Friday, 25 March 2022

We got asked a few questions so I thought we'd hand Five Things For A Friday over to those this week.  Welcome to Questions and Answers! 

The Trust Board are made up of community members from Stratherrick and Foyers.  They meet monthly and come to a consensus on the direction of the Trust.  You may or may not agree with that direction but your opinion has probably been heard around the table when they come to a final view.

Although we do report to our funders and have an annual AGM we now have a monthly Q&A session, usually based around a theme but questions can be asked.  This takes place on the last Friday of the month, currently online, at 10am for an hour.  Watch out for the link.  We also have some regularly asked questions on our website here

Next week back to our regular Five Things For A Friday.... but I may answer any questions you have here each week as part of that.

What is the design, print and distribution cost of the magazine? 

On average we pay £30 an hour for design (approx. £1500), £900 to print and £600 to post.  There are cheaper options for print outwith the local area but the Communications and Events Team decided to support two local businesses with this project.

Can you get just a digital copy of the magazine rather than a print copy?

Yes you can email pc@sfctrust.org.uk to be removed from the mailing list.

What was the cost of the Wildside Path. How many organisations tendered for the work? 

£17, 700 and two companies tendered.  The Wildside Steering Group acted on your feedback from the Summer Fair to improve the pathway underfoot and provide easier access out of fire exits from the building.

Why did the Trust not provide a person spec for the fundraiser job and advertise it more widely? 

We provided a full job description and advertised it on our website, magazine, social media, SCVO website and TSI Highland website.  This has been the same for all previous jobs and we have recruited successfully.

What will be the cost of the Errogie Church project and what are the performance expectations?

We have wind and watertight budget for £175,000 which should be complete by November 2022.  We are consulting on the build and what will be in it – keep following the project page on the website for updates of all our legacy projects.  We expect the final build to be in the region of £1.5 million, based on other similar community builds across Scotland. The public toilets at Foyers is expected to be approx. £220,000 (joint project with Community Council).  Wildside refurbishment cost was £127,000.

What will the Fundraisers do?

Raise funds for the legacy projects (so we don’t use all our funds from wind farm/hydro), raise funds for other groups whose outcomes meet the Community Action Plan, organise Four Food and Crofter Fairs a year to support local business, take advertising in the magazine and apply for funds that we cannot grant as they don’t meet the criteria set our by our funders.

Were free logs advertised on facebook?

The Brolly Group, supported by the Trust, gave out free 1 tonne bags of logs during Covid. This was funded by HIE and took some persuading but had been asked for by a handful of people on social media. Along with other support services this was advertised on websites, social media, newsletters, posters and leaflets.  Of all the opportunities on offer this was the least popular, being taken up by approx. 5 people.  Food bags were far more popular.

What is the present salary total for Trust employees?

The budget for staff for this financial year is currently £110,114.

Why are the Trust pursuing Riverside Field Sports and Recreation Facilities?

Sports and Recreation Facilities have rated highly in both the 2013 Community Survey and the 2021 Community Action Plan.  The land at Riverside Field was purchased by the Trust on behalf of the community by using a grant from Scottish Governments Scottish Land Fund.  It was always going to be developed by someone and the community chose this route.  The community would have had to evidence at the time what the intended purpose would be to get the grant.  

Subsequent Trust Boards have pursued that purpose on behalf of the community and run several consultations to adapt the proposed plan.  Planning in principle has been granted, with the local authority taking on board all views expressed by the community as part of the planning process.  The outcome of that allows us to develop the project with specific guidance about the locality. The full story will be in the next Trust Newsletter, which will also be posted out to nearby residents for information. 

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...