Scotland: National Rural Network
This is the second part of the event report from the Scottish National Rural Network Dumfries and Galloway regional event which took place on 17th February 2010 at the Town Hall in Lockerbie. In this part, you can find out about two project presentations and the facilitated discussion session. In Part One, you can find out about the Chair's welcoming remarks and information updates on the Rural Network, LEADER and Rural Priorities.
Christina Noble from the Here We Are project in Cairndow, Argyll, gave the first project presentation of the day. Ms Noble used to run a walking business in Himalayan India. She saw lots of people from rural areas learn very quickly and grow in self confidence when visitors asked them questions about their lives.
Ms Noble said the Highlands is not all about castles and clans and whisky. The Here We Are project was first thought of in 1998 and aimed to reveal everyday life in Argyll through people asking questions and hopefully to improve self esteem through this process.
When they first considered the project there were a number of issues facing Cairndow including lack of opportunities for further education, lack of a centre to encourage tourists to stop, lack of access to IT skills and so on.
The Here We Are centre is a facility for visitors to the area to learn about Cairndow, and also a community facilicity. Ms Noble said the centre is not a heritage centre - they are only interested in the memory lane because it informs the present - it is the future that is important. The centre is also a service point for the Council and an Argyll College Learning Centre.
Early on in the project's life, Here We Are made a film with a community in Donegal called 'To see ourselves as others see us', they lobbied for new houses, built an aquarium so people could learn what was in Loch Fyne, and set up the Our Houses: Their Stories project. The Heritage Lottery Funded project Our House: Their Stories was a biography of all the houses in the village - with work undertaken by people living there.
A wedding exhibition was held at the village hall with photos spanning about 100 years of weddings in the village. They had a wedding cake and wedding favours and a good deal of fun!
Ms Noble said it's not all about money - social capital is also important. She also talked about the importance of networking and said an extended network can bring extended well being. Networking is very important, whether it be on a website, on the telephone or face to face.
Here We Are have contacts with a range of professional people including the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University and the Royal Commission of Ancient and Historical Monuments. She said they have become something of a case study. A woman from Iceland visited Cairndow on a study visit and went back to her community and set up a Here We Are project there.
Here We Are have also undertaken renewable energy projects. The centre regularly hosts exhibitions on a wide range of themes, and they had an Energy exhibit. The community asked if there was something they could do for themselves, and they got funding for a feasability study. Here We Are now has a biomass wood chipping plant, carried out an audit of village houses and made recommendations, is an information point for Alienergy and has a micro hydro plant. Ms Noble stressed that they are trying to become self-sustaining.
Ms Noble then talked about some of the current projects happening at Here We Are. They are undertaking a feasability study for a biomass scheme for Loch Fyne Oysters, Here We Are and the Tree Shop. They are also undertaking an extension of their aquarium with funding from LEADER and the Crown Estates. And they are producing Mother's Messages cookery book with recipes and stories about what people cook in Cairndow, how they cook and so on.
Ms Noble finished by encouraging delegates to come and visit Here We Are.
You can find out more about this project by downloading Christine Noble's presentation from our documents library and by visiting the Here We Are website.
Duncan Elliott, Youth Development Manager for the Xcel Project gave an interesting presentation about this Dumfries and Galloway youth project. The project got underway in 2005 and was developed in response to demand from the youth work community in Eskdale and the wider community. The aim was for the project to act as a focal point for youth work activities.
Mr Elliott said they were lucky in Langholm and Eskdale to have trusts that support organisations. They initially got funding for three years and had office space at Langholm Community Centre. He said that at the start they had ideas, outcomes and so on, but it was like a virtual project - they needed an identity.
They launched a competition in the local high school to design a logo for the project. And in March 2006, they undertook a youth survey, and 357 young people aged ten to 17 responded. They asked a lot of questions, including which area they lived in, if transport was an issue and so on.
When deciding what activities to undertake, they looked at the results of the survey and also at gaps in existing youth provision. They started doing the youth club, and also set up the Buck Hang Out Night, in conjunction with the local Buck Hotel pub in Langholm. There was a seperate room with a pool table, juke box and so on that the young people could use. The night wasn't structured and young people were able to just drop in. Mr Elliott said it was good for those aged over 14, who were a bit too old for Youth Club.
The Buck Hoodies group was set up as a result, with a pool team and a darts team. Mr Elliott said the night had also helped to tackle issues with underage drinking as the young people learned that pubs are not 'magical places'.
Mr Elliott also talked about the Xcel Project's Summer of Sport, which is a holiday programme offering one trip a week with funding available to take away the barrier of cost.
The Finland Exchange Trip project saw five young people come to Dumfries and Galloway from Finland in October 2006, and nine young people from Annandale and Eskdale travelling to Finland in February 2007. They were asked to produce a DVD, and Mr Elliott showed a short clip from the video during his presentation. Mr Elliott said the trip had really helped with the young people's confidence - they had come on leaps and bounds because of the experience.
The Xcel Project's Building on Success phase is funded until January 2011, with 50 percent from LEADER. There are two main aims - a youth information centre and an Xcel website. Mr Elliott said they always wanted somewhere of their own to act as a focus. They now have a centre on Langholm High St where young people can drop in and use laptops, a Playstation 3, a 32 inch TV. They can also pick up information on health, careers and so on.
The Xcel Project website has also been launched, you can find it at www.xcelproject.co.uk. Mr Elliott said there was lots of good stuff going on in isolation, so they've started the Clubs & Groups section of the website so everyone can find out what's going on.
And what happens next? Mr Elliott said they will have to sit down with the young people and they will also undertake an online youth survey to help inform the future of the Xcel Project. Mr Elliott recommended LEADER as a funder. He said the only thing is that many funds are happy to fund new things, and they really need a fund that will help them to continue what they are currently doing.
After a networking lunch, delegates participated in a facilitated discussion session where they were asked to share stories of good things that had happened in their communities recently, and then to retell stories that had made them think or inspired them. Stories highlighted included affordable housing on an estate and opportunities for jobs and training relating to climate change for young people.
Themes that emerged during the discussion session were:
The importance of partnership working and connections to the land were also raised.
In Rural Network Dumfries and Galloway regional event (Part One) you can find out about Chair Cathy Agnew's opening remarks and information updates from the Scottish National Rural Network, LEADER and Rural Priorities.
The Dumfries and Galloway event is just one of a series of 20 taking place across rural Scotland. You can get details of events still to take place in our Regional Events section and get reports from events that have taken place in our Rural Network Regional Events archive.
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Comments
Excellent event - and I'd
Excellent event - and I'd recommend taking a look at Christina Noble's presentation in particular. And actually - all the other ones as well!