Our exchange gave us the opportunity to understand the phased approach  Culturlann Inbhir Nis had taken in terms of getting the building open and completing the initial work, beginning to run activity and then the plans for the future. In particular, it was really useful to see how they were making use of the space to allow community activities to take place while construction work was ongoing, and this will inform our approach in our own building. We were impressed by their flexible approach and their use of other spaces to maintain their profile while their own space was unable to be used and this is something we will also consider

We learned about Culturlann Inbhir Nis’s income generation strategy and exchanged ideas on what had worked for us, and plans they had that we hadn’t considered. We shared experiences and success (or otherwise!) with different funders, which gave both sides new insight and focus.

Our biggest area of learning was around the measures Culturlann Inbhir Nis had taken to make people without Gaelic feel included, while maintaining the ethos and values of the space as a Gaelic cultural centre. This was of huge interest to us as we are in an area with very few native speakers, but a lot of interest, and many people who remember Gaelic being spoken by older generations, so we were very keen to understand how they navigated this. Top tips were: Clearly communicating which events are ‘Gaelic only’ and which are ‘Gaelic first’; how they encouraged and supported inter-generational activities and learning, and how they made visitors welcome through signage of simple words to encourage ‘giving it a go’, making use of volunteers to start conversations and put people at ease, etc.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding Culturlann Inbhir Nis’s approach to phasing the project, specifically the balance between getting their programme up and running alongside carrying out the renovation work. This will inform our approach when taking on a new building.
• In terms of programming, understand what is delivered by Culturlann Inbhir Nis directly and what is delivered by partners, and their approach to balancing this in terms of workload/capacity and funding/income generation.
• Understanding any resistance Culturlann Inbhir Nis faced from non-Gaelic-speaking community members, and how this was overcome to ensure the whole community felt welcome. This will inform our action plan.

"Our visit was very useful and we addressed all the outcomes we wanted to and much more! I hope Culturlann Inbhir Nis felt it was equally beneficial, and I felt like we have made a good 'friend' organisation who we can keep in touch with in the future. It would be great for them to come and visit us in future, and we're hoping to go back and see them once the renovation of the building is complete and it's fully up and running."