Scotland: National Rural Network
This is the second part of the event report from the Scottish National Rural Network regional event in the Scottish Borders. In this part you can find out about four inspiring project presentations and the facilitated discussion session. In Part One, you can find out about information updates on the Rural Network, LEADER and Rural Priorities.
The Scottish Borders regional event of the Scottish National Rural Network took place on 16th February 2010 at Springwood Hall, Kelso. Four project presentations gave a great insight into businesses and partnerships working successfully in the area.
Denise Walton gave an interesting presentation about the Scottish Borders Food Network, which was constituted in 2008. They have a membership of 61 producers and providers, including many award winners. The Scottish Borders Food Network has received support from Scottish Borders LEADER.
Mrs Walton gave an overview of some of the projects that the food network had run.The Taste Scottish Borders project had a number of elements including a Food Fair at the Border Union Show in July 2009, a Chef's event on Borders lamb, working in partnership with Quality Meat Scotland, and the Borders Banquet, a ten day event.
They decided to run the Borders Banquet off season, and the event was the only food-based finale event of the Homecoming Scotland event. Twenty-one Borders-wide producers and providers were involved in the event. Of visitors surveyed, 58 percent said the Homecoming had played a major part in their decision to visit a hotel or restaurant, and 78 percent increased their knowledge of local food.
Other events and promotions the food network has been involved in include a demonstration from Sue Lawrence at the Kelso Farmers Market, a food tour and foor tourism seminar and the St Andrews Banquet, which attracted people from Itlay and Ireland. The food network is looking at a transnational project to continue these links and knowledge sharing.
The Scottish Borders Food Network are also working in partnership with the Berwickshire Housing Association on a local food project. They want to show that eating local doesn't have to be an expensive option.
Mrs Walton then talked about the food network's plans beyond 2011. She said they think they need a proper five year regional strategy to compete in the national food and drink sector. The network also wants to expand its knowledge sharing, encourage the growing of more vegetables and highlight the link between what you put in your mouth and the environment.
You can find out more on the Scottish Borders Food Network website and by downloading the Scottish Borders Food Network presentation.
Kate Innes from Tweed Valley Tourist Consortium gave an interesting presentation about this network of tourism businesses. Like Scottish Borders Food Network, the group is coming together to work for mutual benefit - in this case promoting the Tweed Valley as a top class tourist destination.
The mission of the Tweed Valley Tourist Consortium is to promote the Tweed Valley as the ultimate short break destination in Scotland, and to get people to stay longer and spend more. They focus on four main themes: Adventure, Culture, Activity, Tranquility.
They started off with 15 members. Early achievements included building a website for £2000 and getting funding to build an interactive map. In late 2005/06, they received VisitScotland Challenge Funding for printed literature and the Taste of Tweeddale project.
When the Tweed Valley Forest Park Strategy came out, they rebranded as Visit Tweed Valley. They have a totally revamped Visit Tweed Valley website. They now have 70 members.
Today they have got a lot of businesses interested in mountain biking and the opportunities this offers. The Consortium have a number of expert member groups including mountain biking, and sustainable development. The mountain biking group are working on the mountain biking hospitality scheme - the first of its kind in the UK. They are also working to get events to Glentress and Innerleithen.
The consortium also works with a number of local groups and networks operating in the Borders, including the Walking Festival and the Scottish Borders Food Network.
Ms Innes summed up by highlighting some of the opportunities and challenges they had faced. She said matching customer expectations with reality could be a challenge. There were opportunities for the public and private sector to work in unity. The Tweed Valley Tourist Consortium is working towards developing a world class destination, and they want to focus on multiple activities. Ms Innes concluded by saying that the trade should lead with public sector backing.
You can find out more on the Tweed Valley Tourist Consortium website, and by downloading the Tweed Valley Tourist Consortium presentation.
Pete Ritchie from Whitmuir Organics gave a great presentation about the business, which has the slogan 'Food with attitude not additives'! Mr Ritchie's farm is in the far north west of the Borders, it is 50 hectares of grade four and five land, and was not really viable as a business when they took it over. Mr Ritchie said they knew they would have to diversity, and thanked the Scottish Government for their help.
Their plan was to have a sustainable organic business, make a beautiful and productive place, develop a learning community around the farm and to be part of a movement for transforming food and farming.
In 2006, they started on a local quest to see if anyone wanted to buy local vegetables and meat. They opened a shop in the shed for two hours a week. In 2007, they built an on-farm butchery and opened a shop. In 2009, with Scotland Rural Development Programme funding they built a new restaurant/shop/art gallery. In 2010, they are looking to sell organic clothes and have a swap and repair service, as well as open a bakery.
Whitmuir Organics has 28 staff: two-three plus Mr Ritchie on the farm, three in the butchery, seven -eight in the shop and 12-15 in the restaurant.
They also work with other farms, for example a local farm is growing their pig and chicken feed and 20 other Scottish farmers in the region supply the shop with produce. Whitmuir Organics also has proposals for an organic 'portal' and joint marketing, and a proposal to develop a carbon-neutral beef club.
Mr Ritchie said they were very lucky with their experience of the Rural Priorities scheme. They got a very good grant and support from the team in Galashiels. He said the new scheme was complicated, but it wasn't their fault. Their new build project met several priorities.
They submitted their application in summer 2008 and got a decision in August. They built the whole thing in 27 weeks. Mr Ritchie said it had been a lot of work, but they couldn't have undertaken the project without the grant to do it. Rural Priorities has helped to build a much more sustainable building than they could have done otherwise.
The building is built around the sun, with minimum construction waste, low impact concrete, timber frame, local cladding and sheep wool insulation, and a small wind turbine.
Mr Ritchie then talked about building a community around the farm. They have 180 households who have a standing order to buy produce from the farm. Not only does this provide regular income, it also means they have regular communication with their customers. They hold educational talks and school visits and are developing an education room. They also hope to develop a community garden and composting scheme.
Mr Ritchie said an important message for all farmers was to spend your money locally wherever you can, as what goes around comes around.
You can find out more on the Whitmuir Organics website and by downloading the Whitmuir Organics presentation.
Robert Neill from Upper Nisbet Farm gave a really useful presentation about his experiences of Rural Priorities and two projects he had received funding for. Upper Nisbet Farm is between Roxburgh and Nisbet, and the 1000 acre farm is mainly beef.
Mr Neill has had two successful applications to Rural Priorities: upgrade of cattle handling facilities and an access trailer for farm visits.
Mr Neill said the scheme was fairly complicated and all the forms are online. He said this could be challenging as the average age of a Scottish farmer is 56.
Mr Neill's cattle handling project saw the installation of a state of the art cattle crush. The new crush will improve animal welfare, efficiency and staff safety. The crush was imported from New Zealand and is the only one of its kind in the UK so far.
Mr Neill gave a run through of the timescales for this project. He submitted the Statement of Intent on 13th January 2009, submitted his application on 9th Feb 2009 and had notification on 6th April 2009 that he had been awarded a 40 percent grant. He signed the contract on 16th April 2009 and received the cattle crush at the end of June 2009. And on 10th August he applied for payment, and received it at the end of August.
Mr Neill talked in more detail about the Access Trailer project. The trailer will be used for school and farm visits to safely transport visitors around the farm. It comes fully equipped with seatbelts. Mr Neill is involved with the Royal Highland Education Trust. He needs to deliver children into a field with cows and calves safely, and he couldn't do it any other way. He received a 75 percent grant for the trailer, and they are currently awaiting delivery of it.
The trailer will also be used at other times. On 7th July 2010, the farm will be hosting the Grasslands Society of the UK and the trailer will be used for ferrying 150 delegates around. On 23rd and 24th October 2010 they are holding ploughing championships, and again the trailer can be used to transport spectators.
Mr Neill recruited a consultant to complete the Rural Priorities application. Consultant fees were £600 for each application, and the SRDP repaid £200.
Mr Neill said the lessons he had learnt for applying to Rural Priorities were:
He said the scheme was complicated and there can be issues with quotes, for example a quote for shed manufacturing might only stand for 30 days. On the positive side, he said projects that would never have taken place otherwise were possible with funding from Rural Priorities. For example, he could not have wholly funded the Access Trailer through his own business as there wasn't direct benefit.
You can find out more about the farm on the Upper Nisbet Farm website and by downloading the Upper Nisbet Farm presentation.
Following a networking lunch, delegates took part in a discussion session facilitated by SCVO's Sheila Fraser. Participants were asked to tell each other stories about things that had worked well in their communities, and then to share other people's stories with new groups. At the end of the discussion session, delegates came up with themes that had come up during their talks.
The themes in Scottish Borders were:
Projects, businesses and stories that were higlighted during discussion included communities talking during the snowy weather, a community bakery and renewable energy for a swimming pool. One participant shared a story they had heard about the Selkirk Haggis Hunt. This event for kids is a community event with no funding - local businesses provide everything that is needed. The children go out hunting for haggis, with feather dusters and the like to tickle them out of the trees! It sounds like a great event that gets the community together for a fun day!
In Part One, you can find out about information updates on the Rural Network, LEADER and Rural Priorities.
The Scottish Borders event is one of 20 events taking place throughout the country as part of the Scottish National Rural Network. You can find out about events still to take place in our Regional Events page and in our Rural Network Regional Events archive you can find presentations, photos and event reports from previous events.
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