Friday, 24 November 2023

6.6 - PULSE SURVEY RESULTS ARE IN

The Pulse Survey results are in.  Thank you so much to those members of the community who took the time to do the survey.  We saw some signs of improvement, some things we still need to work on and a slightly better score out of 10 than in 2022.  We went from 6.5 to 6.6.  The full results will be made available soon.  This survey was put together in association with Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) and the aim is to take a sample of the community to review how we are doing as an organisation.

6 - COMMUNITY FIREWORKS SURVEY

Please help the community groups and Trust to improve the fireworks year on year.  If you attended the community run fireworks at Foyers what did you think about it?  Please fill out our feedback survey here by the 7^th December https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/firew2023

5 – WILDSIDE CENTRE CHRISTMAS TAKE OVER

This week I was in the Wildside Centre and Christmas is starting to take over.  Lights were being installed around the building.  The Christmas Tree was up.  The Board Room was full of elves packing presents.  Deliveries for Winter Wonderland means there was not a seat available in the house! 

4 – AGM CHRISTMAS CHEER

It looks like the Trust Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 29^th November will have some Christmas Cheer!  You can see the exhibition on current projects over a cuppa or soft drink before the meeting starts at 7.30pm. After the business has been conducted enjoy a drink of wine and corner the new Directors, volunteers or staff if you have a question or two! There will be some special announcements, which I will also report on after the event if you can’t make it.  Read what happened in the financial year 2022/23 in the AGM Newsletter here 

3 – FOOD AND FUEL GRANTS

Well done to the community volunteers at the Kockie Charitable Trust for reviewing the Food and Fuel Grant Applications for a second year.  This is the final year SSE will let us use funds for this purpose.  The grants will provide some much needed Christmas Cheer for 60 households in the area as the cost of living continues to impact on everyone.  This year we moved from ‘first come first served’ to a grant deadline so the group could review all applications together. I believe everyone who applied was supported. Payments will come from the Trust early December.  For a second year the Trust will also be providing firewood.  Hopefully the 40 tonnes of wood supplied last year will have seasoned for use this year.  More news soon. 

2 – IT’S A POLICY DECISION

Behind the scenes we have completed updating our policies this week.  This is one of the many ‘not very sexy jobs’ the Board of Directors have to do.  Thanks to our new Administrator Kirsty Campbell for tying up the work Laura and Steven did before her over the last year.  We aim to put these policies all on the website.  We have also been looking at moving to becoming a Company Limited by Guarantee with Charitable Status and taking advice from (externally funded) consultants on everything from governance to business plans.  This work also helps improve the transparancy of the Trust.

1 – ONE LAST THING… (or maybe a 0.4 thing!)

Alongside all this we and other stakeholders in the community have been pro-actively working on many of the ‘smaller’ projects in the Community Action Plan and Place Plan.  There is a volunteer army behind most projects who give as much or little time they have free to make things happen. They would also love your help and support.  It’s been nice to see some of these projects coming slowly to life as we head into the Christmas and New Year period.  We have had some little wins which is great for the groups, volunteers, community members, Directors and staff involved and will be of great benefit to the community over the next year.

I’m not sure if it will take us from 6.6 to a 7 on the Pulse Survey next year, but we will try!

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...