A New Year and a new setup for RYA Scotland

For many organisations, location and facilities can define who we are. For many years, the RYA Scotland office has been located within Caledonia House at South Gyle, Edinburgh – a building owned and operated by sportscotland. Caledonia House has recently been sold and many of the sport governing bodies in that building have had to find new premises or new ways of working.

The 15 RYA Scotland staff have become more geographically dispersed over recent years. The team are not based as predominantly around Edinburgh anymore, but are in the east, west and north. This has been a conscious shift so that we can recruit more widely and be present more easily within the Scottish sailing and boating community.

Location of RYA Scotland staff

Following the loss of our office at Caledonia House, we have decided not to establish another singular location for a staff base at the moment. Instead, we will be working more flexibly and are looking to utilise space at locations across Scotland, ideally within the boating or sports community. 

You may be aware that our strategy is titled “People, Places and Communities”. So the vast majority of what we do will be working with people in those places where clubs, associations and other organisations are delivering sailing and boating. We believe this approach will allow us to be present in the community, supporting our RYA Scotland purpose - to promote and protect safe, successful and rewarding boating in Scotland.

In 2024 we visited and worked with a large number of organisations in Scotland and we will continue to do this in 2025, remembering that we are RYA Scotland – working for all of Scotland, not just Edinburgh and the Central Belt.

Locations where RYA Scotland has been present in 2024

What will the future hold? We will keep our working arrangements under review to ensure they are working for everyone. As many will be aware, public sector funding is limited and the majority of funding for RYA Scotland comes from sportscotland. As such, we have to make strategic choices about paying for activity and engagement or for premises. To deliver our mission for the Scottish boating community, our priority remains engagement.

We look forward to working with clubs, centres and other organisations in 2025 as we bring our revised “People, Places and Communities” strategy forward.

Finlo Cottier

RYA Scotland CEO

Please note that following this change, all staff are still contactable on their existing mobile numbers however the RYA Scotland landline is no longer active. Our primary contact number is now 07436 296765.

If you’d like to get in touch regarding our change in working practise, drop a line to communications@ryascotland.org.uk