Bo'ness community interest company is a labour of love

Sean Kerr and Steve McQueen had long talked about making a difference by setting up their own commnunity interest company.

When Sean lost his job as a sound and lighting engineer, Steve was also looking for a new challenge after working for Asda’s equal opportunities team for a number of years.

They had often talked about doing something to give back to the community and they decided to finally do something about it, founding Sustainable Thinking Scotland in 2016.

In January 2017, they secured their first piece of land on Kinneil Estate with one delapidated polytunnel that Falkirk Council no longer needed.

The lads set about repairing the tunnel, securing £10,000 in funding to get the work done. That enabled Steve to start growing the fruit and vegetables that STS has become renowned for – making 13 donations to Bo’ness Storehouse in their first year.

The following year they were able to make 23 donations to the local foodbank and by 2019, when they’d acquired their second polytunnel, that increased to 26.

In 2020, as the pandemic brought the country to a standstill, the STS team produced tonnes of food to make 84 donations to the four local foodbanks it continues to work with today – Bo’ness Storehouse, the Old Kirk Food Pantry in Bo’ness, the Rainbow Muslim Women’s Group in Falkirk and Avonbridge Community Cafe.

As well as growing produce, Sean and Steve were also busy trying to source funds to expand their operation and laying the foundations for their community and well-being work.

That saw them running educational workshops with local schools and working with Maria Ford at Bo’net to improve the gardens at Bo’ness Community Hospital and Salmon Court.

All of this work was undertaken for free, as Sean and Steve tried to build up their brand – the first four years, they didn’t even take home pay!

However, all of the seeds they had planted started to take root and their operation began to expand, taking over more land which was surplus to Falkirk Council gardening team’s requirements – as the local authority started cutting back on services.

This enabled Sean and Steve to expand yet again and as they prepare to celebrate seven years of blood, sweat and tears, there’s little doubt that their community interest company continues to be a labour of love for them – albeit, at least now they’re able to take a wage!

Today, STS has seven polytunnels and three large greenhouses, housing over 160 raised beds, which help to provide the foodbanks with 80 to 120kgs of fresh fruit and veg every week, as well as providing space for well-being events and workshops, overseen by community well-being officer Danielle Aitken – one of the six members of staff.

There are also chickens and bees on the site, with vermin being kept in check by Steve’s beloved collie, Billy, another integral member of the team.

The Peanfahel Community Hub has also been built – thanks to Leader and National Lottery funding – to provide community meeting and presentation rooms, all generated by solar power.

Sean and Steve have undoubtedly come a long way since 2016 but, as they prepare to celebrate their seventh birthday in October, they're still as ambitious as ever.

While currently grant funding is a must to keep them powering forward, in future they hope to be completely self-funded. And they have the means to do just that, thanks to a new composting product which they use on site and are also now selling.

Using wood pellets, chips and logs found on the estate, they are creating biochar which improves soil aeriation and is fantastic for the environment too.

Next month, they’ll be relaunching the product and it will be on sale in the likes of Torwood Garden Centre for just £10 per litre – giving gardeners a chance to try it for themselves.

It is hoped that in future the product – which has many other uses and STS owns the intellectual property right for – will help the community interest company become completely self-sustaining.

Looking back over the seven years, it’s been a long and winding road for Sean and Steve but it’s clear to see they remain every bit as passionate about it as the first day they started...even if they can’t believe how far they’ve come!

Sean said: “We started this as we wanted to give something back to the community; we’ve definitely managed to achieve that, with many voluntary groups now using our site and the farm sustaining food banks.

“We had no idea what we were taking on; we just had an idea and decided to go for it. It's been hard work but it’s been worth every bit of it.”

Volunteers are also making a difference

Many groups now make lighter work for Sean and Steve at their Kinneil Estate base.

Among their number are two volunteer gardening groups, set up by the Falkirk and District Association for Mental Health (FDAMH).

The two groups attend every fortnight – a Friday morning for one and the following Friday afternoon for the other.

Overseen by FDAMH’s social spark project worker Sam Hudson, the teams do what they can to help keep the land in good shape – from planting seeds to pulling up weeds, and everything in between.

Aged from 17 to 55, the volunteers thoroughly enjoy their outings to Kinneil – working with like-minded folk to help other people.

Sam said: “We run a variety of groups for our clients, which tap into their interests – to get them socialising and building their confidence.

“Our volunteers love coming here because they feel like they’re giving back and helping other people with the work that they’re doing.

“That in itself is a huge confidence boost – knowing that they’re helping Steve keep on top of the work to ensure that produce is donated to the four local foodbanks is a great boost to them too.”

Many are also now working on achieving their John Muir Award, with three Levels available. The Level 1 team will soon be moving to Level 2 and others are working on Level 3, giving them all additional qualifications for their CVs.

Sam added: “The groups love being here and get so much from it. It’s a great set up.”

All welcome at harvest event

STS is preparing to celebrate its seventh birthday in October, with the relaunch of the biochar product taking centre stage.

However, before that, Sean, Steve and Danielle are busy organising their Bountiful Bo’ness Harvest Day on Saturday, September 23.

Being staged on the site at Kinneil Estate from 1pm to 4pm, it’s a chance for the STS team to thank all the volunteers and supporters who work with them throughout the year.

With a chef and food truck coming in, produce from the farm will take centre stage – with groups who use the produce also contributing.

Danielle said: “We had 350 people coming along last year so we’re hoping for a good turnout. It’s just a way of celebrating our own harvest, letting our hair down and enjoying the fruits of Steve and the volunteers’ labour!”

On December 16, STS will also be hosting its own Christmas market – giving local crafters and businesses a chance to sell their wares.

Prior to that, of course, will be the STS birthday celebrations with Sean enlisting the help of a long-term supporter to celebrate the relaunch of the one litre biochar pouches for £10.

He said: “When we first started out, Steve and I visited all the garden centres looking to see if they had old tools or stock that could help us with the start up – given it is a community interest company.

“Jamie Stevenson at Torwood Garden Centre donated some bags of compost and tools; he’s been an incredible support ever since.

“That’s where we’ll be doing the relaunch as they are already one of the few who already stock our biochar product. We can’t thank the team at Torwood enough.”

The date has yet to be confirmed; however, there is little doubt that the product works – and it already has a royal fan in King Charles, who was delighted to hear about what STS hopes to use it for in future.

A trial has already been undertaken with Scottish Water, using it to purify water at its treatment plants.

That forward-thinking also resulted in STS receiving a Scottish Knowledge Exchange Award for Innovation of the Year in 2023.