Dunfermline Athletic are in the early stages of fan ownership.

It is five weeks since Pars United, a coalition of supporters groups, took control of the club and began the process of rebuilding its foundations and status. There is still much to be achieved, not least increasing the revenue streams, but small signs of progress provide encouragement. They tell of a community reconnecting with the football club they thought might be lost.

There is the pensioner who sets up a shop inside East End Park every day to sell memorabilia, which has been donated to her by fans. She has rasied £20,000 for the club in less than six weeks. There were the local decorators who offered to repaint the Legends Lounge, and the local suppliers who provided the paint, all free of charge. There is Kenny, a lifelong fan who sells Pars whisky, Pars beer, Pars keyrings, even a Pars onesie - which Jim Leishman, the ebullient former manager, tried on for size - who has also raised around £20,000.

They will not sustain Dunfermline on their own, but initiatives are not in short supply. The rebranding of the Centenary Club is already providing regular monthly income. Fans pay £20 a month, with one-sixth of the money raised being used in the prize draw and five-sixths going straight to the club. More than 600 fans have signed up and the aim is to reach 1000 by the end of the season, which would provide an additional income of £200,000 per year.

Fan ownership can take different forms, and Pars United opted for a Community Interest Company, which has shareholders and an ownership structure like conventional companies, but all the assets and profits are solely for the public good, in this case the club.

There are six interim board members in place until the end of the season, then elections will appoint a board of directors who will hold their position for three years. Two will be elected by the Pars Supporters Trust (PST), who own 25% of the shares, two will be elected by the Pars Patrons - fans who could afford to invest more significant sums - and two will be elected by the rest of the shareholders. No individual, though, owns more than around 8% of the club, and none of these investors expect a return. As part of the articles of association, no director will receive a payment for their involvement. The Pars United board, in turn, appoints the football club board, which is tasked with the day-to-day running of the club.

"It's a sophisticated, modern structure, CICs were only invented in 2005, but in many ways it goes back to before Dunfermline was a limited company," said Donald Adamson, one of the volunteers who worked on the Pars United bid and structure. "From 1885 to 1921, Dunfermline was a trust. We're taking it back to the core values, with the club rooted in the community, everybody and anybody can contribute, whatever their stage in life. We're running the club for the benefit of future generations. But we're not out of the woods, we still need to raise funds."

The intention is to secure Dunfermline's place at the heart of the local community. As well as examples of local people contributing, the relationship is reciprocal. When the directors heard of a young fan travelling with his father from Belfast for the game at Stranraer earlier this season, they ensured that they met the players at the team hotel and that the boy was the mascot. When they learned of the recent death of a woman whose husband and son are regular followers of the team, the directors asked if there was anything they could do and the boy said that he wanted to go to the recent game at Ibrox. Four of the 10 directors box tickets were immediately offered, and Leishman arranged for the father and son to meet Ally McCoist before and after the game.

They are small gestures, but they are part of fostering a sense of unity. Plans are being drawn up for a supporters council, which will meet with board members four times a year, with similar plans in place for shareholder and patron councils. A recent brainstorming session with fans led to a series of ideas for new initiatives, all of which are being investigated. Fan ownership, for Dunfermline, does not mean holding a vote for every decision, but it is designed to renew the bond between the club and its fans.

"People think fan ownership means one thing, but there are variations," said Ross McArthur, one of the two general managers. "It's not about doing a mass vote on what centre-forward Jim Jefferies is going to sign. People feel the club is listening to them. There has been a lot of division in the last couple of years, but there are signs that people now see things are changing. The vast majority of fans don't want to get involved with the management of the business, they just want to have some involvement, so that they can say, 'I made a difference'."

The home attendance averages at a little less than 3000, while away attendances are better than all but Rangers in SPFL League 1. Fans who visit East End Park have also been more supportive and less rancorous once Pars United took control, as if there was recognition that the events that led to Dunfermline Athletic Football Club plc had been consigned to history.

"We didn't know how to start, because none of us had run a club before," said Margaret Ross, the chair of PST. "But the whole fan population and the community have got behind us. Every single person on the board, and those around us, are all people who would stand on the terraces as fans. That's why we're doing it."