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Aberdour SOUP

THE BIG COMMUNITY PITCH

On 3 August 2026, Aberdour SOUP brought the community together during the Aberdour Festival to support local ideas and turn some of the priorities identified through the Community Action Plan into action.

The night began with a bowl of delicious soup prepared by the Aberdour Bistro, with everyone sitting together at long tables. This simple shared meal helped set the tone for the evening, creating a strong sense of community and bringing people together in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

Local residents and groups pitched projects that could make a positive difference to the village. The audience then voted for the projects they would most like to support.

A £6,000 community fund was shared between the successful projects based on the percentage of votes they received, allowing several ideas to move from concept towards reality.

The event was inspired by the Dundee SOUP model used by communities across Scotland and beyond.

👉 Learn about Dundee SOUP event

Why Did We Run It?

Aberdour SOUP was one of the first opportunities to turn ideas from the Community Action Plan into practical action.

The event focused on Quick Wins — achievable projects that could make a visible difference to village life within a realistic timescale. More than just a funding opportunity, SOUP was designed to encourage community participation, support new ideas and help residents work together on projects that benefit Aberdour.

In the weeks leading up to the event, CAP also hosted a Pitch Lab workshop to help residents develop project ideas and prepare their pitches.

👉 Learn more about the Pitch Lab

What Kind of Projects Could Apply?

Projects needed to meet four simple criteria:

Local Roots – led by people who live, work, volunteer or are part of a group based in the Aberdour community.
Community Benefit – providing a clear benefit to people in Aberdour.
Collaborative – proposed by at least two people working together.
Non-Profit – community-focused and not intended to generate private profit.

Projects did not need to be fully developed. The aim was to support promising ideas and help bring them to life.

What Happened?

The event brought together project teams, supporters and members of the wider community for an evening of ideas, pitches and voting.

Each project team had 5 minutes to present their idea before the audience voted. Every audience member could cast their vote, and the final funding for each project was calculated according to its share of the total votes.

For example, if a project received 20% of all the votes, it received 20% of the £6,000 fund — £1,200.

This meant that the funding was shared between projects rather than awarded to a single winner.

The Results

Six projects were pitched on the night, and all six received a share of the community fund:

Tuesday Club — Awarded £1,651 (28% of votes)
ACAN Trailblazers — Awarded £1,409.50 (23% of votes)
The Shady Pear — Awarded £966.50 (16% of votes)
Pond Dippers — Awarded £926 (15% of votes)
Outdoor Games — Awarded £564 (9% of votes)
Aberdour Festival — Awarded £483 (8% of votes)

👉 Explore the funded projects and follow their progress

From Ideas to Action

Aberdour SOUP was not intended to be a one-off event. It was an opportunity to begin putting some of the Community Action Plan's priorities into practice.

Alongside the projects funded through SOUP, the CAP group will also look at how the remaining CAP funding can support additional Quick Wins identified by the community.

The projects supported through SOUP are a first step towards turning the ideas gathered through the CAP process into visible changes in Aberdour.

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who submitted an idea, took part in Pitch Lab, pitched a project, voted, volunteered, helped organise the event or came along to support the teams.

The success of Aberdour SOUP showed what can happen when local ideas, community involvement and a little funding come together.

This is just the beginning.

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