Ahoy community of Auchencairn!
I send you this extraordinary missive to announce that ACT has been successful in yet another two funding bids to improve the health, wellbeing, self-reliance and sustainability of our excellent little community! Both bids were submitted to the Community Led Local Development fund administered by Third Sector D&G who spoke very positively of both projects.
The first is a series of events, loosely themed around the idea of a community market. They will be held once a month, mostly in the village hall, from this month until the end of March. A full programme of activities is still being designed but highlights coming up include a Xmas craft market on Sun 26th Nov 11-3pm and a New Year Tea Dance for all ages on Sun 7th Jan 11-3pm. If anyone has any ideas they would like to contribute or have time to help organise one of the events please contact Emily at emilytofurneaux@gmail.com please also get in touch as soon as possible if you would like to have a stall at the market. I’d really like to encourage all of you to get involved as these community events will be great fun to organise and attend all the more so if there is input from many of us.
And from the e-bike project, we have the ACT Community Workshop, which will allow our project to grow into so much more! The funding will allow us to place two 20′ shipping containers near to the small bike shed we currently operate out of. One of these will serve as storage for our bikes while the other will be used as a workshop to service the e-bikes, repair donated bikes for resale and host Dr. Bike and other courses and workshops such as a “DIY 12v Solar Power” course coming soon at the start of next year (details on how to book this will be forthcoming. Power to the workshop will be provided by our own solar power set-up and will allow for 100% renewable charging of the e-bikes, power tools and lighting.
Although the workshop will initially be used mostly by the bike project, its potential is far greater. Our intention is for it to act as a community resource which may be used to share skills and develop our own solutions to any issues that are faced in our community. If that sounds vague it’s because we don’t want to limit the possibilities too much at this stage. We’re very keen to hear any ideas you might have for how the workshop could look, what it might be used for and what resources it should provide. Please get in touch with me at this email address or on 07935609017 if you would like to share your thoughts or get involved.
Lastly, this wouldn’t be a community project if it didn’t involve the community’s sweat (hopefully no blood or tears though!). So I would like to call any of you keen workers to come and give us a day’s graft on Saturday 25th November clearing brambles and other flora from the area where the containers are to go. Please let me know if you can make it and if you have any tools such as secateurs, machetes, shovels or barrows that might come in handy. We’ll meet at 10am at the allotments so bring your work gloves and banter and dress for the weather that day (hopefully it won’t be too wet!). Snacks / light lunch and refreshments will be provided.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Denis