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

2026

February (2 stories)

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January (12 stories)

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