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How A Boutique Hotel Turns Stays Into Community Support
What if a hotel room could keep a cancer support centre open for a few more hours, help preserve a coronation church, and fund a school workshop on the First World War? We share how our Giving Back programme at King Street Apart Hotel turns every occupied room into steady support for local charities across the Forth Valley.
We sit down with three partners to explore the real-world impact. Lorna from Maggie’s explains the power of a calm, welcoming space where people facing cancer can ask the questions they missed in the clinic and find practical and emotional support that lifts the weight. David from Stirling Heritage Alliance opens the doors to the Church of the Holy Rude, a living landmark where King James was crowned, and lays out a simple truth: heritage survives when visitors show up, listen, and help keep the roof sound. Ayla from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum brings the regiment’s story to life inside Stirling Castle, from the mascot Cruachan to a hands-on education programme that reaches children who have never heard of trenches or the home front.
Across the hour, we chart how a named-room model and a £5-per-stay donation create predictable funding for classes, conversations, and conservation. We also share practical moves that knit the city together: guiding guests along a scenic route that passes Holy Rude and Cowane’s, encouraging meals in independent cafés, and designing events that bring tenants, tourists, and locals into the same room. It is a simple, scalable way to blend travel, culture, and care—so a night away leaves a mark that lasts.
If you believe hospitality can power community, give this a listen, book a charity room, and tell a friend. Subscribe for more stories from Stirling’s people and places, and leave a review to help others find us.
Hello and welcome back to Studio King Street. I'm your host, Neil Monday, of the Sterling Business Podcast. This week we have something a little bit different. We have our fellow director, Paul Murray, talking to some of the local charities in the Forth Valley area that we support on an ongoing basis with our project here in King Street. So without further ado, I'll hand over to Paul to take us away.
SPEAKER_03:So hello, welcome to King Street Apart Hotel. Today's been a very special day for us where we've been launching our Giving Back program where we have named several of our rooms after local charities and will donate a percentage of the room rate to those charities on an ongoing basis. So today we have three members of the charities that we are supporting. So if you could introduce yourself and then we'll get started.
SPEAKER_00:I'm Lorna, I'm from Maggie's Four Fightery.
SPEAKER_02:I'm David, I'm from Stirling Heritage Alliance.
SPEAKER_04:I'm Ayla Carmaiko, I'm from the Argylen Southern Highlanders Museum in Stirling Castle.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, you're all very welcome. Uh so first of all, can you tell us, Lorna, a little bit about your charity's work, uh what your objectives are as a charity, and some of the people who benefit from the work of your charity.
SPEAKER_00:So we are a cancer charity, uh we're based on the Drowns of Four Fi Hospital. We have other um centres based around our um cancer centres as well across the UK. So we are here to provide support to people who have been diagnosed with cancer and their family and friends.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, that's great. David? Um Stirling Heritage Alliance, we've just recently changed our name from Stirling District Tourism. We are working in partnership with Church of Scotland to operate the Church of the Holy Road as a visitor attraction, as well as it also being a church. So we're working in partnership with them. It's kind of a pilot scheme, it's not happening anywhere else in Scotland, and lots of other churches are watching with interest as some church buildings are becoming empty and the Church of Scotland looking for somewhere else to do.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, so we're also um we operate Legends at the Monument, uh cafe and shop. So super at the Wallace Monument, and they've gone in for a cup of soup or a scone, and we provide that, and we also run Legends at Cowan's across from Church of the Route. Yep, great. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:So the Island Southern Highlanders Museum Trust, I run two trusts, the Regimental Trust and the Museum Trust. The Museum Trusts, in partnership with the Historic Environmental Scotland here in Stirling Castle. Um, our mission and our vision is always to maintain the legacy, the strategic legacy of the regiment, which no longer is in service, it's not in line, it's not serving. We were amalgamated in 2006 with the Royal Regiment of Scotland, so we became the 5th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. But it was important that the legacy and the history of the Argyle and Southern Highlanders was maintained in the castle, the castle being the home of the regiment for nearly 200 years. Um and we deliver an education program through our um schools program at the national curriculum level five. We deliver outreach programs, we work with local businesses, and hence the reason we've got synergies with yourselves. Um, and literally we work with Historic Environmental Scotland in education within the council as well.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. So all three very worthy causes. Um what diff can you give us uh some stories about the difference that your your charities had made that illustrate you know what your perfect scenario would be in terms of uh support and uh contribution to uh your beneficiaries?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, of course there'd be people coming in maybe are just being diagnosed with cancer or not to show what must be awful. Yeah, it's a difficult thing. They've got all these questions you probably don't have a chance to ask when you're in a hospital environment to come in and speak to our cancer support specialists who then answer all their questions and um guide them to be part of their programme and support groups that may be beneficial to them. So it's nice to see they come in maybe a bit distressed, but coming out with a bit of weight off their shoulders.
SPEAKER_03:They're not alone.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, not alone, definitely, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I know when we um I'm sure we've all got family members who have had that news um and it it's devastating.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And that's that external support is just as important as the internal support from the family. And I suppose the family needs support as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely, yeah. If you've been around the kitchen table we have at all Maggie's, there's a lot of support going on there between the visitors.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Always nice to see that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And David, uh I've since my since I started coming to Stirling about nearly two years ago now when I first uh went into this business with Neil, uh, I always thought that the Church of the Holy Road was the hidden gem of Scotland, and really Stirling doesn't doesn't speak enough about the the Hook Church and its unique history.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's the apart from Westminster Abbey, it's the only church that still has regular services uh which has seen a king crowned. Yes. King James VI or King James I mean whether you're in Scotland or England. And the number of people who've preached there, who've worshipped there, and the story behind the church as well. Yeah, the the arguments that happened within um the divisions, religious divisions, that a wall was built and was there separated into two churches for hundreds of years, and actually one half lay empty for a lot of time.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And there's so many stories about people who've been involved, so many stories about the history of Stirling. And the reason we got involved, um we had previously run the Wallace Monument, and Church of Scotland were looking at the building and thinking, we're gonna have to do some maintenance on this over time, we're gonna have to raise funds. What can we do? So funny enough, it was Historic Environment Scotland that put us together and we had discussions. And we've had visitors from um St Giles in Edinburgh came through to find out how the model's working for us because they're looking to see if they can do something similar. So our aim is to try and get visitors and locals to come in, enjoy their visit, buy something from the shop, maybe leave donations, and that can get plowed back into the fabric of the building and help the church preserve it.
SPEAKER_03:If I mean if my my reaction uh when we uh when Tracy gave us a tour of the place uh a few months ago, being my first time there, and I was astounded at the the in the inside of the church. Yeah, and it's not just the spot where the coronation took place, but also the other artifacts around the huge window and the history of glass, and it also overlaps into your territory, I like it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, it's very much my our regimental Kirk as well. So there's a lot of our regimental history within the Kirk as well.
SPEAKER_03:So I I hope that this programme that we're putting together can help, you know, combine that. Two messages resonate better than the sorry, two plus two messages resonate more than two messages, don't you don't you? You get twice the impact, and that connection is is vital to Sterling because it's not just a a church with a history, it's actually a church with a community impact and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_02:Very much so. It's been at the centre of the community. Um and you know, life moves on, people move on, but the the stories remain fantastic, lovely building.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And Ali, I'm sure you and I know you've got loads of stories, but uh uh what what would be a couple of stories you would say illustrate just how much the public can appreciate what you do or that your beneficiaries appreciate what you do?
SPEAKER_04:Well, when we take our history back to 1639, we have connections to Stirling Castle 1639. Um, lots of soldiers, uh take the First World War, for example, 27,000 men of the Argyll and Southern Highlanders went through Stirling Castle because it was a regimental training depot right up until 1963. So the philosophy is the rock is our foundation, the castle is our business in terms of the museum, our heritage is there. The roof is our association. Now the slates are falling off that roof because our associations dying. But they we have the permission from the ministers of Scotland to stay in Stilling Castle as long as we so wish. In partnership with Historic Environmental Scotland, but as a charity we still have to fund, self-fund. And so the synergies we have with yourselves here in King Street Apart Hotels is fantastic because we hold functions, um, and you know we will be promoting this place before the great work that you're doing for our charity as well.
SPEAKER_03:So we reciprocate about advising, not just advising our guests to go to the castle but also to go at the museum, which is critically important because uh Yeah, because we don't get the footfall.
SPEAKER_04:We don't get anything from the ticket sales of the main. We rely on donations within the museum itself and our great guardians and partnerships like yourself with Kings Apartment.
SPEAKER_03:The museum is for history buffs like me is just wonderful. You must have had some great reactions from people who didn't quite know what to expect when they went in and were blown away with their experience.
SPEAKER_04:It's and it's not just about soldiers fighting, it's about the family ethos of the regiment, it's about the music, it's about ladies, it's about children. The whole story, it's a 360 story about the regimental spirit, the regimental family. And that's the way the museum's been set up. It's not in chronicle order. Each item in there tells a story about soldiers, not just from here in Scotland, but from the northeast where you come from, from Manchester, they joined this regiment going to the First World War, Second World War, National Service. So it's it's so so important, not just for the Argyll and Southern Islanders, but for the community of Stirling to have this fantastic showcase within in the castle itself.
SPEAKER_03:So Lorna, um very soon, but from today, we're going to start tottening up all the uh the five pounds that uh that uh every room that's occupied, we will donate five pounds towards each of these char each of these charities from your respective rooms. What difference will that make uh on a on a program basis or on a cumulative basis?
SPEAKER_00:That'll make a huge difference. We could say it costs£3,000 to open a centre for a day, so over over the months and hopefully years to come that will open the centre, pay for a day. Day to day, it'll pay for a part of the program such as our relaxation classes, our yoga, uh teas and coffees as well. It's a big part of Maggie's and we can't.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, in addition to that as well, we're hoping, you know, you're all familiar with the business lounge downstairs and the workspace business. We're hoping to hope to hold uh Friday afternoon pizza afternoons where we invite the tenants who are actually got the business based here to come in and relax as the week, the working week ends and put a donation into a into a pot and then add that to the the programme. And and I'm sure we'll come up with other ideas to do that as well. So please don't be shy with your own ideas about how you can use our presence here in the city centre. So so David, what what about you? What what difference do you think this is going to make?
SPEAKER_02:I I think it's a wonderful idea that you guys have got. This whole building, what you've done here is fantastic. Um for us, obviously, like everybody else, costs are rising and trying to balance the books. And if we make money, then part of it is is the charity to reinvest, and part of it goes to the Church of Scotland to invest in the actual heritage of the building. The thought of losing the building is I can I can't even consider that. And this will help go towards helping to restore, make sure it's wind and watertight, um, helping to further develop, make sure the stories are there for people for future generations because people forget, much like much like yourself, you you've got artifacts, you've got stories, and a lot of them are in people's heads. So we want to make sure things are recorded and they're there for the next generation. And anything we get from here is going to help us to achieve those aims, which is fantastic.
SPEAKER_03:One of our favourite refrains when we engage with our guests, which is very rarely deliberate, but you know, you as you saw earlier today, we it's unavoidable in a hotel where our officers actually in the building as well, is we'll bump into them and we'll always say uh where are you going? And nine times out of ten they'll say, Oh, the castle, and we'll say, Oh, make sure you stop at the church on the way up.
SPEAKER_02:Well, funnily you know, we've had people who walk straight past it. Funnily enough, somebody showed me a sign today that's going to be unveiled shortly. It's got an arrow saying scenic route to the castle. Ah, and it'll take folk through the game yard, but they'll pass the church and they'll pass uh Cowns Hospital. Yes.
SPEAKER_04:And that's aligned to the the stone, you know, the the marching stone thing as well, where we're trying to get people who are arriving by train or other means of transport and not by car to walk through the city helping business, helping restaurants, etc. But they take the scenic route through following the stones, there's the path through the stones and the graveyard and all the rest of it to get to the Esplanade at the front of the castle. So that and that, what you're saying there, what you're doing, giving money to support the curtain, the museum. Um it's fantastic because it's bringing business, charities, the whole the whole ethers have been together in this city. And it's not all working in stovepipes. It's amazing, honestly. Fantastic, fantastic uh concept that you've come up with.
SPEAKER_03:So, how how many years do we have to be full or have your room occupied for you to get a new kitchen?
SPEAKER_04:Well, that depends on how busy your room is. Exactly. But it's interesting because we you've we've named our room the Krukin's room. Yes. Now, the Kruoken, the word Kruokin goes back to our clan warfare. You know, Clan Campbell was the war cry of Clan Campbell. That's what they would call as they would go into battle, Kruakin Kruakin. Ben Cruakin is just north of uh Oban on the west coast of Scotland. The Guyon Southern Highlanders were presented with a little Shetland pony in the early 1900s by our first Colonel in chief, um Princess Louise. Originally it was called Tom Thumb, but they thought for a Highland regiment you can't call a mascot Tom Thumb. So they came up with Kruakin. Now we've had various Kruikans, we've had from one up to 4-4 being adopted by the Royal Regiment of Scotland. So Cruakin still exists to this day. So it's a great name, it's got no political or anything related to anything, it's just an animal that we have followed throughout over a hundred years, near enough, when we go on ceremonial parade. He's even Kruoken the Fourth has actually stood outside your door here.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Joe and two weeks ago, he walked past. So apparently, sorry to interrupt thee, he wouldn't walk at the back. He insists on working at the front or vice versa.
SPEAKER_04:No, no, the pipe band needs to be in front of Kruok and he doesn't like being up front. So he's in front of the troops, but he's not in front of the band. Um, and there's lots of fantastic stories about Kruoken, and they'll be in the illustrated in the illustrations within the room as well. But it's it's for us that five pounds forever, whatever many five pounds, a five pounds, five pounds, that's a lot for a charity. But that'll go towards our education program. And that means that children in deprived areas that we go and deliver our education program, who don't even know what the first world war or the second world war was, but at the end of that program, they know what a N-fled, defled trench is during the First World War. It really is making a difference for these young children's understanding of what heritage, not just for their guy on Southern Islands, but what happened during the First World War, Second World War, etc. So thank you.
SPEAKER_03:No, you're welcome. It you're welcome. It uh as I said earlier, the the idea germinated after a discussion we had when we first met, um, and it's expanded. Hopefully, we'll we'll expand it further in the future. Um, I hope that it inspires you to have different ideas of how you interface with other possible beneficiaries. That would be great. And I know we're trying to think of other ways we can support charities in the third sector as we go forward. As you know, we we don't have a restaurant or a bar in our apart hotel, so we're already encouraging our guests to go and eat and drink and spend money in the community, and I know that's going to make a huge difference as well. It's hardly charity, it's business, but at the same time, it generates wealth and it generates well-being in the community, which is has to be the you know a stable basis for any for any programme.
SPEAKER_04:Can I just say, you know, we met between because of the Fourth Valley Chambers of Commerce, the meets and greets. And we met up in the castle and we've spoken about the synergies between yourself and business and the charities. You know, as a as a charity, I see myself as a business. I was in the military for 32 years, but then went into business for 10 years and understand how business works, it's synergies. Your business helps the business on the high street because you don't have a cafe, you don't have a restaurant, a bar. So you are supporting this high street, and that is fantastic. That concept now I've always said to you, with this fantastic uh facility you've got here, as well as the business uh incubation centre, as well as all these beautiful rooms you've got, it's a fantastic, fantastic uh concept for Stirling, and I see you as the trailblazers for city of Stirling. People need to follow your example, I would suggest.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you very much. That's that's uh that's very that's very nice coming from you because I know how prominent the castle and the museum is in Stirling's history and sterling's day-to-day activity. Anyway, I think um that just about wraps. I really want to thank you for coming along. Uh I hope the program does. I think you're not for the things. It swings both ways, you know. We and I think uh uh we'll take your thanks, of course, but uh this is just the beginning. Yeah, and uh and moving forward, hopefully we'll have other ideas, as I said earlier, and we'll support it. And we maybe we'll I think we'll also have to think about some events that we can have, one-off events, which we could plan together as well with each of the four charities. So thank you once again for coming along. And I just want to add the fourth charity benefiting this program is Strathcaron Hospice, who unfortunately couldn't be here today, but will be the subject of our next podcast.