Strathmore & The Glens Rural Partnership
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Newsletter Issue No. 2 - Summer 2002 Inside
this issue….. Environmentally
friendly holiday park Better
Place to Live Fair 2002 The
money is out there but how do we get it! Perthshire Businesswomen’s News
Strathmore & the Glens have been very busy over the last three months with the production of their website (www.strathmoreglens.org), collation/production of the Strathmore & the Glens Directory and organisation of the 3rd Better Place to Live Fair. The directory is in the process of being reformatted so that it can be made available on-line. Considerable frustration was experienced during the last 18 months in trying to draw down our Rural Challenge monies. Now that the situation has been rectified it is full speed ahead to complete our programme for 2002/2003. The
European Union is making it part of their grant conditions that communities have
input in projects undertaken and that community representatives are included in
the Local Area Groups who decide on which projects are successful in their bids.
Rural
Transport continues to be placed high on the agenda, especially now that the
School Holidays have commenced. Many
Rural School children are excluded from attending the many activities organised
by Perth & Kinross Leisure because the majority are based in Perth, Crieff
and Aberfeldy, The high cost of
transport, especially to Perth, is a barrier to many families and is something
we would like to address for the future.
We
are also looking at the feasibility of holding a Farmers Market in Blairgowrie
because research shows that there is a 30% increase in visitors to Perth &
Dundee, which means on days when the markets take place consumer spend is higher
in local shops. Unfortunately
because Blairgowrie in not on the main tourist route we have to find ways of
attracting visitors to the area.
Strathmore & the
Glens are part of a rural framework at
present unique in Scotland. In
order that we can represent you effectively we need to know your views.
We are here to facilitate self-help so let us help you get your ideas on
paper of find funds, as our achievements are your achievements. The
Directors of Strathmore & the Glens are represented on the Boards and
Committees of various groups in the area and are able to represent the community
at various forums.
Please
contact me if you would like us to feature your groups in future editions,
especially if you have news or developments you wish to tell others.
As
always if you have any queries or would like any information on the role of the
Partnership, please do not hesitate to give me a call on 01828 640763 or e-mail
me at sue@strathmoreglens.sol.co.uk.
Sue
Cole, Executive Director
Blairgowrie is home of one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly holiday parks. The Park is set in 15 acres of landscaped ground and provides 15 luxury pine lodges and 10 caravan holiday homes for hire. The park also hosts a number of private holiday homes for hire. It also has 5 star facilities for touring caravans and holiday homes. Margaret and Colin Wood, the proprietors have planted hundreds of indigenous trees and shrubs over the last 20 years creating a natural haven for red squirrels, badgers, hedgehogs and other wildlife. For their efforts they were awarded a gold in the David Bellamy Conservation Awards.
BLAIRGOWRIE
AREA TOURIST BOARD COMMITTEE is actively working on a golf week for 2003.
The event will be held from 7 – 12 July and plans are going well.
Details of other events are available from Blairgowrie Tourist Information Centre.
This year’s fair was the start of the Jubilee celebrations in Blairgowrie. Pete Wishart MP and former Runrig member opened the fair by welcoming the Rattray School Marching Drum Corps. Pete also launched the first edition of the Strathmore & the Glens Directory of Local Clubs and Organisations. This comprehensive guide gives details of over 400 organisations in Blairgowrie and District. The Directory will be available on-line in the near future, so up-to-date information will be more easily accessible. The Fair was a new
drive to attract volunteers and raise public awareness of opportunities
available in the Blairgowrie area. Exhibitors
this year included the Strathmore Speakers Club, Blairgowrie Adult Education
Association, Tayside Energy Advice Project, Blairgowrie Youth Enquiry Service
(who were also awarded ‘Best Display’, Blairgowrie & District Paths
Network, Tayside Police, The Association of Blairgowrie Craft Workers, Coupar
Angus YWCA, The National Childbirth Trust, Blairgowrie & District Community
Learning Plan, Business in the Community, Meigle Community Council, Horseways,
ABC Mothers Union, Scottish Pensioners Forum, Perth College, and Blairgowrie
Library Services. Perth &
Kinross Grants Direct ran a funding workshop. B & T Dance Academy once again
gave an excellent display of Highland Dance and the Ericht Art Club held an
exhibition of their work. It was also an opportunity to say thank you to
the many volunteers who gave up their weekend to staff the displays.
THE
MONEY IS OUT THERE (but how do we get it…) We all know what our own groups do, but other people may not. Particularly as the person who reads your grant application will have their own assumption and ideas about your activities. It is essential to read the aims of the fund your are applying to and then describe how your organisation meets them. It can be useful to do these using similar phases to those used by the fund to which you are applying. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT MANY GRANT MAKING BODIES SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDE CERTAIN ACTIVITIES. Under these circumstances you will need to be careful when making the case for the benefits of the activity. Remember Perth & Kinross Grants Direct is there to help your group find funds. Don’t hesitate to contact them on 0845 605 2000.
BLAIRGOWRIE & DISTRICT COMMUNITY LEARNING PLAN It's hard to write about the Blairgowrie & District Community Learning Plan without thinking that the reader may already have switched off. Yet the various learning providers and community groups involved in the CLP have a very important message to promote. The kind of learning that people do in their everyday life - in their communities, within their families, in their work - is as valuable as learning in more formal places. The CLP wants people to take up learning opportunities in their own areas. Whether as a volunteer in a local youth groups, young people improving their health, adults wanting to know how to start up their own business, parents helping their kids with their homework, and so on. Partners in the CLP believe that we should build the skills of people and thus the capacity of communities to grow. Over the last year we've promoted things ranging from adult literacy to alternative health, to Making Moves for adults to Youth crime diversionary activities among other things. So, the CLP has the job of letting communities know about what's already out there. The CLP also wants to know what people and community groups need to know and make those kinds of courses happen. We also want people to realise and value the skills people of all ages have and encourage them to build on them. But at its heart we want to encourage people that it is never too early or too late to learn. The CLP believes in Learning for Life and Lifelong Learning. If you would like to know more contact John at 01250 874234 or e-mail him at com-ed@blair-com-ed.pkc.sch.uk
BLAIRGOWRIE
HIGHLAND GAMES, Sunday 8 SEPTEMBER 2002 An annual event, Blairgowrie Highland Games are held in Bogles Field on the Essendy Road out of Blairgowrie each year, on the Sunday following the Braemar Gathering. It is held on this day so that those athletes, dancers and pipers taking part at Braemar can stop off at Blairgowrie overnight and then take part in a local worthwhile event such as ours. At Blairgowrie there is a more relaxed atmosphere and it is a Games where everyone can enjoy the events. For the 2003 Games, as an acknowledgement of the 50th anniversary of Braemar Day, organised in the town by the Events Committee, the Games Committee have agreed that primary school children will be allowed into the Games free of charge. This will allow parents to bring their children along to enjoy a good traditional highland games which is intended for all the family. The twelve primary schools in the area have been invited to send along a team to participate in a Schools Highland Games. We are very grateful to the members of Blairgowrie Rotary Club who have offered to sponsor the trophy for this event.
The Competing Pipers Association have once agreed to hold their own competition at Blairgowrie again this year. With the increase in pipers taking part in the solo piping events, Jimmie McGregor the piping convenor is having to start this event at 10.30am to try and fit all those wishing to compete in this event.
Grass track cycling will be making a comeback at Blairgowrie this year after an absence of about ten years. There can be a great deal of thrills and spills in the cycling events which have a great following.
Highland Dancers will again be competing for the Barbara Davies Walsh Trophy in the Intermediate Dancing. This trophy, designed by Barbara Walsh is fiercely competed for each year.
PERTHSHIRE BUSINESS WOMEN'S NEWS New
address…… Perthshire
Businesswomen’s Network PO Box
7334 DUNKELD PH8 0YP Diary
Dates: Tuesday 3th September, Networking Lunch 12 noon – 2 pm Reid Bar, Salutation Hotel, Perth Wednesday 25th September, 7:00pm Networking Evening at the Scottish Plant Collectors Garden, cost £10, Pitlochry
Festival Theatre. Friday 4th October, ASB Gala Awards Dinner, Glasgow, cost £50 per ticket. Wednesday 30th October, 6:30pm, Work & Life Planning, cost £10, Huntingtower Hotel Perth. Saturday 30th November, 7:30pm, Annual Perthshire Busines Dinner Dance, Huntingtower Hotel Perth.
Further details available from their website www.perthshirebusinesswomen.co.uk.
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