Saturday, 08 April 2023

2023 marks the 50th year of Community Councils. This should also mark 50 years of amazing volunteer effort since the first cohort of community councillors were elected to ‘fill the gap’ that was created when the previous most local tier of governance - that eclectic mix of county, burgh and town councils - were swept away in the interests of (presumably) efficiency, as paid staff were replaced by Community Councils with members that are all unpaid. Community councils are the most local tier of statutory representation in Scotland. They bridge the gap between local authorities and communities, and help to make public bodies aware of the opinions and needs of the communities they represent and yet all expected from volunteers!

We are very fortunate to receive Community Benefit in this area and we have great support from the Community Trust which has enabled the Community Council to pay for a part time administrator for several years now. This not only allows the Community Council to do a lot more (see the exciting Foyers public toilet news!!) but also takes some of the pressure and workload off the volunteer members who have busy working lives. We also have fantastic support from two of the local councillors that cover the Stratherrick and Foyers area, they are Cllr David Fraser and Cllr Chris Ballance. Both follow up lots of items that are brought up and help resolve community issues. 

The Community Council covers all the statutory items in the Community, like a mini version of the Highland Council but with volunteers. Roads and planning feature highly on every agenda; roads affect almost everyone’s daily life (in the Community Action Plan roads and transport was the most discussed action) and planning can be a very emotive subject. Planning applications can vary from a single house to a landscape changing energy scheme, the latter comes with literally hundreds of pages of documents that need to be considered. 

All community council meetings are open to the public but we also encourage anyone to raise something that they would like an answer to or something they want discussed even if they can’t make it to a meeting. You can do this by emailing to – email.sfcc@aol.com or speaking with any member of the Community Council. The current members are – 

Patrick Haston (Chair), Simon Hargreaves (Vice-Chair), Stephen Steiner (Treasurer), Gill Gray, Craig Lightbody and Mark Hindley. 

Meetings are on the last Tuesday of every month, apart from July and December. We are still running a hybrid style meeting so anyone can join online if they request to do so, using the email address above. We use the Wildside Centre at the moment but hope to rotate and use the Stratherrick Hall too once we organise video conferencing in that venue too. All welcome and maybe we should have cake at every meeting this year to celebrate the wonderful volunteer effort!

Sharon Ferguson, Admin, SFCC 

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 ...