Two new resources from The New Futures: Former Places of Worship programme!
Written byDTAS Community Ownership Support Service
Published on16 Jun 2026
The New Futures: Former Places of Worship programme has two new available resources!
The New Futures: Former Places of Worship programme is a dedicated initiative by the Development Trusts Association Scotland’s (DTAS) Community Ownership Support Service (COSS). It is a three-year programme (January 2025-December 2027) to provide enhanced support to community groups considering taking on a former place of worship across Scotland. This programme was launched in direct response to the significant and unprecedented number of former places of worship which are due for disposal over the next several years.
Two new resources are now available to help guide community groups in Scotland through the process of bringing a former place of worship into community ownership.
The Churches Crowdfunder Guide (PDF) (opens in new tab) and Churches Route Map (PDF) (opens in new tab)are now available on their website (external link) (opens in new tab).
Churches Route Map:
The Churches Route Map guides community groups, looking at purchasing a building owned by the Church of Scotland, through the steps to community ownership.
The Route Map details four key stages:
- Getting started
- Preparing the project
- Developing the project
- Finalising the purchase
This resource illustrates the process in chronological order, allowing community groups to follow each step in detail as they progress through their journey to community ownership.
Churches Crowdfunder Guide:
The Churches Crowdfunder Guide has been created and published in collaboration with Democratic Finance Scotland in response to the growing prevalence of crowdfunding campaigns among community groups raising funds to purchase a former place of worship. The resource gives practical guidance on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign and is illustrated with recent case studies.
