A SHOP at the heart of Dunbar has featured in a new report highlighting how the resilience of co-operatives in Scotland has helped communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Revive and thrive: Why co-ops are pivotal to a fairer, stronger Scotland’ shows the strength of the co-operative model, highlighting examples of how four Scottish co-ops continued to operate and serve their communities during lockdown and beyond – including The Community Carrot.

The report, prepared for the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Co-operatives, sets out six recommendations for policy-makers to act on, now and after next May’s Holyrood election, to further develop the co-op sector in Scotland.

The Community Carrot, previously known as The Crunchy Carrot, became community-run nearly 12 months ago and has 600 members.

Before the pandemic, it supplied 15-20 weekly vegetable boxes.

However, that figure rose to 350 during the early stages of lockdown, when the premises were closed and the business adapted to a delivery-only model.

The shop’s Hannah Ewan said: “We showed that local supply chains can be very responsive and work very well; we managed to supply pretty much everything due to our relationship with mills and farms.”

Stronger connections have been forged within the local community and economy during the pandemic.

The Community Carrot provided Dunbar Community Bakery with a route to market by offering the bakery’s products in its delivery boxes. It now also has better links with the local foodbank and other community organisations.

The report was also welcomed by Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian.

He said: “Co-ops always have an important role in the economy and local communities but, as this report highlights, they really came into their own during lockdown.

“Local co-ops across Scotland rose to meet the new challenges and adapted to serve their communities and make a positive difference, and it’s great to see the Community Carrot featured as one of the examples.

“This report also makes important recommendations on how the Scottish Government can better support the co-operative movement. I hope ministers will respond positively to the report and adopt its recommendations.”