OUR PLAN
We aim to be in the position to purchase a property for use as a community space and housing co-operative by mid-2026. This page gives an overview of how we’ll achieve that. There’s lots of work still to be done! Fortunately, we know what we need, how much it’ll cost, and that this is a feasible project.
The Story So Far
Mara Co-op started in 2024 as a collective of Aberdonians who were keen on creating a community gardening project. While looking into ways we could make that happen, we stumbled into the Housing Co-operative model. We quickly realised the potential impact that a Housing Co-operative & Community Space could have on Aberdeen and its grassroots communities – and started laying the groundwork to make it a reality.
After doing our homework, we registered with the FCA officially in March 2025. Since then, we have been developing our processes, business plan, and policies, and have been strategising on how to meet the aims of our project and support our communities as best we can.
Where we are now
We are now at our fundraising and outreach stage. This involves some of the following:
- Reaching out to community members to gather valuable feedback and endorsements. Give feedback here.
- Reaching out to community groups and fellow co-operatives to tell them about our project, and discuss ways that we could support one another.
- Reaching out to funders, such as grant providers, who we believe will be interested in supporting this project.
The Next 5 Years
We forecast that we’ll be able to maintain a stable surplus from the very first year of operation as Mara Co-op. Once established, we won’t need to jingle our money tins at you! But at this moment, the more donations, grants, and loanstock we manage to get will make a massive difference to our surplus in the years ahead.
More surplus means that we’ve got more money to put towards improving our community spaces and supporting other projects around our city. We hope that you’ll be keen to get involved and support us!
