John Muir Festival
John Muir was born in Dunbar in April 1838 and was a farmer, inventor, botanist, geologist, explorer, mountaineer and writer, but he is best known as a pioneer of nature conservation.
Waverley Court Silver Surfers
Residents at Bield Housing Association’s Waverley Court and Birch Cottages in Helensburgh were surveyed by the Waverley Court Social Fund Committee, and their key priorities were identified as access to a computer and the internet, as well as training in IT skills.
Committee Chair, Gordon White approached Cllr Aileen Morton for advice about funding and Cllr Morton asked Helensburgh and Lomond Community Development Officer Audrey Baird to help the residents access the grants and training they needed.
Gordon said:
“We really wanted to help people access new technologies so they could have more opportunities to stay in touch with friends and family by email and even Skype.
“The age range of our silver surfers is 65 to 95, so some people have mobility issues and struggle to get out in bad weather so it would be great to have the option to order shopping online as well.
“Plus, having wifi means people visiting and staying over here would be able to access the internet and their emails.”
Within six months of the survey, funding had been secured from Helensburgh and Lomond Health and Wellbeing Network, Bield Housing Association had agreed to cover the ongoing cost of providing broadband, and a number of residents had signed up for IT training provided by the Council’s Adult Learning department. The residents now have a PC, wifi and printer, as well as a netbook in the lounge for anyone to use, including guests.
Gordon added: “There’s quite a buzz round Waverley Court now. People have had a whale of a time on the IT course and many are now confidently using Skype, Facebook and surfing the net.”
Bute Food Bank
In a bid to respond to local concerns, Bute Area Development Group, Bute Advice Centre and Bute Community Links set out to assess whether it was felt locally that a Food Bank could benefit the local community. A survey was completed by 43 individuals, from a range of diverse local organisations.
Some of the comments received in the survey were:-
“There is no other way to get help in a crisis – no Salvation Army/soup kitchens”
“Rising cost of food on the Island, people cannot afford prices.”
“Poverty on Bute has become a very serious issue. Not only for young families but for the elderly, who are finding times tough.”
“With bedroom tax, individuals are living in abject poverty, fuel bills are higher and people do not have the means to feed themselves and their children.”
“.....recently told that my client had no food in the house and no money to buy any.”
“..there are people who are living well below the breadline and struggle to make ends meet.”
As a result of the survey a partnership of Bute Area Development Group, Bute Advice Centre and Bute Community Links set up a project to establish a food bank on Bute. Initially a funding bid to the Big Lottery Support and Connect Fund was put together, but this application was unsuccessful.
A local organisation “Bute Oasis” stepped in to support the food bank with donations from their furniture recycling project.
The Bute Food Bank continues to be a good example of partnership working between Bute Advice Centre, Bute Area Development Group, Bute Oasis and Argyll and Bute Council.
The Bute Food Bank from the period Jan 1st 2014 to Mar 31st 2014 was used by 38 individuals.
It is concerning that 2/3 of those using the food-bank have additional health issues and advisers at Bute Advice Centre are working to ensure that disabled people, in particular, using the food-bank are also supported with debt management, budgeting skills, income maximization etc. to help alleviate difficulties.
Most applicants receive a 3 day food supply however a small number have returned on 2, 3 or 4 occasions. To date, 18 referrals were made from partner agencies and 20 were self-referrals. The average age of clients is 43, with 20 males and 18 females.
Intergenerational Project
“Remember When…” was an intergenerational project to record memories of old Dunoon by some of the senior citizens of the area.
The project was run under the auspices of the Dunoon and Cowal Heritage Trust in partnership with, Argyll Voluntary Action, Argyll and Bute Council’s Community Development Officer for Bute and Cowal, and Cowal Youth Forum members: Emily Somerville, Jordan Ralston, Connor Ralston, Niamh Robertson and Mhorren McMillan.
Topics covered included “the History of Dunoon” by Mairi Paterson; “Living in Castle House” by Helen McClelland; “Memories of Dunoon” by Marjory Walker and “Old Dunoon” by Duncan Cameron.
Dunoon and Cowal Heritage Trust, assisted by Bute and Cowal Community Development Officer, applied to Awards for All for funding for the recording equipment required and received a grant of £3,000. With the money a video camera, a digital camera and other equipment was purchased to enable the project to get started in January 2013. It ended with a formal launch of a DVD in April 2014. The equipment purchased will be available to any Community Group who wishes to make recordings of projects.
The filming and recoding of the interviews was carried out by members of the Youth Forum in Dunoon with the assistance of Alan Robertson, Argyll and Bute Council Youth Worker for Cowal, and Rhona Grant, Community Based Adult Learning Worker, as part of a placement with the Youth Forum. A DVD was produced of the interviews and was formally launched by Cllr Dick Walsh on 2nd April 2014.
The people, young and not so young, who were involved in the project, with Council Leader, Dick Walsh.
Oban Disability Forum and Access Panel (incorporating Shopmobility)
The volunteers have been working with the community development officer this year to consider their sustainability. Having suffered a change in their volunteering circumstances, the group have undertaken a review and decided that continuing to provide a Shopmobility service is no longer viable.
They have negotiated with a local business owner who has taken over providing Shopmobility on a pilot basis and are considering options for the portacabin they operated the service out of.
The group are now consolidating and looking at the long-term sustainability of their portacabin office and focussing on their Access Panel work.
Oban Mountain Bike Crew
Following a presentation on the lack of off road cycling facilities from an Oban High School pupil a couple of years ago, the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee requested that the Community Development Officer meet with him to explore the potential for taking this issue forward.
Together, they organised a public meeting to see what local interest there was in developing trails around the Oban area. The meeting was well attended with a small core group agreeing to work in taking the issue forward.
The group immediately started to explore potential sites around the area, at the same time as working on getting a constitution and bank account in place. Since then they have identified a local landowner interested in looking at trail developments on his estate to provide free access to off road biking for the local community.
They have secured funding to run a trail building course for members and those interested in volunteering to develop the trails, and for basic materials costs.
The founding member who kick-started the original discussions and who has remained active within the group throughout was named as the 2014 Young Volunteer of the Year in the Argyll and Bute volunteer awards, organised by Argyll Voluntary Action. The Community Development Officer continues to work with them on taking their project forward.
Lorn Resource Centre Members Committee
The Community Development Officer is currently working with members of the Lorn Resource Centre to look at how the people who use the centre, influence the day to day service provision. The CDO has worked closely with key staff to identify interested members to set up a committee. With little interest being expressed in a formal committee, they started to explore how they could engage people and motivate them to get involved.
One of the key members suggested a sponsored walk and it was agreed that the money raised from this would give people an opportunity to get involved in thinking about how this could be spent and making choices – rather than the money going into a general fund, it will be used as a way for the members group to demonstrate how people can influence what happens.
So far, the walk has been a great success, with 16 people taking part, one of whom has already joined the group. The group have raised £465 to date and are now considering how best to involve everyone in identifying what opportunities it could bring, generating some “thinking out of the box” and reaching a democratic decision.
At the heart of all this is the need to make sure all engagement is simple, involves everyone and leads to something concrete.
Centre staff, the CDO and the members group all recognise that from little acorns, great oaks grow and that this may be a long, slow process developing a group that represents the Resource Centre members and who can work with staff to shape future service.
West Kintyre Stargazers
Just two years after launching West Kintyre Stargazers, Louise Duncan has grown the group from just a handful of volunteers to creating a social enterprise employing six staff and organising dozens of events in Kintyre each year.
The confidence boost of securing the group’s first grant of £1,900 from the Council’s Third Sector Grants programme in April 2013 helped Louise galvanise other members to apply for a much larger grant from the Climate Challenge Fund.
Louise said: “The Stargazers were born out of a campaign for our dark skies, our concern for the environment and our understanding of the power of our star, the sun. We developed a comprehensive application and were awarded a grant for in excess of £180,000.
“We’ve been able to create six jobs and have developed a project that is delivering real benefits for the communities of Kintyre through carbon reduction initiatives and energy efficiency measures. Aside from having environmental benefits, our work also tackles and reduces incidence of fuel poverty.”
The Stargazers achieved the first Dark Sky Discovery Site accolade in mainland Argyll and continue to campaign to retain the wonderful asset that Kintyre's dark skies represent. They ran eight night sky observation sessions with guest speakers last winter, with each event attracting around 70 people on average. They also brought the ‘Scary Science’ roadshow to Campbeltown, attracting 500 people, and the ‘Think Science’ planetarium to the Grammar School. In March, they opened the first Energy Advice Centre in Kintyre, bringing a focus to the energy needs of the communities of the area.
Louise first contacted the Council’s Community Development Officer, Audrey Baird, in 2012 for help with funding applications, advice on income generation and how to measure social impact.
Louise added, “The support provided by the Community Development Team and the awarding of our first grant was fundamental to the development of the core activities of the group. From this solid foundation we were able to enhance and expand the scope of our activities. We would encourage all small community based organisations wishing to develop their ideas to make the Community Development Team their first point of contact.”
Viewpoint
Viewpoint is a fun and engaging way of getting people in local communities to talk about their issues, aspirations and concerns for their home town or village.
Fyne Homes launched a project in 2008, which was funded by LEADER, to commission a play to stimulate discussion among local people. The drama, developed by Breeze Productions, was completed in March 2010 following extensive research and interviews with individuals and groups across three areas of Argyll: Bute, Campbeltown and Lochfyneside.
The multi media show of Viewpoint, which includes a short film outlining how the drama was developed followed by the play, was first shown in June 2010. The presentation enabled audience participants to consider sensitive issues within the community in a non-threatening and positive way, allowing people of all backgrounds to participate.
WALT Challenge Fund (Working and Learning Together) and European LEADER funding was then secured by Argyll and Bute Council Community Development Team in 2011 to deliver a number of drama presentations to engage with communities across Argyll.
Beachwatch Bute
Since April 1998, Beachwatch Bute has been a vital and hard working charity.
It continues to have a very positive impact on the community and economy of the island. The removal of over 10 tonnes of marine litter from the shores and beaches of Bute each year Keeps Bute Beautiful...and the Beach Ranger very busy indeed!!
The project carries out a necessary service to the Isle of Bute’s environment as well as an educational programme via schools and events. They need to replace equipment to enable them to continue their educational activities and they received help from the Council’s Community Development team to look at various sources of funding.
Litter on the beach detracts from the appearance of the Isle of Bute and in the last year they have removed over 10 tonnes of marine litter. This is a valuable service which contributes to the community.
Kilmory Home Farm Project
The Kilmory Home Farm Project (KHFP) is a local group set up with a view to saving the Home Farm buildings near Kilmory Castle in Lochgilphead and using them as a hub for a ‘centre for sustainable living’.
The group worked alongside Strathclyde Building Preservation Trust (SBPT) to deliver an options appraisal funded by the Architectural Heritage Fund and Argyll & Bute Council. The appraisal was delivered in July 2008 and indicated that the project could be viable and attract capital funding.
In 2010 the Council’s community development officer, Audrey Baird, and social enterprise advisor, David Rennie, started working with the KHFP to develop their community engagement, marketing and funding strategies and a paper, recommending continued Council support for the project, is scheduled to go to a Mid Argyll Kintyre and the Islands Area Committee meeting in August.
Exploring the Health of Seniors
ETHOS is run by the Helensburgh and Lomond Community Representatives Forum and aims to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of senior citizens in the area.
The project focuses its support on elderly people who have recently been bereaved, are socially isolated, have learning difficulties or lack opportunities for social interaction.
The project has provided a number of activities and events for its members and is an example of good practice productive partnership working.
Some ETHOS events can cater for between 100 and 250 senior citizens at one time. These included craft classes and coffee mornings. Craft classes took place in Kirkmichael, Rosneath, Garelochhead and Helensburgh and consisted of a six week course learning a new craft each week.
These include:-
Craft classes for Senior Citizens. These took place in Kirkmichael, Rosneath, Garelochhead, and Helensburgh and consisted of a 6 week course learning a new Craft each week. Each class had between 10 and 25 participants.
The Community Representatives constantly evaluated their service provision at informal coffee mornings where informal support groups could be established.
Kirkmichael Tenants and Residents Association
Kirkmichael Tenants and Residents Association in Helensburgh got a boost when Dunbritton Housing Association built new houses in the area. Some of the new tenants joined the Residents Association, a new committee was appointed and they quickly agreed a list of projects and actions to improve the facilities and activities within the area.
The first priority for the new Committee was to improve the play area at the side of the skate park and the group secured a £10,000 BIG Lottery Fund grant to install new equipment.
The Association also started to provide social events for the community, including a Family Fun Day and a Family Bingo Night in the Kirkmichael Centre, Helensburgh.
Forward Together
A series of Community Planning Partnership “Forward Together” consultation events were held in the Council’s four administrative areas in 2010. These helped communities influence their Area Community Plan, which is produced by Local Area Community Planning Groups (LACPG), and also raised awareness of the financial pressures facing the public sector locally.
Events were held as follows:
Forward Together 1
Dunoon - 6th March 2010
Oban - 15th May 2010
Helensburgh - 22nd May 2010
Tarbert - 19th June 2010
Forward Together 2
Rothesay - 23rd October 2010
Lochgilphead - 30th October 2010
Helensburgh - 13th November 2010
Oban - 20th November 2010
Each Local Area Community Planning Group now has an area community plan, which has been drawn up in consultation with communities and details priorities for each area.
Soroba Sports Area Development
Soroba Community Association worked closely with ACHA, the Rotary Club and the North Argyll Youth Forum, to improve the surface of the sports area in Soroba.
Funds were raised through an auction run by the Rotary and MacQueen Brothers to improve the ground on the pitch area - grass was worn away and a lot of rubble was present under the surface.
Machrihanish Village Hall
Machrihanish Village Hall is in the heart of the coastal village in south Kintyre and overlooks a lovely sandy beach. The Hall was ‘given’ to the community on a long lease by the local Laird, Hector McNeil, several years ago. Since then it has been used as a venue for meetings, fetes, birthday parties and other celebrations. The Hall is even used as accommodation by surfers from a number of Scottish universities.
Issues such as damp and a leaking roof and the installation of a new kitchen were taken on board so the Hall was better equipped for functions and other events.