Building on success …
CuparNow is changing: gone is the levy on non-domestic rate-paying properties. In its place? A Subscription Service – a tailored approach that gives more choice to Businesses, Organisations and Community Groups across Cupar and the town’s north-east Fife catchment. Read on for the story so far … and for our plans for 2025 and beyond …
CuparNow launched in 2018 following a Scottish Government programme that explored how small towns should best use ‘digital’ in support of their communities. Cupar was chosen as a demonstration project to prove the concept of a ‘digital improvement district’ – supported by ABCD, the town’s business association.
Our company (Destination Digital) undertook the research for the government programme and we were awarded seed corn funding to run the pilot – on the understanding that, if it resulted in a successful ballot of businesses, we would deliver the first five year term (2019-24) funded via an improvement district levy on non-domestic rateable properties.
We worked closely with local businesses to ensure the levy would not be onerous: for the vast majority, it was just £100 a year to deliver an agreed plan of business and community support. In December 2019 – with the backing of businesses and organisations – we won the ballot to create the UK’s first Digital Improvement District.
Through Covid, Lockdowns et al …
We have delivered our support uninterrupted since winning the ballot five years ago – managed, integrated digital communication and services using our ‘hub and spoke’ model in support of businesses, community groups, culture and tourism initiatives, education and training providers, environmental projects as well as health and social care partnerships … all combining to deliver sustainable economic development for the town.
CuparNow has built an engaged digital audience of more than 130,000 people. Since 2020, we have created and posted over 15,000 pieces of content across our core social media channels. In the last month alone (Nov 2024), our Facebook page – followed by 36% of the town’s population – had more than a quarter of a million views.
Since we launched, headlines of our delivery include:
- Published more than 400 blog stories in support of businesses and community groups
- Helped to share job opportunities and thousands of local events and activities
- Provided categorised listings enabling tens of thousands to search for and find businesses and organisations in the town
- Issued over 170 e-newsletter to subscribers – more than 3,000 people signed up to receive regular updates from the town
- Sent more than 250 e-shots to those on our business database – sharing news, support, access to grants and many other business-related matters
- Issued more than 70 e-shots to community partners – sent for and on behalf of the town’s Development Trust to help promote projects involving the Trust and local stakeholders
- Published over 600 videos on our YouTube channel
- Recorded 20+ podcasts that are live on Spotify, Apple and other channels, featuring a mix of businesses and community partners
- Filmed and broadcast a TV commercial (for which we triggered matched funding) which has been viewed by approaching half a million people
- Created, printed and distributed 20,000 town guides including a digitised Blue Plaque Trail to promote heritage tourism
- Sponsored community stalls at the Cupar Market, enabling local associations, clubs and societies to raise funds, awareness and membership
A second term?
We had planned a second term (to run from 2025-30) reducing the annual levy and supplanting the income by selling advertising. Our longer term ambition? To scrap the levy and run ongoing beyond 2030 having created a self-sustaining model.
Through the last 12 months, we have tracked analytics and insights across the channels we manage. The continued audience growth, reach and levels of engagement and interaction have been exponential. The success of CuparNow means we are confident we can continue without a ballot now – scrapping the need for a levy on businesses and organisations – instead, inviting those who value what we do to subscribe to the service as well as offering advertising opportunities to those wishing to access the project’s audiences.
Subscribe and support …
So the decision has been taken to jump straight to the ‘third term’ model – offering businesses, organisations and groups the opportunity to subscribe with packages of support starting at just £100.00 + VAT per year.
Subscribers – and any business in Cupar and across the town’s catchment – also have the opportunity to advertise with us by buying space on our channels to engage with our ever-growing audiences. A full breakdown of the subscription packages and advertising options is available online: simply click here or on the image below to open:
Time to sign-up …
We continue to run CuparNow ‘as is’ through until the end of March 2025.
Right now, we are asking businesses, organisations and groups to sign-up to subscribe to our packages: to help raise awareness, we will be contacting businesses, organisations and groups direct, promoting opportunities via our own channels as well as liaising with local and regional media.
Between now (January) and March 31st, we invite all those who wish to subscribe to do so – committing to a your preferred annual package of support …
Simply click on the options below to open our sign-up form.
It is right to point out that in offering a FREE service option, we rely on those who choose to subscribe to our Bronze, Silver or Gold packages. Taking inflation into account, our ‘bronze’ package is priced at less than the lowest level levy payers were paying in 2024.
Once signed-up, the chosen package will be billed in April for immediate payment. it will cover 12 months through until the end of March 2026.
As mentioned, we have built an engaged combined digital audience that tops 130,000 across all of our channels – not bad for a town with a population of under 10,000! The majority of of our most engaged audience – followers, readers, listeners and viewers – live within an hour’s drive time of Cupar. Analytics enables us to monitor and evaluate key data relating to more than 100,000 blog readers across the world. As a result, we know we have advocates in more than 135 countries covering every time zone … all helping to amplify Cupar’s message.
And because we have such an amazing audience – Cupar’s diaspora – we have opened the opportunity for anyone – be they at home or on the other side of the world – to support our work. We will stress: we are NOT a charity … we are a small, local company. We welcome any contribution – no matter how small – to the CuparNow Crowdfunding page (accessed via this link). Thank you!
Testimonials
We are always blown away by testimonials.
Perhaps the following demonstrate CuparNow’s impact and successes better than anything we can say …
“I can provide you with an unreserved endorsement of the services provided by CuparNow over the last 5 years – an innovative and pioneering service. No other communication and marketing channel can provide remotely the same detailed targeting of local parties as is provided by CuparNow – and at such modest cost. In my role as Chairman, I can advise that CuparNow has enabled ABCD to communicate with the local community – businesses and the general public – in a manner in which we could never achieve prior to it coming into being.”
Jim Hair, Chair of Cupar’s Business Association
“I write as chair of the Cupar Development Trust. We have worked hand in glove with CuparNow on a series of projects through the last five years – most recently their support proving vital in enabling us to best engage with our community to complete both the Community Action Plan and Local Place Plan for Cupar. Currently, we are working with them on exciting projects that are exploring how some of the most vulnerable across our community might be best supported through a collaboration involving local food producers, healthcare partnerships and training providers.
As a result of their ‘community first’ approach, not only were we able to deliver a unique project with them that highlights Cupar as a centre for our area’s food and drink – a series of trails centred on Cupar that helps to promote 800+ food and drink businesses across north-east Fife – but working with us, they were instrumental in triggering substantial matched funding for a TV commercial that aired in 2022 and 2023, a commercial seen by more than 450,000 adults to date. They were also key to the delivery of the recent, highly successful “Big Cupar Tidy”, giving us a route to effective communication across the community. We need innovative, community-minded organisations to help create wealth and support wellbeing in our area. CuparNow – a crucial and respected player in the town – enjoys Cupar Development Trust’s full confidence as hardworking, open and effective agents for positive change in the community.”
Mr A S Miklinski CBE, Chair Cupar Development Trust
“Our Association is home to a thriving community centre which runs Cupar Camera Club, Cupar Model Railway Club, Cupar Art Club, Ferryfield Nursery and Playgroup, North-East Fife Credit Union, Cupar Amateur Musical Society as well as other community groups and individuals who make use of the venue. During 2019, the Association needed to raise £130,000 to build an extension to their premises. Cupar Now supported our grant applications through helping us gather community support and gathering evidence: without their support, we would have been unable to successfully complete our project.
Over the past five years I, along with the groups I represent, have worked with Cupar Now, which has supported, provided guidance and given access to the Cupar and District community at large to strengthen community partnership working through face to face and digital partnerships. Since the establishment of Cupar Now, businesses and the community have thrived. I am aware of the significant drop in vacancy rates that so benefited the town during some of the most challenging times of Covid and lockdowns. Undoubtedly, CuparNow’s constant promotion helped to raise Cupar’s profile.”
Raymond H Young, Secretary, Castlehill Community Association
“Three Estates Cupar (SC048967) is a small local charity, dedicated to the promotion of the area’s history and heritage. In particular, it promotes Cupar’s most famous son, Sir David Lindsay of The Mount, and his play – the oldest surviving Scottish play – Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis. We have very limited funds and have found the support from CuparNow absolutely vital.
The success of our events is the direct result of CuparNow spreading the word and supporting us on the day. Our plans for the next five years are already being discussed with them, and we look forward very much to being able to continue working with CuparNow in delivering our aspirations.”
Bill Pagan, Chair, Three Estates Cupar
“Cupar Now has become the popular on-line ‘commercial’ platform which sustains the identity of Cupar as the market-place of the District … and has developed the professional on-line hub of news of the social activities within Cupar and the network of communities around the burgh.”
David Kirk, Chair, Cupar & District u3a
And finally …
We have been working on this unique project since 2017. The Scottish Government tasked us to create a sustainable model to deliver wide-ranging digital support for communities – support that had been requested by communities in the Digital Towns Programme across Scotland. We have done just that.
It was always our aim to make the model self-sustaining – the only improvement district in Scotland to do so. We envisaged that would take us two five-year terms: with your support, we can achieve that after one.
The levy has ended.
Now we ask businesses, organisations, groups and our audiences to back us, enabling us to continue delivering our wide-ranging support for Cupar and our community – helping to deliver prosperity for our town and Cupar’s satellite villages across north-east Fife.
Please feel free to share with friends, family and colleagues who may be interested. Thank you.
Thank you for reading.