About Opportunity Kintyre

Opportunity Kintyre is a community based organisation committed to positively influencing the regeneration of the local economy in Kintyre for the benefit of both its residents and visitors. It hopes to achieve this through adherence to the Sirolli model of economic development and a process of Enterprise Facilitation®.

Based upon the work of Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, Opportunity Kintyre is about harnessing the resources and passion of the people of Kintyre in order to assist the creation and growth of new and existing businesses.

This model is truly 'community based' working 'from the bottom upwards'. It focuses upon grass roots economic development relevant to the local community, and is based upon assisting individuals or established businesses to follow their instincts, sticking to what they know best and really enjoy, whilst gaining management support in the areas of business that they are less familiar with or enjoy least.

In many parts of the world, in many different communities, Enterprise Facilitation® has freed entrepreneurs to follow their dreams, build successful teams and carry on doing what they love to do – we hope that individuals from Kintyre will be tempted to do the same ...

How It All Started

In September 2005, a small group of people from Kintyre headed for Glasgow, to meet and hear Ernesto Siroll.

We had heard that the Scottish Executive was looking for 3 communities to pilot a local economic regeneration project using Sirolli methods. On arrival, we noticed that most of the other delegates were from the public sector. The Sirolli Team seemed particularly impressed by Kintyre and the fact that representatives from a real community had attended. Ernesto himself advised our group that Kintyre was ideal in terms of size and location for this type of project.

Inspired by what we had heard, and the success of the Sirolli method in other communities like ours, we returned to Kintyre with a determination to submit a very competitive bid.

We formed a local Steering Group, made up of representatives from the Community Councils and other local people with an interest in Kintyre, and held several informal meetings at which we discussed the way forward and the substance of our bid. The name 'Opportunity Kintyre' was chosen as being the most appropriate. The wider community proved very supportive – in addition to the funding from Scottish Executive, we raised £50,000 by way of pledges of cash or in-kind support and submitted our bid by the deadline.

In February 2006 we heard that we had been successful.

Recruiting the Panel and Facilitator

Following the exciting news of our successful bid, a meeting was held with the Steering Group and two members of the Sirolli Team - Ned Webb and Nancy Peyron - in April 2006. They gave us an outline of how the project would continue. The first task was to recruit a wider Steering Group or Community Panel. It was recommended that we recruit from all sections of the community and, geographically, ensure that we were representative of the whole of Kintyre. Some professional expertise within the Panel such as legal and accountancy support was also considered to be useful.

We set up an incorporated company limited by guarantee, Opportunity Kintyre Limited, and duly signed contracts with Highlands & Islands Enterprise (for funding support) and the Sirolli Institute for their mentorship and input to the project. We then set about recruiting our Panel.

In total, we have now recruited a Community Panel of around 50 people - experience from previous Sirolli projects has shown that this number works very well. Within this Panel, we have a 'Core Management Team', and various sub-groups to manage Fund Raising, Public Relations, Accounting & Business Affairs.

The Panel is a collection of committed Kintyre people with a very wide range of skills, experience and talents. Each member offers support on a voluntary basis to make the project a success.

A Recruitment Sub-Committee of the Panel, supported once again by a representative of the Sirolli Institute, completed the selection process for an Enterprise Facilitator in December 2006, and Lynn Hammal joined our team in February 2007.

The 2-year Pilot

Each member of the Community Panel, having read the core text on Enterprise Facilitation®, 'Ripples from the Zambezi', has undergone training with the Sirolli Institute to prepare them for their vital role. All Panel Members undertake to observe Total Confidentiality in respect of any client information.

In March 2007, 10 OK panel members underwent 5 days of intensive Enterprise Facilitator training with 4 members of the Sirolli team. The end of this week marked the beginning of a 2-year pilot in which Opportunity Kintyre successfully supported local 'grass roots' business individuals and organisations.

Where We Are Now

In April 2009, Lynn Hammal left OK for pastures new after more than two years of sterling service. Susan Paterson took up the position as Co-ordinator with the company, which will recruit a new Enterprise Facilitator a.s.a.p.