Charitable trust facing a double blow new report reveals

Live Borders manages the Great Tapestry of Scotland building. Photo: Phil Wilkinson.

Scottish Borders Council set up Live Borders back in 2003 with the objective of “expanding levels of participation and access for all”.

Its current portfolio include 13 sports facilities, six swimming pools, three sports halls, six libraries, 11 museums and ten community centres.

But the trust is now facing a huge slump in customer numbers and membership due to the impact of Covid-19.

At the same time Scottish Borders Council is reducing its annual management fee paid to Live Borders by £251,00 in each of the next two years.

The extent of the pressure facing the trust is outlined in its annual report and accounts for 2021/22, which were submitted to Companies House on December 21.

Pre-Covid in 2019/20, the number of participations/visits to sporting facilities totalled 1,262,019.

However, in the last financial year that figure slumped to 705,907 – a decrease of 44 per cent.

And the decline in visitors to cultural venues such as museums and libraries was even more marked, from 448,317 visits in 2019/20 to just 182,954 in the last financial year – a huge 59 per cent reduction.

Sports membership was cut from 6,107 to 3,990 (34.6 per cent) and library use dropped from 15,593 to 7,363 (52.7 per cent) over the period.

It is now feared that it will take months, perhaps even years, for the organisation to return to pre-Covid figures of customer usage.

Meanwhile, the management agreement between Live Borders and Scottish Borders Council stipulates that the annual fee paid by the local authority now diminishes by five per cent per annum.

The annual report says: “In 2021/22 Scottish Borders Council paid £5.06 million in management fees to Live Borders. The fee for the next two year has been set to reduce by £251,000 per annum. Live Borders is required to fund all budgetary pressures, and continue to discuss the potential impact of these pressures with SBC.”

The trust runs the recently opened Great Tapestry of Scotland museum in Galashiels, which has also been seriously impacted by the pandemic, with visitor numbers for the first six months totalling 24,000 – less than half the predicted 51,000.