Friday, 11 August 2023

FIVE THINGS FOR A FRIDAY

BRING AND BUY SALE

This weekend there is a bring and buy sale at the Wildside Centre so you can recycle your items and pick up a bargain.  Check it out on Saturday morning from 10am.  It will be inside if weather is poor.  Wildcrafts is also on so go and enjoy that too!

CONGRATULATIONS TO BCC

This week we read in their newsletter that Boleskine Community Care have got funding for their Community Service Co-ordinator from the Royal Countryside Fund.  Congratulations and we wish Olivia Grant, who has accepted the role, the best of luck.  As established groups like BCC become less reliant on community funds distributed through the Trust the more we can support other groups and volunteers to meet the many outcomes you identified in your Community Action Plan. 

HOW YOU CAN GET FUNDING

These tools funded by the Trust over the last few years - The Community Action Plan, Place Plan, evidence of need (such as a survey of your members), individual Development Plans/Business Plans (if your group is big enough to require one), your groups financial records over a period of time and your great idea – are all great anchor stones for attracting funding for any group across Stratherrick and Foyers. 

Some funders may ask for more info, some less, but it all provides evidence of need, tells your story to the funding assessors and when all the stars align can lead to a successful conclusion.   

If you are new to the area or feel you are an old hand then Steven Watson, our Community Liaison Officer, and our Fundraisers Sarah Byrne and Sharon Ferguson, can use your invaluable knowledge and skills and help your group apply for funding from the Trust or external funders if you wish us to.  We welcome you all to make our community an even better place to live and work.  I am heartened by how many groups we have helped over the last year and how we have employed local businesses to achieve some of that work.

We are now offering this staff expertise to our own Trust Board so they can evidence need for projects they are involved in too (they always did, we are just improving the mechanisms now we have the CAP to work with).  It can be a bit overwhelming and scary, but we will help the best we can.  We used these tools to get external funding for our new Marketing and PR Team (Jillian Barclay and Calum Martin) and our CAP Officer (Robbie Burns). I understand the Stregthening Communities funder will come and speak direct to our Board and speak to the new staff members in the near future.  A good relationship with your funder is important and we welcome this. 

TSI Highland shared this advice this week – “Apart from whether you spent their money in full or have to return unspent funds, funders are generally seeking three key pieces of information:  

• Outputs – e.g. how many people did you help?
• Outcomes – e.g. how did you change lives?
• Impact – how did the community benefit and what did you learn?

For more top tips on measuring success, go to Funding Information | HTSI main (highlandtsi.org.uk). “

OTHER WAYS WE CAN HELP

Prior to making your application our new CAP Officer can help gather the information you may need (three quotes from suppliers etc.) if your group doesn’t have the time or capacity to do so.  We don’t want to take away from the volunteering ethic so we prefer if you did but if time isn’t on your side then we are there to help. 

This information means our Fundraisers can make applications on your behalf with all the information they need too (they have been doing both over the last year, which isn’t ideal, so this extra support is useful for them too). 

In the end you have to sign the funding document and be confident you can make your idea happen.  The CAP Officer, Project Officer (Caroline Tucker) and Facilities Officer (Matthew Rhodes) can help support that too.  As an example one volunteer is very busy during the summer so doesn’t have the time to arrange work that needs to be done, which may take four months or so.  However our staff can step in and make it happen within a shorter time frame.

Our Marketing, Communications and PR Team can then tell your story to the community and wider public via our website, social media, newsletters, magazines and media outlets.  This will help other communities learn from what we do.

WHAT GELS IT TOGETHER?

A great Admin Team.  We are losing Laura and looking for a new Admin Officer.  This is a key role because Laura also evaluates all our student grants, keeps us right with grants for other groups, make sures our AGM and IT systems are tightly run and supports the Board Meetings.  She has also been leading on updating all our policies and ways we communicate with each group directly.  We are creating employment locally so please do apply here Jobs | Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (stratherrickcommunity.org.uk)

A great Finance Team.  We’ve just split the role of Finance to a Bookkeeper (Susan Low) and Finance Officer (Fiona Mustarde)  because the volume of transactions we deal with has increased and the responsibilities we have to our funders / budget monitoring which needs dedicated support from a Finance Officer.  Believe me without Sharon working for the Community Council and our then Finance Officer Marie being in place work on projects such as the Foyers toilets and Errogie Church (alongside all the other CAP Projects) would have been very difficult for the community volunteers on the Community Council and the Trust Board to manage.

Of course most groups will not have this support but Admin and Finance is key.  As your Trust has grown over the years, we seek external funding to meet the communities aspirations and projects become even more complex we have found this a challenge for volunteers to do.  So as you grow we say keep your eye on it and ensure there is consistency and continuity there. 

Along the way we may all make mistakes.  You may not achieve everything you want to do (Covid and Cost of Living Crisis don't help).  We are all learning and on the whole we are achieving some great things and fighting above our weight for a community of 800+ people.  At the very least ask us for advice if stuck and if we don't have the answer we may know someone who does.

Later this year we will do a presentation on this support for all groups.  All together and with a positive attitude we can harness and improve great community spirit and make things (continue) to happen.  

I HOPE….

…you find that useful.  This is Tony Foster (Trust Manager) signing out!

PS Peter Leyden looks after the toilets at Foyers (thanks Peter) and we are looking for another cleaner, primarily for Wildside.  If you are interested please send me a CV and covering letter to tony-ceo@sfctrust.org.uk

2026

February (2 stories)

3 February 📚 Mobile Library Visiting Tomorrow! 🚐✨

The Mobile Library is rolling into the area tomorrow, Wednesday 4th February, so pop along and say hello to Mark! Stop & time: • The Wildside Centre &ndash...

3 February RSABI Fundraising Event

Don't miss out on an incredible evening of music and laughter with the talented Farmers Choir performing in Aviemore late February in aid of RSABI and SAYFC.  ...

January (12 stories)

28 January Six Nations: Scotland 🆚 England LIVE at The Wildside

💘 This Valentine’s Day, find someone who loves you as much as you love rugby 🏉   We’re streaming Six Nations: Scotland 🆚 England LIVE at The Wil...

27 January 🌳 Development of Inverfarigaig Forest School 🌳

A community member has been in touch about the possibility of setting up a Forest School within our community. With the support of the Community Trust, a short survey has...

26 January 📚 Mobile Library Visiting Tomorrow! 🚐✨

The Mobile Library will be in the area tomorrow, Wednesday 27th January, so pop along and say hello to Mark!   📍 Stopping points & times: • Errogi...

22 January 🔥 Free Firewood Available – Whitebridge Area 🔥

A member of our local community, has been in touch with Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust (SFCT) to let us know that he has a significant amount of larch firewood...

21 January Large grant application from BCC for Foyers Stores Acquisition - Update

A Board meeting is taking place this evening in order for Directors of SFCT to consider the application and agree their recommendation. As the Chair of SFCT explained at ...

20 January Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came along to the public meeting at the Wildside last night. We had a fantastic turnout, with 110 people attending in person and 26 joining u...

19 January Agenda for Public Meeting - Regarding the Foyers Stores Acquisition

Please find the agenda for tonight’s public meeting at the Wildside Centre regarding the proposed community acquisition of Foyers Stores.   1. Welcome &n...

14 January Apply for our Project Coordinator role

👋 Friendly reminder!   There’s still time to apply for our Project Coordinator role at Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust ...

8 January Notice to the Community: Change of Date for Public Meeting on Foyers Stores

Stratherrick and Foyers Community Trust (SFCT) would like to update the community regarding the previously announced public meeting relating to the proposed purchase of F...

7 January 🌟 New Year, New Opportunities! 🌟

Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust is here to support your projects with our grants! 💡✨ 📅 Next application deadline: 21st March 2026 Learn more about ...

6 January 🎉 Calling all community organisers! 🎉

Do you run a class, group or one-off activity in one of the local buildings? We’d love to help spread the word! 💛 Our SFCT Community Calendar is looking a ...

6 January Mobile Library Visit Cancelled – Wednesday 7th January 2026

👋 Hello and welcome to 2026 from SFCT! 🎉 We bring news from the Mobile Library as our first update of the year. 📚 Mobile Library Visit Cancelled – Wednesday ...