The community campaigners behind the transformation of Peterhead’s Victoria Park are officially the most enterprising in Scotland.
Peterhead Area Community Trust (PACT) has been awarded the Most Enterprising Community title in the 2025 Scotland Loves Local Awards.
The accolade follows the £1m volunteer-led rebirth of the public space, which is now supporting social enterprise, improving residents’’ wellbeing and helping to cut crime.
PACT is working to transform public spaces in Peterhead as part of its wider mission to help improve the town, including reducing poverty and tackling isolation.
And its volunteers are delighted to have their efforts recognised on the national stage.
“We’re absolutely over the moon to win this award, and grateful to all those who have supported PACT over the years, ” said Jennifer Lauder, one of the charity’s Trustees.
“We’ve taken a community-led approach since the beginning”, added Treasurer Alan Fakley.
“We went out to the community and asked them what they wanted to see in Victoria Park through engagement events and social media, and we had an overwhelming response.
“We live in an area with a high level of social deprivation here in Peterhead, and PACT was determined to provide leisure and sports facilities for everyone. Being in the town centre means that it is accessible and open to all which was really important for us as an organisation.
“The park is really something that the whole community can take pride in, and be a part of.”
As well as being crowned the 2025 Most Enterprising Community Award winner, the charity’s by the Scottish Government and Aberdeenshire Council as a model of grassroots regeneration in supporting local priorities.
Organised by Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP), the Scotland Loves Local Awards recognise and reward all that’s great about the nation’s towns and neighbourhoods and the work to ensure they become stronger and more sustainable.
STP Chief Officer Kimberley Guthrie met the team in Peterhead to celebrate their award success.
She said: “It’s been fantastic to see first-hand the remarkable impact that PACT have had on revitalising Victoria Park and making it a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment for the local community.
“It is grass-roots projects like this that truly demonstrate the ethos behind the Scotland Loves Local Awards, showcasing dedication and commitment to making better places to live, work and visit.”
Spearheaded by STP and supported by the Scottish Government, Scotland Loves Local is the movement encouraging people to create a better future for their community by choosing local. This is the fifth year in which the awards have been held.
The other finalists in the Most Enterprising Community category were the Glenuig Community Inn at Glenuig in the Highlands and Ochiltree Community Hub at Ochiltree in East Ayrshire.
