants will be allocated a space to grow on the Telferton allotment site for the rest of the year. Places cost £15 each. You can find out more about the Grow Your Own Scheme on the PEDAL Porty website.

[GRANTY]

This make me really sad. It takes a while for organisations to establish themeselves and from what I can see, PEDAL were moving very much in the right direction.

[Sandra]

really disappointed, thought PEDAL were doing great things. Loved the Organic Market.

[wangi]

[Porty]

The Organic Market kills trade on the High Street.

[Sandra]

noticed earlier on poster on railing by central bar that market is on tomorrow

Porty, don't believe that is true. I think it is likely that people attending the market will use the High St too.

Plus, the market is only on once a month, hardly killing the High St.

[mehitabel]

- re the comment about the Organic Market 'killing the High Street' ......
Having helped out at some of the monthly markets it is much more likely that people are coming into Portobello from round about or staying in Porty to do their shopping on these Saturday mornings because of the market.
Pedal has done great work -getting the market and numerous other sustainable projects up and running.
A bit more constructive support from locals is what is needed in these difficult times not unfounded criticism of local community enterprise.

[Porty]

[Porty]

[Bob Jefferson]

I think the organic market is 'a nice thing to have' in Brighton Park. I'm not usually able to make it because of other family commitments but I had a look round this morning and bought items totalling around £15. Like everyone else, I have a limited budget so that's £15 I now won't be spending elsewhere. I doubt that the market increases trade for Findlay's, Williamson's or Kitchener's on the days it operates, given the produce on offer, and I would not be surprised to learn that their takings are down. If the reverse is true, I would be interested to see the evidence. In the long term, the market needs to be viable on its own merits without any sort of funding.

[Porty]

You mean they get funding to set up in competition with our High Street- you have to be kidding. What sort of stuff is sold there and where to the local stall holders hail from?

[Bob Jefferson]

I'm not saying that the stall holders are subsidised, but I'm guessing that there must be some cost involved in putting these events on in terms of promotion, liability insurance, providing the stalls etc and presumably these have so far been met by Pedal, whose funding is largely in the form of grants. Local? Well, Findlay's don't have a stall, because it would mean allocating one or two members of staff on their busiest trading day and that would be unlikely to be cost-effective, but there are other stall-holders selling competing products from Auchtermuchty to Duns.

[Porty]

There is no doubt that it is popular with porty residents but its likely detrimental to those trying to earn a living from the high street. I bet findlays would love the opportunity to open say on a Friday and Saturday, only pay rent,rates, heat, light and staff costs for two days a week.

I don't feel strongly enough to want it stopped, live and let live. However, there's no point pandering to the well intentioned PEDALERS who clearly believe the Organic Market is good for all, its not.

If, as you suggest, the traders come from outwith the locality where is the"local community enterprise" benefit that Mehitabel imagines?

[wangi]

[Porty]

The more I think about it the more mental it gets.

Shops on PHS struggle to succeed, hence the proliferation of charity shops, who pay no rates, staff and don't pay for the stock they sell. "Real" shops cannot make it pay. Loads of people moan about theses shops. We all want more choice on the High Street don't we? We didn't want a superstore, partly because we saw a threat to the shops already on the high street. So what happens?

Someone, an Organist, decides to create a market on the saturday after pay day every month, it is the big retail weekend. How much revenue is diverted from our high street traders to the itinerant marketeers? I don't know the answer but however much it is its not good and could be the difference between success and failure for some. Portobello is not Castle Terrace or the Grassmarket it is not robust enough to absorb competition. Some people seem to believe that the OM increses the take on the High Street. I'm saying its quite the opposite and i could prove it, if so inclined. Has anyone thought to ask our permanant traders?

[Porty]

[Sandra]

[Sandra]

[Makaveli]

Can only speak for me and my family but we find ourselves coming into the High Street (and the shops) whenever the market is on as the market is something different to the norm. We do go to the High Street often but the market is kind of a motivation to get ourselves moving on a Saturday morning.

Maybe it should be up to the 'regular' traders from the High Street to embrace the market and the punters it attracts and try and get them to come to their shops as well as the market.

[Porty]

I could be wrong and perhaps the market has a positive effect for the rest of the High Street, I might do some research and find out. Sandra, I don't know whats sold at the market and I agree that there would seem to be no correlation between an organic market and a pawnshop. What we experience is a drop in takings on the saturday when the mrket takes place. The volume of people on the high street drops significantly, a lot of our custom is passing trade, we sell lots and lots of quality pre-owned jewellery, sometimes it is is to destination shoppers other times it is passers by who buy on impulse.Same goes for travel money.

So it does have a negative effect on our business, so what is it doing to the shops who do sell similar stuff to whats on offer at the market?

The market is basically an opportunity for entrepreneurs to nip into Porty once a month, saturday after payday, scoop up some revenue and leave. Very little risk and almost no commitment.Some may call that sustainable, organic local community enterprise. I'd say its more akin to smash and grab.
Maka- what do you mean by high street traders embracing the market? I have a horrible feeling you mean that we should employ some extra staff to go hug the rent free competition.

I must stress I am not knocking PEDAL for their initiative and for delivering a Market that seems to be appreciated by many people. They probably thought there would be a positive knock on effect for the High Street. My experience tells me the opposite is true. Maybe other retailers feel differently?

[Porty]

How may stalls are there? Who is "Market Craft"?

So the cost of a stall is £50 which means a stall holder can get 12 juicy saturdays for £600 a year It is unlikely but not beyond the realms of possibility they could make as much annual profit as some High Street shop do in those 12 days.

[Makaveli]

To be fair I work in the oil industry so have no idea how to run a shop of any description. What I meant by embrace was try and get some of the punters that are along at the market to come to your shop (I don't know what you sell so it is difficult for me to say in what capacity you do this) by maybe advertising with flyers or maybe getting a stall a couple of times a year and showing what you sell.

As I say I don't want to make it sound like I am telling anyone how to run their business but I think if it were me I would be trying to grab a piece of the action that the market generates.

[Porty]

Our commitment to Portobello already costs us £20k plus a year in rent and rates to grab a bit of the high street action. Now some well meaning people have created a low cost option for competitors to diminish our opportunity, making it harder for us to succeed. Flyers and embracing adds more cost to our business, all to combat what are basically fly by nights.

[Tommy Black]

Dear folks,

Just wanted to chip in ref. the organic market. There has been much speculation and conjecture. Truth is there are many traders at the market who are locals not "fly by nights". These include Pop In café, four or five of the craft stallholders and until recently we also had Kitcheners (who were selling cheeses but couldn’t make it work). Fishmonger GA Thompson is also local. Problem with trying to give pitches to local traders at a food market is that not much food is actually grown/produced in Porty! Therefore by necessity our stallholders are drawn from across southeast Scotland. Having said that you don’t have to be a producer to sell at the market – you just need to be selling organic and/or locally (SE Scotland) produced stuff. So local folk can take the initiative.

Also PEDAL did a survey of the impact of the market on some High St shops back in October - all stated either a positive or neutral impact on trade. We spoke with Findlays (neutral impact), Williamsons (neutral), Banana Republic (neutral), The Espy (positive) and Kitcheners (positive). The first two said they have a very loyal customer base so aren’t too concerned. And our own customer survey showed over 70% of shoppers at the market are local, so I guess that means people are buying stuff at the market instead of the supermarkets? Or maybe people are just buying more stuff? I don’t know.

Both surveys (High Street shops and market customers) were however after only two markets so perhaps we do need to go back and ask them again. However, if High St business is shown to be down on the first Saturday of the month I’d want to make sure we can properly discern whether this is because of the market (or not).

Maybe it’s my lentil addled brain, but I didn’t realise the first Saturday of the month is the one after payday! When setting the date for the market we were more concerned about attracting traders – there are so few organic producers / retailers that we wanted to make sure we had it on a date when other farmers markets weren’t running (Castle Terrace, Haddington, Balerno). Our aim is not so much to make big profits but to promote and grow the locally-produced and organic food and crafts economy.

What is local community enterprise? In my book it is business run on a not-for-private profit basis by an organization that has a membership structure open to all who live in a defined area. This is what PEDAL is. Our ‘profits’ are not distributed to individuals but are used to do more of what we're set up for – sustainability projects. So it is fundamentally different from private business. Of course the stallholders are private businesses but I can tell you few if any are raking it in – you only need to look at the turnover (in stallholders) to recognize that. Most are running fledgling, fragile organic or artisan businesses and putting in huge hours for small reward. I salute them! And if local traders are feeling the pinch, then why not start stocking more locally-produced and organic stuff – if more of the stuff was available on the High St then we wouldn’t need to be running a market!

I agree with Porty’s point that we need a co-ordinated approach to regenerating the High Street, and I know PEDAL are happy to get involved in any such discussion / initiative.

Cheers,

Tom

[rmolehusband]

[Porty]

[Bob Jefferson]

I have a.particular issue with the fish stall. We are very fortunate in Portobello to have a high street fishmonger and while I doubt that it's making much of a dent in their profits, I'm sure that Williamsons don't appreciate the (unfair) competition. And if you want to buy sustainable fish, just try asking for it. They just don't make a big deal about it. If you want a thriving local high street, you need to support the guys who are there.

[Tommy Black]

[Bob Jefferson]

I was under the impression that a fish like pollock, which I bought recently at Williamson's, was a sustainable alternative to cod, but I guess it's probably more complicated than that and some pollock is produced sustainably and given MSC accreditation and other pollock isn't. Then again, maybe consumer demand for MSC certified fish is itself depleting stocks?

[Maria]

Any fish is sustainable so long as it isn't popular.

[Bob Jefferson]

I generally find that the less popular fish like pollock and coley, regulars on the slab at Williamson's, are much cheaper and taste just as good. If they are also more sustainable, then that's a bonus.

[Porty]

[Porty]

[seanie]

The only organic fish is farmed.

[Porty]