Tuesday, 16 November 2021

For ten days the community of Stratherrick and Foyers were asked to 'Take The Pulse' survey, to assess the temperature and impact work volunteers do across the area on behalf of the community.  This survey was conducted with advice from Scottish Community Development Centre, who have been part of Nick Wright's team putting the Community Action Plan together.

The survey was done before the launch of the new Community Action Plan and will be conducted every year.  The results of the survey gives us a benchmark to start with that we can assess every year.  Thank you to the 79 people who took the time to do the survey.  It is a good sample size and helps reflect the general view of the local community.

You can download the results (names and individual comments have been removed).  Generally things are positive but it is recognised there is room for improvement .  It is hoped the Community Action Plan, put together by the community for the community, will help identify where to put our energies and resources, evidence the need of the community and help us unlock further funding to meet all our aspirations.

Nick Wright is launching the Community Action Plan on 19th November and copies of the 92 page plan will be distributed to your home and here on the website from next week.

Highlights of the 'Take the Pulse' survey include;

• People are seeing improved communications from the Trust (59% strongly agree/agree to 21% disagree/srongly disagree) which is nice to see as a lot of energy has gone into that as an action, with the last magazine being delivered direct to people's doors and the launch of this new website this year!
• That said the Trust can be more transparent about why decisions are made.  Don't forget you can join the Trust here and you will get sent minutes of meetings as a member and there is some frequently asked questions section on the website here if you are unsure about anything.  We've recently started doing regular updates on projects every Thursday and you can read them here with call to action buttons on each page if you want to get involved too.  We are going to review our governance using an outside consultant and see if we can learn some best practice from other communities as part of that review.
• 73% of people strongly agree/agree they know they can get involved with the Trust and 82 % know they can volunteer in the community if they choose to do so which suggests a high level of inclusivity (3 to12% felt they didn't have a good idea or weren't aware they could get involved in the Trust or community groups).  Once the Community Action Plan is published there will be a Skills and Volunteers Audit to see if anyone can offer their time and help to meet any of the outcomes.  Read more about the CAP here
• 56% of people strongly agree/agree the Trust is working to make Stratherrick and Foyers a better place for all residents, 24% disgaree/strongly disagree.  We recently added a Business Directory to the website if you want to employ local people with any jobs you need doing.  Check it out here
• 53% of people's family have directly benefitted from the investment of the Trust, 34% believe they have not.  Read more about grants here and recent awards here
• 62% of the wider community have benefited from the investment of the Trust, 17% believe they have not.  Don't forget one of the investments has been the new Wildside Centre which has opened this year and details of how to book for your group or event can be found here
• 67% of the community believe the Trust supports local voluntary sector organisations, 7% disagree/strongly disagree.  We've just launched a section on the website for local groups - find out more about them here and give one a go!  The new What's On section is here and any group can let us know what they are up to in whatever community building they are in
• Just over 50% feel the Trust makes the community feel empowered to take actions to Stratherrick and Foyers for everyone and 29% do not.  We hope a new apporach to delivering the Community Action Plan may help engage more people.
• The Trust cannot (and doesn't) do everything and therefore relies on partnership working with other community groups and stakeholders and this is likely to increase once the Community Action Plan is launched.  Many of the questions from 14 to 25 will be impacted by the CAP and hopefully twelve months from now you may have more of an opinion on these questions. However we now have a benchmark to start from.
• Here are the results of the 'Take The Pulse' survey to read in detail - click here

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...