Friday, 17 November 2023

FIVE THINGS FOR A FRIDAY

PULSE SURVEY – TIME IS RUNNING OUT…

You have until midnight 21^st November to fill our the Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust Pulse Survey, put together in consultation with the Scottish Community Development Centre, which lets you help your community trust and the stakeholders we work with.  It takes about five minutes to fill in here Taking the Pulse Community Survey 2023 (surveymonkey.co.uk)

We sent a letter to every member houshold, specific to your area, about the Pulse Survey and the projects close to you.  We hope you found it useful.

ST ANDREWS CEILIDH

It’s great to see that the great Scottish tradition of having a St Andrews Ceilidh is coming back to the area for the benefit of the local Primary and Nursery School.  Check it out here St Andrews Day Ceilidh! | 15 November 2023 | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

WINTER EVENTS

I was a little disappointed to see the Cookery Demonstration at Gorthleck Hall to produce a three course meal for a family of 4 on a £15 budget has been cancelled due to lack of interest.  That strikes me as a cracking idea and a lost opportunity.  However it was also nice to see a healthy number of market traders coming to the Winter Wonderland.  Read more here Winter Wonderland 2023! | 15 November 2023 | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

JO MITCHELL AT BCC

It was great to see Jo Mitchell in post at BCC as their Community Engagement Co-Ordinator who will be working alongside Olivia Grant this year.  Congratulations.  This role is funded by the Community Trust and as Jo says in here introduction to the community underscores the communities commitment to the growth and well being of the community.  Welcome Jo and good luck in your new role.  

AGM

The Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust AGM will be on 29^th November.  Before the meeting there will be a chance to see the exhibition over a cuppa or glass of orange juice.  The exhibition has been at the Stratherrick Hall, Errogie Church and the Wildside.  It is about what work is going on from the Trust, Action Groups, Community Groups and volunteers to support the Community Action Plan and Place Plan.  We have your questions in advance of the meeting and will answer those on the night. After the meeting there will be a small social, a glass of wine and an opportunity to chat about projects or ask any questions of the new Board.  Or just catch up with each other before the Christmas rush!

I can say my understanding is only one person is retiring from the Board and everyone else will either remain or seek re-election.  We have no new people coming forward for the Board this year.  This will be my fourth AGM (my first I wasn’t working here but did attend) and the first with no new Directors.  Only two of the original Directors were on the Board when I started my role.  This is very healthy as the people around the table do reflect different community voices, community skills, community areas and age ranges but understand reaching a consensus of decision making is important.  I’ve said it before – the Trust is a vehicle to make things happen.  It is never the same, using the CAP and Pllace Plan as its guide, and is a true reflection of who we all are as a community.

I remember before I arrived here reading about the Wildside Centre, and a small amount of dissenting voices about it’s purchase.  When I arrived I couldn’t believe how long it had been empty and what the community had achieved re-opening it.  There were many hurdles (as there are with any project and never fully explained how much work that is).  Now it is part of the local furniture and has been there when we needed it in it's own right and as an alternative when the Stratherrick Hall had work on it.  The Wildside Centre has been a starting point for carpet bowling and pilates before getting too big and going off to the Stratherrick Hall, for Soup To Go, Spring Fairs, Youth Club, Produce Days, Mobile Library, Baby and Toddlers, Winter Wonderland, birthdays, weddings, line dancing, ceilidhs, meetings, work spaces, larders, exhibitions, meetings, Action Group meetings, hybrid meetings, success evenings, workspaces, craft groups, highland dancing, support groups, exhibitions, the Knockie Trust helping decide on grants to help during the cost of living crisis, storage (yup, I lost my ‘office’ to new shelving!) and yes, AGMs.

As we now have costed plans to improve Stratherrick Hall, supporting health and well being through BCC, ensuring the community council has support to have a strong voice, working with partners to improve pathways, completed a needs analysis with the aim to provide affordable housing, funding applications in for transport, providng after school care with parents/carers and providing support for children to enhance their skills, saving a local church from ruin and giving it a new lease of life with planning in place, proving improved access to the Loch with a slipway which now has planning, providing sports and recreational facilities for local sporting excellence at Foyers and Torness, looking after our bio diversity, heritage and educating all ages through the Forest School, getting planning for a new park at Wildside and empowered land use at Inverfarigaig.

Unkempt land and an empty building is not an inspirational view for young people to see every day.  It seems the Wildside Centre was the first of many projects you want to deliver, large and small. Check out the forthcoming AGM newsletter which gives a flavour of what everyone involved has been up to.

Tony Foster

2025

February (12 stories)

22 February 📣 ** TODAY ** 📣 - Forest School Meeting

Interested in the future of the Forest School building? From 2pm   Come and speak to us about your thoughts for the Forest School and wider opportunities fo...

21 February Congratulations to Whitebridge Hotel

Whitebridge Hotel are finalists in the National Hotels of the Year - Scotland awards!   The ceremony takes place in Glasgow on the 26th February at The Cr...

19 February 📣 Youth Club returns this Thursday 📣

Youth club is for anyone in P7 to S6 ✅ After a bit of a break, we are delighted to say that Youth Club is back!! ⭐ Important info ⭐ Date - Thursday 20th Februa...

19 February Communications 2025!

We are making a some improvements in the way we share important information with the community in 2025. The SFCT Board and communications team have made the dec...

13 February Mailing List Update

We hope you received your copy of the February newsletter and enjoyed reading through it. The team are busy updating our mailing list and we understand that there may ...

12 February Next Sat 22nd February

Next Sat 22nd February   Inverfarigaig Forest School, Farigaig Forestry Carpark IV2 6XR - From 2pm   Come and speak to us about your thoughts fo...

11 February ⚠️ Update regarding the upcoming works taking place at The Wildside Centre ⚠️

We can now confirm that the scheduled works on upgrading the toilet facilities in the Wildside Centre is starting this Thursday – 13th February.   The Wi...

11 February 🙌 JOIN OUR TEAM 🙌

We are currently recruiting a part-time (30 hours per week) Community Action Plan Project Officer to join our small team, based in the Wildside Centre in Whitebridge, on ...

8 February 📢 THE DAY IS FINALLY HERE 📢

Later today the Pathways Group are hosting their Community Engagement event at the Wildside Centre from 13.30pm.   For the past year, the Pathways Group has be...

6 February Errogie Church Statement

As you will be aware, an announcement was made by the Trust in mid December 2024 that we were unfortunately unable to host three events that were due to take place at Err...

6 February Wildside Wednesday Success!

🙌THANK YOU 🙌 We want to say a big thank you to those of you who popped along to our first Wildside Wednesday event yesterday! It was great to see you all 😃  ...

5 February !! WILDSIDE WEDNESDAY - TODAY !!

Join us TODAY at the Wildside Centre, between 9.30am – 12.30pm where the first Wildside Wednesday of 2025 will take place.  You can shop local, with local p...

January (22 stories)

31 January !! Next Saturday !!

On the 8th Feb The Pathways Group host their Community Engagement Day at the Wildside Centre from 13.30pm.   The group have setup a dedicated Facebook event pa...

30 January Refurbishments to toilets in The Wildside Centre

Following many months of work behind the scenes we are pleased to be able to share with you that work on upgrading the ladies toilets and creating a larger disabled toile...

30 January Fancy a sing song with Monadhliath?

The Monadhliath Choir invites all singers to a charity singing event on the 27.04.2025 at Stratherrick Public Hall. If you would be interested in join...

29 January February Newsletter

We are pleased to share that our Feb newsletter should be making its way through your door next week! 🙌   Please look out for the white envelope addressed to ...

25 January Do you use Instagram?

Did you know that Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust are on Instagram? If you too have an account, why not give our page a follow. We’re keen to build up ...

24 January Foyers Community Fire Station

🚒 Foyers Community Fire Station 🚒   Foyers Community Fire station has a competent crew of 7 personnel, but we are in real need of new recruits, to keep the s...

23 January Wildside Wednesday is returning!

Join us on the 5th February at the Wildside Centre, between 9.30am – 12.30pm.   Here is your chance to shop local, with local produce from Lyne Mhor Crof...

22 January Loch Ness Luvvies - Traditional Burns Supper

This Friday, 24th Jan the Loch Ness Luvvies are hosting their very own Traditional Burns Supper at Stratherrick Hall, Gorthleck at 7.30pm. Tickets are £20 per he...

22 January Timings have been announced!

As you may have recently seen, The Pathways Group are running a Community Engagement event on the 8th February from 1pm at The Wildside Centre. In our previous post, t...

21 January ** Mobile Library Update **

Mark, our local librarian has kindly sent over a full list of dates when he will be stopping in the area. You can find the full list here: https://www.stratherrickcommuni...

20 January Invitation to tender - Health & Safety Consultant required

We are looking for an experienced Health & Safety professional to carry out a comprehensive survey on Errogie Church to ensure that the building is fully compliant fo...

19 January Send in your dates for the Community Calendar!

Did you know we have an online Community Calendar? If not, you can find it here: https://www.stratherrickcommunity.org.uk/calendar/   We would love to inclu...

18 January What's the next step?

For the past year, the Pathways Group has been working hard to promote the local path network, paths that lead through rich landscapes, historical sites, and biodiversity...

15 January Community Engagement Day - 8th Feb

Over the last month you may have noticed that the Pathways Group are holding a Community Engagement Day on the 8th February. You can find out all about the event by follo...

14 January Mobile Library Update

Below you will find a list of updated Dates/Times where you can visit the Mobile Library at The Wildside Centre.   We will add these dates to the Online Commu...

14 January Indoor Carpet Bowls makes it return as of today!

** TODAY ** Indoor Carpet Bowls makes it return as of today! The group return to their weekly session after the Xmas break. Please note: The group will now ...

10 January Community Engagement Event - 8th Feb

The Pathways Group invites you to a community event that explores the potential development of a pathways based app. This is your opportunity to help shape an app which w...

9 January Deadline for Jan/Feb Newsletter Content!

The deadline to send in any content for the Jan/Feb Newsletter is Friday the 17th of January 2025. Please email marketingofficer@sfctrust.org.uk with your articles inclu...

9 January Send us in your photos from the Winter Festival

A HUGE thank you to those of you who have already uploaded photos to our shared community photo gallery during the festival.   If you have any wintery snaps th...

8 January Reverse Advent Calendar Success!

Santa's little helpers would like to thank everyone who contributed in any way to the overwhelming success of this project. The generosity shown by our community was ...

8 January ** MOBILE LIBRARY VISIT TODAY CANCELLED **

Sadly, due to the current road conditions, Mark who drives the local ‘Mobile Library’ will NOT be stopping at Wildside today. All books will be renewed, and h...

7 January Welcome Back

Hello, we hope you had a relaxing time during the festivities. As it’s now time to get back to work, we thought it would be a good idea to update our online communi...