Rural Community Gateway

RURAL UPDATE: ISSUE 112
8 February 2008
Catch up with the latest news from the Rural Community Gateway
http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/
To unsubscribe from this newswire email mailto:editor@ruralgateway.org.uk

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EDITOR'S NOTE
There are lots of ways to get involved with the Rural Gateway. If you
enjoyed last year's photo competition, don't forget to take part in
this year's competition. You'll find further details below. You can
also take part in our regular features such as Your Project, or send
us a special report from your area. You can let us know about your
events for our calendar, send us your community newsletter and give
us your ideas for future Great Rural Debates. And if you're a young
person looking for some great work experience, our Project Scotland
placement might be for you. These are just some of the ways you can
get involved. If you are interested, get in touch by emailing
mailto:editor@ruralgateway.org.uk - we're always pleased to hear from
you.

NEWSWIRE FORMAT
If you have not received this newsletter in our new format, go to My
Newsletters and select to receive the newswires in html format.
See https://secure.ruralgateway.org.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi?page=33

BIGGER AND BETTER PHOTO COMPETITION FOR 2008
We've launched our photo competition for 2008 - and this year it is
bigger and better. You can enter photographs under six themes, with
closing dates for these themes staggered throughout the year. This
year we're looking for a wider range of subjects - from landscapes to
wildlife to people.

Our first closing date is 29th February 2008 for the theme My
Favourite Place in Rural Scotland. We want to see your photos of the
places that are special to you. The Rural Gateway Team will pick a
winner, who will receive a 15 pounds Amazon voucher and a runner up who
will receive a 5 pounds Amazon voucher. We'll also be publishing a gallery
of the best submissions.

And, as in our 2007 competition, Rural Gateway users will choose our
overall winner from the six theme winners at the end of the year.
 
You can find more details on the photo competition, how to enter and information
on all our themes in Photo competition 2008 information.
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2122
 
CALLING ALL YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS
We are delighted to be offering a special photo competition prize for
young photographers. Photographers under 18 can enter under any of
our six themes before 15th December 2008. First prize is a 50 pounds Amazon
voucher, second prize is a 25 pounds Amazon voucher and third prize is a 10 pounds Amazon
voucher. The Rural Gateway Team is really looking forward to judging
this special prize. Find out how to enter here:
http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2122

ASK THE CABINET SECRETARY
We've now published both parts of Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs
and the Environment Richard Lochhead's responses to questions from
Rural Gateway users. You can read his responses to questions on a
whole range of rural issues from village halls to housing to
agriculture.
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2098
And http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2100

PROJECT SCOTLAND OPPORTUNITY AT RURAL GATEWAY
If you are aged between 16 and 25 and fancy gaining some work
experience at the Rural Gateway, then SCVO's Rural Communities
Researcher volunteer placement could be for you. The placement is
offered through Project Scotland, so the volunteer would receive a
55 pounds a week living allowance and travel expenses to and from the
placement.

The placement is full-time for six months, based in SCVO's Inverness
office, working with the Rural Communities Team. Part of the time
will be spent helping to develop a database for Scotland's village
halls and community buildings, with the other part of the time spent
on the Rural Gateway, updating content, researching and writing
articles, and more.
See for more details: http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2129

OFF THE SHELF
In February's Off the Shelf we highlighted some recent additions to our
documents library, including the Scottish Rural Development Programme
Implementation update newsletter, a strategy for rural South
Lanarkshire and the discussion document 'Choosing the right ingredients:
the future of food in Scotland'.
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2128

YOUR PROJECT
We are currently looking for projects to take part in our Your
Project feature. This is a great way to let rural Scotland know about
your community project, and it is easy to take part. All you have to
do is answer a series of set questions and send us some images to
illustrate your article. If you are interested please get in touch by
emailing mailto:editor@ruralgateway.org.uk.

WEB OF MONTH
Our website for the month for February is Heritage North, an online
project funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and run by Hi-Arts.
See http://www.heritagenorth.org.uk/

EVENTS
Recently added events to our calendar include a series of training
events from the DTA Scotland, the final conference from the EQUAL Social
Economy in Scotland project and the Village Halls Summit in Aviemore.
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/information/events.html
 
FUNDING NEWSWIRE
If you need to know about funding, sign up for our very popular
Funding latest newswire, produced by Sandra Hogg, our resident
funding expert. Remember to select to receive them in html format.
See https://secure.ruralgateway.org.uk/cgi-bin/profile.cgi?page=1

THANK YOU
Thanks to Donald McPhilliny, Phil Olson, Rona Gibb, Graham Riddell,
Alastair MacNeil, Daye Tucker, Elizabeth Wark, Dianne Smith, Derek
Douglas, Petra Vergunst, Ange Riddle, Michael Johnston and more for
their recent comments and contributions.

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TOP STORIES
Experiencing fuel poverty?
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2132

Ask the Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead Part 1
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2098

Ask the Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead Part 2
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2100

Gateway seeks Project Scotland volunteer
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2129

Rural round up 89
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2131

New photo competition bigger and better
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2125

Special report: Durris explores opportunities of forest assets
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2127

Off the shelf: February 2008
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2128

Notes from the farm: Thoughts on spring
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2130

Beavers back in Argyll?
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2121

Rural jobs round up 32
See http://www.ruralgateway.org.uk/item/2126

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CONTACT US
We are always happy to hear from Rural Gateway users, so please feel
free to email editor@ruralgateway.org.uk with any comments or
suggestions.

Best wishes
Norette Ferns

Copyright 2008 Rural Community Gateway. The Rural Community Gateway
is a Scottish Government initiative, designed and developed by online
community specialists Sift with content and editorial services
provided by the Rural Communities Team of the Scottish Council for
Voluntary Organisations.

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