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New planters NOW happening

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The Hub was facing significant challenges. Although we had seedlings, seeds, space, and big dreams, bureaucracy and political gatekeepers were holding us back. While these obstacles are still present, we are determined to overcome them. Financially, we had resources to invest in our desire for planters and plants. To move forward, we requested quotes to build four planters from a local group that we believed was knowledgeable about community planter construction. However, the local volunteers who provided the quotation insisted on procuring new sleepers from a building supplier or timber merchant, which we felt were extremely expensive. Upon reviewing the costs, both financially and environmentally, we found these prices to be excessive. We take great pride in our numerous zero-waste initiatives, and investing in new sleepers seemed to contradict our values and principles. Consequently, we sought alternatives that would not require us to purchase brand new materials from a timber ...
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Monty Is Exhausted wi sunflower work

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   Fun with Sunflower Community Growing Spring has officially sprung, and our community is buzzing with excitement about our sunflower growing initiative! Inspired by, last years growing competition and  the sunflower celebration that Dan and Hillary from the amazing power station film we screened showed, we decided to bring that energy to our local area. Just think of it: a festival filled with sunshine, vibrant flowers, and a chance to connect with neighbours – who wouldn’t want to be part of that? Last year, we kicked off a sunflower growing competition with Polmont Community Council, and it was! A learning curve, This year, we've taken it a step further with a full-fledged festival, complete with activities, workshops, and, of course, a spectacular display of sunflowers. The idea of embracing a "solar punk" vibe has us all buzzing – just imagine the creativity and community spirit we can foster! With a 1-kilogram bag of super giant sunflower seeds in hand (yes, that...
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Water Security

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  PCHub wants to be a big sponge? On May 11, 2025, we at PCHub were in the process of designing resilience-building initiatives for the two acres of community land we are now managing. Our sustainability manager, along with the community council, has started planning. We are currently developing our strategy for water storage and usage. We need to plan how we will irrigate (water)our social garden and orchard by this time next year. We are currently relying on a neighbour's hose, which is wasteful and unsustainable. April was particularly dry and warm locally, and there were even tragically local forest fires. With the seasons arriving earlier and wind patterns changing, the ground has become extremely dry, making it difficult to manage our seedlings since we do not have a polytunnel yet. The first 12 days of May were sadly rainless, with SEPA starting to post concerns, as some of Scotland's rivers  were unseasonably low  The management team and the growers fully support...
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Top Toe`s

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   Girls Changing Rooms Transformation into Braveheart Top Toes Clinic This project was funded through community money. Voters in Ward Eight of Falkirk District Council voted this initiative into second place during last year's Community Choices award. To apply for this Community Chest, small charities like ours had to submit a project proposal with cost estimates to the District Council. Our dedicated team of unpaid volunteers worked hard to prepare this documentation, aiming to demonstrate to the council that they could trust us to manage their former asset. We obtained quotes from three builders, estimating the transformation costs to be around £5,000. Our application was accepted by the council, and the project was included in the participatory budgeting voting system for community members to decide what they wanted to see funded. These budgeting initiatives are designed to build community wealth, foster togetherness, support local businesses, and manage resources in an en...
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Our Wee Library

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  Oor Wee Library       PCHub was previously a council-managed community education center for many years. After it ceased functioning as a primary school, it hosted various classes for fifty years. When it was set for closure in 2024, the Rotary Club removed their rotating books library, believing that the hub would not be saved. However, we successfully rescued it from closure and retained all the classes that remained. Since then, we have significantly increased the number and variety of groups and classes compared to the days of council ownership and management. We are no longer just surviving; we are now thriving, with more classes and more attendees every day, as our community continues to grow.      One of the things we've noticed is that when we started a small book stand in the foyer, people who were bringing their kids to events in the main hall—like judo or karate—often took a book to read. We received numerous inquiries and even a reque...
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Polmontopoly

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  Polmontopoly  Monopoly evolved from earlier anti-capitalist roots, notably The Landlord's Game (1903) by Elizabeth Magie, known to her friends as Lizzie, the problems of the new century were so vast, the income inequalities so massive and the monopolists so mighty that it seemed impossible that an unknown woman working as a stenographer stood a chance at easing society’s ills with something as trivial as a board game. But she believed in the Georgist paradigm, which seeks solutions to social and ecological problems based on principles of land rights and public finance that attempt to integrate economic efficiency with social justice,  Night after night, after her work at her office was done, Lizzie sat in her home, drawing and redrawing, thinking and rethinking. It was the early 1900s, and she wanted her board game to reflect her progressive political views – that was the whole point of it. The game became popular with left-wing intellectuals and on college campuses, an...
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Refurbishment of the West Wing

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  Souplin in Scots is the shoot of a tree Our hub is the mother tree, Souplin are going to be our nutritional food branch         We served stewp at our wonderful just transition Burns Night. This was a broth so thick it was like stew, treemendous introduction to what you can offer as accessible pathways into permaculture skills, nutrient-dense local food and an opportunity to explore the role community-scale food farming without slaughter animals could play in the ecological, social and cultural regeneration of our communities In our first year we have spent considerable time, establishing plans for a nearly 3-acre site, we aim for this to be a holistically-designed, living landscape of food and shelter, we have partnered with organisations including Social Farms and Gardens, keep Scotland beautiful, its your neighbourhood, FEL, Scotland and other wellbeing hubs to explore the role social farms and orchards could play in tackling inequality, food poverty, ...
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