Friday, 07 May 2021

It’s Friday.  It is May.  It is snowing!

KNITTING TOGETHER

The Great British Sewing Bee is on the telly and it struck me how we are knitting together connections within the community.  We are having conversations with individuals, established groups, steering groups, external stakeholders and funders trying to find a way to bring all this together into a coherent pattern and support where we can.  However sometimes we must work on designs closer to home.  Our own Board of Directors work on projects or deal with day-to-day issues with no sight of what the others may be doing.  The same is true for our staff who work on specific projects but not on others.  The Board Meeting is a good place to bring all that together.  Staff, too, now have a monthly meeting and a Newsletter to keep them informed.  There are lots of changes happening so fast as we develop and adapt our working approach and we are all trying our best to work through that. 

PUT YOUR CAP ON

The first Community Action Plan Action Group on Better Connections happened this week.  The Trust Directors have had a very hands-off role as Nick Wright manages the CAP.  They have been conscious to let the community speak freely via the Community Survey and recent Community Assembly.  This week I was asked by a Director if they could fully participate now.  The answer was yes, as they are community members first.  Also, because the process is going from the ‘opinion’ and ‘ideas’ stage to encouraging active involvement of everyone to come to solutions.  The only input we have shared with Nick is being aware this process is not in its own bubble.  Community members have been doing things for years and continue to do so.  There are external factors which can impact on an idea that may make them easier or challenging.  There are, indeed, differences of opinion within the community that seem equally balanced.  Again, it is about making the connections so people are informed as best they can be.  Feedback from the first Action Group has been very positive and I hope you can participate in what is coming up over the next two weeks. If you want to get your hands ‘slightly’ dirty, do it here Calling all practical types! | Future Ideas (communityfuture.net)

LINE OF DUTY

For several weeks (some may say years) we have been walking down dark underpasses and investigating, well, largely mole holes than rabbit ones but we are finally starting to see some big reveals.  Applications for Project Co-ordinator have closed, and we hope to get our very own Chloe Bishop (I know this narrative is completely lost on you if you did not watch the Line of Duty TV series!) who can help us solve getting major projects to completion in one series rather than sitting through another six!

The tenders for benches and notes of interest for gardening maintenance have come to an end so we can all get outside (once the snow ends) and enjoy some natural Vitamin D.  Following the recent Steering Group an instruction to put planning in for the slipway at Foyers Bay has been actioned.  The Errogie Church project is moving apace.  Most of this was covered at this weeks Board of Directors and we manged to keep it far shorter than a Line of Duty interrogation scene with items covered within two hours.  Which meant everyone could go and watch Sewing Bee (as well as talk about Bee Keeping courses too!)

You will be able to read all about this in great depth in the next Trust Magazine, out soon.

WALK ON THE WILDSIDE

Our new Caretaker Mark Henderson has been rolling up his sleeves and making the Wildside Centre fit for users, come full access from May 17^th.  It was lovely to hear great feedback about Mark this week from those who met him and how good Wildside is starting to look as we gradually open following the lifting of restrictions.  Wildside is such an adaptable space, and we hope will become a great facility for the local community to use.  We are gradually working through initial requests now so please be patient with us as we find our feet – details of how to book can be found here The Wildside Centre | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

LISTEN – DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET

Snow willing, I will finally be hitting the ground and be at Wildside and taking a tour of the local area on the 12^th & 13^th May.  I cannot wait.  See some of you then!

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...