FIVE THINGS FOR A FRIDAY | 01 July 2022 | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust

FIVE THINGS FOR A FRIDAY

Friday, 01 July 2022

THANK YOU

As some of you know my parents recently and unexpectedly passed away within five months of each other. A big thank you to the Board, Trust Staff and members of the Stratherrick and Foyers community for your exceptional kindness which has made the last six months that little bit easier. It has been very much appreciated.

I will be on holiday from next week so Five Things will be taking a wee rest from time to time over the summer but lots to get through this week…

CRAFT AND CROFTERS FAIR

We are asking you to shop local and have a Craft and Crofters Fair in the Wildside Centre at Whitebridge from 10am to 2pm on Saturday 2^nd July. Plants, Glass Gifts, Baking, T-Shirts, Yarn Crafts, Tweed, Food and a cuppa are all on hand for this event. Come along, enjoy the sun and free wifi outside and make a wee day of it.

THE HIGHLAND GATHERING

This event at the Corriegarth Estate on 23^rd July. All the information you need is on our website here including competitions to prepare for, the dog show, welly wanging and how to give us a few hours of your time to volunteer prior to and during this Stratherrick and Foyers community event. Even more info will be made available at Highland Gathering | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk) soon.

On the day there will be pipe bands, highland dancing, races, tug of war, vintage vehicles, falconry, sheep shearing, fly fishing, flower arranging, food, drink and a couple of surprises for everyone who visits thanks to the Trust. You will love it x

COMMUNITY COUNCIL AGM

I was at the Community Council AGM this week. Like most Community Council AGMs it wasn’t well attended by Community Members. It was also quite entertaining with difficulty achieving a quorum, a power failure causing the internet to go down and jovial chat. There is a serious side to all this. With one member resigning the Council is now down to the minimum four members. This is not a healthy place to be. So if you care about your area, want to do something about roads and potholes and represent people locally on planning matters such as housing to wind farms then this group is for you. Email email.sfcc@aol.com and express your interest in being co-opted until the elections in 18 months time. As a recognised statutory body you can influence the Local Authority on making things happen and getting things done.

THE COST OF LIVING

We have been doing budgets over the last few months (while introducing our new Finance Officer Marie Keenan to the organisation). All organisations doing things on your behalf are finding it tough at the moment. Heating bills are going up, according to our Professional Building Advisors Brexit has caused the cost of materials to escalate anywhere between 25 to 65% and labour is difficult to attract to keep businesses ticking over in the most important tourist months of the year or to build or improve anything! In our own homes we’ve seen increases in our heating bills, insurance premiums, council taxes, mortgages, petrol/diesel costs, food costs and National Insurance increases! We expect SSE to give guidance on what support we can give as a Trust soon but meantime our Fundraisers have been keeping an eye out on grants that can help you at this difficult time. Check it out here FUNDING THURSDAY | 30 June 2022 | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

The Trust is opening our website for local organisations to advertise and roles they have for free here Jobs | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk) and if you want to support people from Ukraine details can be found here Ukraine | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

ACTION GROUPS

Volunteers are helping achieve some of the Community Action Plan outcomes by giving their time to make things happen. This week Hubs, Childcare, Pathways and Housing all have people behind them and driving these projects forward. In some cases the Trust provides support via a Director, staff and funding. Your Community Action Plan is helping this happen and providing much needed evidence to help attract funding from the Trust and external funders. This is underpinned by creating 20 minute neighbourhoods and Nick Wright, who did the work on the CAP, has recently been commissioned to do a piece of work on how this will work in the Highlands. You can read the report here Nick Wright 20 Minutes Neighbourhood Report | 29 June 2022 | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

The basic ethos of the “20 Minute Neighbourhood” can be summarised as people having all of their daily needs - work, school, shopping, keeping active and so on - available within 20 minutes of their home, by using sustainable forms of transport: walking, cycling or public transport. This is one of the reasons the Trust is supporting hubs in all areas from Whitebridge to Errogie, Gorthleck to Foyers, Inverfarigaig to Torness.

We’ve added a few more headings to our weekly updates of live projects to capture the work of these community members and their projects on the website here Projects | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

Tony Foster

Trust Manager

2025: April (20 stories); 26 April Pathways Group - App Survey Deadline
Pathways Community App - survey is closing soon! Just a reminder, if you haven't already completed the survey on the proposed idea a community pathways ...; 25 April The new toilets are ready for use at The Wildside Centre!
There are still a couple of finishing touches (including signs on the doors, privacy screening on the disabled toilet window and new soap dispensers), which will be compl...; 23 April Community Development - help shape a review of the Scottish Government’s rural community interventions
Are you interested in community development in the Highlands and want to help shape a review of the Scottish Government’s rural community interventions? The team...; 22 April 🚴‍♀️📣 ETAPE takes place this Sunday 📣🚴
The ETAPE event is taking place this Sun 27th April. Like previous years the route passes through the Strath. Below you will find a detailed map which includes all the lo...; 21 April The Highland Gathering
To keep up to date with what to expect at this years Highland Gathering on the 19th July - Please take a look at our event page: https://fb.me/e/8FCvyqVeZ or by scan...; 18 April Happy Easter Weekend; 16 April Foyers Bay Opening event
Join us on the 3rd May to find out more about the Foyers Bay project! You will also have the opportunity to view the bay from Loch Ness as Beastie Boats will be offeri...; 16 April SPRING MAGAZINE
The deadline to submit articles for the upcoming Spring Magazine is next week. If you have any stories, photos, recipes, perhaps even some family news or any other co...; 15 April Small Grant Scheme
The Trust recently carried out a review of their Small Grant Scheme which provides funding to individuals and groups based on an established set of criteria. We are pleas...; 14 April CAN YOU HELP?
Could you spare some time before, during or after this year’s Highland Gathering event on the 19th of July? We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to...; 10 April News Update
Following a meeting of the Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust Board yesterday, I am delighted to announce that Peter Faye has been elected as Chairperson. Peter brin...; 10 April ✅⚓Help us tidy up Foyers Bay!⚓✅
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I am pleased to announce that the result of the community consultation, on the Inverfarigaig Forest School and associated land, is that the majority of those responding t...; 8 April Upcoming events!
Here is a list of events that are being held in the Strath later this month.; 3 April Spring Magazine
The Comms team are beginning to collate material for the upcoming Spring magazine. If you have any news, photos, recipes or any other content you would like us to include...; 3 April Moteh Parrott - Live at Stratherrick Public Hall tomorrow night.
Moteh Parrott is heading out on tour next week to promote his new album – ‘The Stones Are Merely Sleeping’, which he released last year. ...; 2 April 🚐 Use of the Community Van 🚐
Many of you will have seen the Trust’s van at various locations throughout the Strath. The van is leased by Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust p...; 2 April ADMIN UPDATE
We apologise for the delay in the February Minutes being published. It was due to our administrator being absent from work for an extended period and they will be a...; 1 April Wildside Wednesday – 2nd April
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Congratulations to Soup To Go – The group have SOLD OUT their event tomorrow afternoon at Stratherrick Public Hall. This event is in aid of Marie Currie Daffodi...; 27 March Community Suggestion / Post Boxes
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On behalf of the Trust, I would like to thank Alice Duthuille from Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS) who travelled from Glasgow to lead members of our Board t...; 20 March Loch Ness Heritage Group Talk
The South Loch Ness Heritage Group are holding a Spring event. Head along to a talk in Stratherrick Public Hall on Thursday 1st May from 7.30pm. "Whisky Distil...; 19 March Congratulations to Iain Hepburn
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Moteh Parrott is heading out on tour next month to promote his new album – ‘The Stones Are Merely Sleeping’, which he released last year. W...; 12 March Loch Ness Luvvies AGM
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Following on from last month’s successful event, we are delighted to host another Wildside Wednesday next week, the 5th March from 9.30am 🙌 It was great to see ...; 26 February Inverfarigaig Forest School Feedback
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We are currently looking to offer a short-term contract to secure the services of a freelance journalist / media person to undertake an assignment to compile, p...; 25 February Adam Holmes - Stratherrick Public Hall - 7th March
Next Friday, Stratherrick Public Hall are lucky enough to have a concert with Adam Holmes. Adam the award winning songwriter from Scotland will be performing from 7pm. D...; 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
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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...

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Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust,
The Wildside Centre, Whitebridge,
Inverness IV2 6UN
admin@sfctrust.org.uk
07300 562443

Mission statement: To act to enhance the quality of lives of people by engaging with the issues that matter to the community and by supporting people, at a sustainable level, to help people make things happen.

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