We believe in beautiful idyllic peaceful and natural wilderness spaces being accessible to everyone –Towford is just that. Photos

For many years now registered Scottish youth work Charity Muirhouse Youth Development Group (MYDG) and its Social Enterprise MY Adventure have been looking to secure a building, a bothy, a place that people can get away to and relax in – that is basic, comfortable and affordable. A place where young children can play safely but adventurously, in the outdoors, exploring Scotland’s natural heritage with their families and friends. A place where teenagers can get away from pressures and learn new skills. A place where groups of adults can build friendships but enjoy space to themselves. Towford Outdoor Centre, near Jedburgh, set in the beautiful remote yet accessible Scottish Borders, is the place we have been seeking.

Why are we crowdfunding for £6000 ?

The building has been empty and unused for 17 years. It urgently needs some heating and a rewire if it is to survive its first winter in our care. We also seek to make it more sustainable and more importantly more accessible to people with disabilities. Many of the old systems are now considered unsafe. The roof needs patching and the grounds have become hugely overgrown and inaccessible. We have a fantastic community of volunteers who can provide the labour (we are of course always looking for more, especially people with trade’s experience). However, funds are needed specifically to:

 • Put in a wood burning stove

 • Re-wire the building

 • Replace two windows

 • Up-grade the Shower/toilet block – making it accessible to people with disabilities

Crowdfunding is the best way to fund this project because we can offer amazing incentives including use of the building once it’s fully operational. We also need the funding urgently to complete the essentials for Towford to survive the Scottish winter. Please visit our crowdfunding page here where you can see a short video of Towford and find out why we are so excited about this project.

Towford Outdoor Centre lies in the upper Kale Valley, on the northern slopes of the Cheviot Hills and has been lent to MYDG absolutely free, initially for 10 years but for the longer term if we can sustain it and assure our landlord that people are using it. Formerly an Outdoor Education centre until 1996 when it was closed. Before that, it was a school from 1876 to 1964. The school log reads: on June 30th 1964 ‘Today is the last day of Towford School. We have closed today and will not be returning’. Lets return to this building a playful spirit and keenness to learn about the natural world, each other and ourselves!

You couldn’t find a better location for a Centre as Towford. Feeling remote but a mere 15 minutes from Jedburgh, the area contains an abundance of features of educational interest, quite apart from its out-standing potential for hill-walking and the beautiful conservation grade grounds. The area is typical of the Scottish Cheviot country, with its rolling hills and wide valleys, clear streams, shelterbelts and rich grazings. The widely scattered hamlets and hill-farms are linked by narrow, winding roads, little used but essential to settlement in the area. Roman remains, along with standing stones, hill forts, cultivation terraces and the like all add to the educational potential of the area. This area and this building with your help can make an outstanding contribution to the lives of many children, groups, adults and communities.

Your pledge will benefit many people from all different walks of life. The organisations who have already stated that they will use this fantastic facility is huge and includes groups who organise or fund:

 • Family Respite breaks

 • Parenting – family strengthening groups

 • Alternatives to Crime Projects

 • Self-Directed Support – personal breaks or activities

 • Affordable Family Holidays

 • Youth work residentials

 • Schools and college field trips

 • Duke of Edinburgh groups

 • Employability groups and ready-for-work programmes

 • Conservation Charities

 • Courses, Therapies and retreats

We are a ‘hands-on’ ‘can-do’ social enterprise that look for creative and sustainable ways of changing young people’s lives – we do this on a daily basis.

We can organise huge teams of volunteers (we have successfully done so on many projects). This keeps costs down to a minimum (materials & technical advice only). Due to this tremendous social capital your pledge will go far beyond how you imagined – making a huge difference to the long term prospect of this wonderful building becoming the source of so many positive memories and life-changing experiences.

You have the opportunity to help create something that will benefiting thousands of people every year – year on year.

 Please pledge generously and remember – we’re not asking for something for nothing – you, your friends and family will love the rewards for your pledges that are exclusive to TIC TOC backers.

 Your generosity will help to benefit thousands in the years to come.

 Thank you

Author: Hope Whitmore, The Guardian

 “Some people,” says Rob Borruso, “are more squeamish about chopping trees than they are about killing chickens.” Watching a log being fed into the sawblade, I can understand why.

It’s a little ironic that at the heart of Kilfinan Community Forest is the timber operation which helps to make the forest sustainable. We stand back and watch as a long, thin log is strapped to a machine, and then cleaned before the moving blade is adjusted. BBC Radio 1 is playing in the shed, and as the tree is prepared, a Kasabian song with a fast beat begins to play, as though anticipating the destruction of the log. We all laugh – but it’s hard not to wince when the blade bites into the grain.

The truth is that this lumber has been vital for the forest. After a storm last year, the group sold off 90% of the fallen wood to bring in vital revenue. The remaining 10% they kept for their own use; there is evidence of carpentry everywhere as soon as you enter Kilfinan. There are picnic benches, engraved signposts, and a hut with an arch-shaped roof and feeders for the bird, all made from the trees around us. Looking down from the site you see the Argyll coast, and behind it the sea, hills, and small islands half hidden by the mist. Everything is a soft water colour, grey and green.

I’ve been walking through the forest with Nikki Brown, development manager, and Borruso, engineer turned director. We’ve come up a peaty path winding past oaks, birches and sycamores, though these are sparse and a tangle of branches lie on the ground. “This is our native area of woodland,” says Brown. “It got very badly damaged by the storms in December, we lost about 50%. It was such a shame, and some of the old oak trees went.”

In 2010, after five years of hard work and fundraising, the local community finally succeeded in a radical project to buy the 127 hectares (314 acres) that make up Kilfinan Community Forest. With the help of funding from organisations including Highland and Islands Enterprise and Argyll and the Islands Leader, the community forest is the most advanced project of its kind you will find in Scotland.

The group is now trading timber, and in October they’ll start work to harness the burn which runs through the forest, creating enough hydro power to allow the forest to become financially self-supporting. There are also plans to build wooden houses within the forest to provide affordable accommodation for people with a local connection. The plan initially features seven, but will ultimately be 20, creating a small hamlet of forest dwellers. The people who live there will have to accept the presence of timber trucks and the sound of wood cutting. “But we have this view!” says Brown, motioning to the coast.

“What I see isn’t the view,” said Borruso, “what I see is 50mph horizontal rain, and creating housing that will stand up to that.” Andrew Graham-Weall points out: “They’ll be really nice houses to live in though. Much lighter than a brick house, no damp and so easy to heat.”

Graham-Weall, owner of the nearby Tighnabruaich Art Gallery, has made a boat out of larch from the forest. It is painted white and trimmed with seaside blue. He tells me about a day he spent recently with some volunteers in the forest. “We ran a day taking a tree down and demonstrating how to use it, we turned some into planks for usable timber, one thing we made was a wood table and in the evening we ate supper off it. People were gobsmacked – they know wooden furniture is made from trees – but that this is how you use the piece of wood, they were amazed at the connection.”

He talks lovingly of the projects in the forest; the vernacular style of furniture which the group will make their own and share with the community through wood workshops, the polytunnel allotments with their glorious tomatoes and fat marrows, the forest school where the children from the primary now go as part of their curriculum: “They learn about making fires safely, making a shelter, they made a fire pit recently.”

The whole ethos is about getting people involved, through running workshops, volunteering programmes, and recently a survey of the forest’s archaeology with Clare Ellis from Argyll Archaeology. We continue through the forest past the squirrel walk, created by students from the secondary school. “We had five of them here for four weeks over summer, they came up for three or four days a week and we paid them, they learned how to make benches and made things,” says Brown. “They made a squirrel walk and this bench. There are limited paid opportunities round here for young people, and it’s one of the things that we’re really about.”

Finally we walk through the polytunnel allotments, a glorious cornucopia of squashes, tomatoes, sweet peas and lettuce. Forty local families are involved in the allotments, making 70 or so people in total, and with the building of a new polytunnel they’re planning to double that. For such a small village, a lot of people are already involved.

“It’s important to get people involved,” says Borruso, “because people care about things if they feel they own it, or own part of it, it’s about taking ownership, physically and metaphorically … there’s a great Indian-American proverb, the white man used to say, you have to see the west, you have to see the prairies to believe it, and the Indians said you need to believe the prairies to see them – it’s like that, you need to believe the project to see it, rather than see it to believe it.

Britain’s largest 100% community owned wind farm has reached financial close with a funding package from Santander Bank UK, Scottish Enterprise, Social Investment Scotland and the Big Lottery.

The wind farm is being built by Point and Sandwick Development Trust at Beinn Ghrideag outside the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.

The total funding package is £14.6m, 90% of which is funded by borrowing at commercial rates. The funders are as follows:

Santander Bank – £10.4m loan

Scottish Enterprise REIF fund – £2.2m loan

Social Investment Scotland – £600,000 loan

The Big Lottery – £900,000 grant

Social Investment Scotland – £500,000 grant

Construction has now commenced on the 9MW wind farm and it is expected to be operational by February 2015. It will generate enough energy for over 6,000 homes.

The wind farm’s gross turnover is estimated at around £3m pa.It will return 100% profit to the community development fund. Over 25 years, this is estimated to be around £50m net.

Point and Sandwick Development Manager Calum MacDonald said: “This is a breakthrough project for community energy both in terms of its size and its financing structure. It will transform the prospects of some of the remotest and most marginal communities in Britain.

“We are very grateful for the fantastic support we have received from our technical and legal advisors, SgurrEnergy and HBJ Gateley, and from our key funding partners, Santander Bank, Scottish Enterprise REIF fund, Social Investment Scotland and the Big Lottery.

“We are also grateful for the early seed funding and vital support we received from Community Energy Scotland.”

“We hope that our success will encourage other communities in Britain to think big. With the right support from Government and from the private sector, there is really no limit as to what can be achieved by community enterprises in the renewables sector.”

Short Summary

My name is Fran Higson – I am a Glasgow based film maker who has been gathering interviews, archive material, music and capturing events and happenings around the the Govanhill Baths for over a year now. I have donated my time as have several other film-makers, artists and students so we can tell the truly inspiring story of the battle to save this dearly loved community resource.

The film we make will be used by The Govanhill Baths Community Trust to fundraise for their ultimate goal which is to get water back into the swimming pools and unite the community in healthy activity once again.  The film also seeks to inspire and motivate community engagement and action – we need to hear stories such as this one in order to believe we can succeed in the face of small minded local government and social injustice. 

This is so much more than helping to get a film made.  Its about helping a local community succeed in their aim to have a healthy living centre at the heart of their community.

Background

Since 1914 the Govanhill baths and wash house has provided invaluable services for the community of Govanhill.  When Glasgow City Council decided to close the baths in 2001 they didn’t expect the community to fight back so vehemently, but the people of Govanhill loved their pool and were not prepared to stand aside and let it be taken away.  They set up a picket-line and undertook the longest ever community occupation of a civic building in British history.  After several months – Sheriff Officers, instructed by Glasgow City Council removed protesters from inside the building.  But the protesters were not defeated and after several years of negotiating and organising – they won the building back and raised enough money to open it up as a community and well being centre.

The Govanhill Baths Community trust are in the process of fundraising in order to refurbish the building, reopen the swimming pools, install a Sauna, Turkish Suite and gymnasium, as well as create allotment spaces and a roof garden. There are plans to open a healthy living cafe and create an arts venue in the old steamie, and much much more. The baths have become a thriving community and arts centre – but the ultimate goal of getting water back is still to be realised. 

This is a story that absolutely must be told, because we need to hear stories where people triumph – and we need to remember the power of what people can achieve when they are united against injustice. This story will act to inspire and motivate us all.

What We Need & What You Get

Over the past year we’ve gathered some fantastic footage and interviews, but there’s more still to be done.  We will need £5000 to complete this film. 

Every penny we receive will be spent on creating a film with as high production values as possible.  If we get less than we’re asking for we’ll spend what we do get as sensibly as possible in order to make the film as good as possible.  If we get more than what we’re asking for – we will spend the extra money following the story right up to the time when the people of Govanhill get their water back.

Your money will pay for the following things:

* An editor to work full time for 3 weeks

* A sound dub to create a fantastic soundtrack

* Essential archive footage from the BBC and STV 

* Equipment hire and filming costs for the remaining interviews and music recording (there’s a couple of tricky ones still to shoot that can’t be pulled in on a favour)

* The graphic design for the film

* Printing costs of flyers and advertising

* A contribution towards office expenses.

All our funders, even those that give £1 will get a free download of the film. Then we have a number of fantastic gifts/perks to share with our contributors.  There’s postcards and t-shirts, bags and t-towels theres posters and poetry books.  We will thank everyone and and invite you all round to the baths to join us for the launch at a special premier event. 

The Impact

It is our hope that this film will become an essential fundraising tool for the Govanhill Baths.  It will document valuable social history and contribute towards a successful community campaign.

This film is being supported and enabled by Camcorder Guerillas -www.camcorderguerillas.net and the Govanhill Baths Community Trust. It is a not for profit production and the intention in making it is to inspire community empowerment and help get the water back into the beautiful Govanhill Bath house. 

Author: OOTB

The Gretna 100 Project has been designed to commemorate the Quintinshill Rail disaster of May 22nd 1915, when three trains collided resulting in 246 injured and 226 fatalities; making it the worst rail disaster in British history in terms of fatalities.  Many of those who lost their lives in the collision were on a troop train carrying soldiers  from the 1/7th Leith Battalion of the Royal Scots Brigade.  These young soldiers, largely from Leith, Portobello and Mussleburgh, were headed to Liverpool and the ship that would take them to the front at the time of the crash.  The rail disaster and resulting loss of life had a devastating impact on the people of these communities.  Families were asked to come to the Drill Hall to undertake the sombre task of identifying their loved ones.

Gretna 100 has three aspects of the project.  There will be a participatory research group which will meet weekly in September to gather materials which will then be used to form the basis of a devised theatre project and a piece of visual art.

Research Group

The research group will meet on Mondays from 8th September-3rd November from 3-5pm at The Drill Hall. Sessions will include training in participatory research and interview techniques. Members of this group will spend time collecting images, memories, stories and objects related to the disaster. These will become the starting point for the drama piece and will also feature in the exhibition.

Drama Group

The drama group will meet on Monday evenings from 13th October at The Drill Hall from 6.30-9.30pm. This will be a collaboration between Active Inquiry and Strangetown theatre companies. Using the objects and stories collected by the research group they will be devising an original piece of theatre for performances on 22nd May as well as during the Leith Festival in June and the Forest Fringe in August.

Exhibition

An exhibition of work and images about or inspired by the disaster will be on display at The Drill Hall. The research group will feed into this exhibition as well as local schools and a specially commissioned piece in collaboration with Pilmeny Youth Centre. We are happy to consider any other proposals for the exhibition.

For more information or to book a place on the research or drama group please contact Gavin ongavin.crichton@outoftheblue.org.uk

If you would like to be a part of this project or have some photos or stories to share with us, let us know.

Please contact gretna100@outoftheblue.org.uk

Author: BBC

View a short BBC Get Inspired clip on Drumchapel Table Tennis Club

Key factors in the success of the project

1.    The drive and enthusiasm of Terry McLernon has been a very important factor in the club’s success.  For many years, he has provided much of the coaching and inspiration for the young players; he has also been instrumental in seeking out grants and other sources of funding for the club’s activities.  In recent years, the more senior club members have taken a much greater role in the management of the club and Terry has become involved in West of Scotland and national activities.

2.    The club has a strong emphasis on ‘Fun’ throughout all its activities.  It is not just simply focused on competitive singles and pairs games.  Youngsters are introduced to a wide variety of games including table-top variations of ‘football’, ‘cricket’ and ‘basketball’.  Many sessions end with round-the-table table tennis.  There is a strong belief that the club needs to be enjoyable for all its players if

3.    This approach extends to visits to other clubs and competitions, both at home and abroad.  Rather than being regarded as simple journeys, each is turned into an event.  Teams enjoy extended weekend visits often staying overnight in a new cityand learning something about these different locations and cultures.  The club offers a way in which young people from a disadvantaged neighbourhood can learn about the wider world.

4.    The club deliberately creates a safe and organised environment for its members.  There has been almost no trouble within the club because the members themselves exercise an informal yet disciplined approach.  Care is taken to ensure that young children and those living outside the area are transported late at night and avoid any threat to their personal safety.

5.      Finally, through the enthusiasm of the club’s main driving individual, there is a very pro-active approach to generating media interest.  Numerous articles have been written about the club and the achievements of its individual players and teams (including case studies such as this one!).  Terry and others have deliberately built contacts with the local media. Others may accuse them of being “brash” but the result has undoubtedly been to put the club ‘on the map’ and paint a very different picture of Drumchapel.  For the individual players there is a sense of kudos and recognition for their achievements, and for the club as a whole, a definite sense of national recognition.

Problems and issues

As a sport, table tennis tends to have an attraction for the younger players.  In Drumchapel, many youngsters have risen through the game during their teenage years and reached a peak as a national player at 17 or 18.  Then as adult interests of clubs, pubs and relationships arise, they suddenly leave the game.

The club has sought to counter this trend by providing opportunities through coaching for the more experienced players to retain their interest in the game.  This has tended to be more successful with the ‘reasonably good’ players, rather than the elite individuals.

Developing the fun and social aspects of the club has also been an important element in retaining interest.  Visits to competitions held elsewhere in Scotland, the UK or Europe have become social trips where members have time to experience and enjoy new locations. This has led to some very successful trips to Aberdeen, Paris, Newcastle, Budapest, Ostend and other cities. 

Finally, buying team strips and competition equipment is expensive, as is the cost of travel and accommodation at other venues. Many individual club members could never afford these costs and in many cases, their families may have only limited resources.  The club is engaged in extensive fund-raising activities to support its members and this requires both ingenuity to develop new schemes, and energy to sustain the effort.

Key outcomes

•         Around 250 youngsters playing table tennis regularly from three centres in Drumchapel.

•         A diverse range of fun activities offered around the game to attract and retain young people’s interest

•         Players attracted from across west and central Scotland to play regularly at the club

•         A strong emphasis on coaching at all levels

•         Support and encouragement for more experience players to acquire a recognised coaching certificate

•         A disciplined and organised environment that requires a minimum of rules and formality

•         Very regular success in regional leagues, national championships and international events across all the various age groups.

Author: Douglas Dickie

 Talks have started that could see Clyde Gateway buy the old Rutherglen East Parish Church hall and hand it over to the local community development trust.

Members of the urban regeneration group’s board agreed last week to enter into discussions with Rutherglen and Cambuslang Housing Association – who own the building – about a possible sale.

If the move goes ahead Healthy ‘n’ Happy will own their own base for the first time.

It is understood all parties are confident a deal can be struck in the next few weeks.

Jim Clark, senior manager of communications at Clyde Gateway, said: “I can confirm that Clyde Gateway is in discussions with the current owners, the Rutherglen and Cambuslang Housing Association, as we are looking to purchase it from them and hand it over in due course to the Healthy ‘n’ Happy Community Development Trust.

“We are also looking to provide the Trust with some additional funding for refurbishment works so the building is both in their ownership and in the best possible condition for them to deliver their fantastic services to the people of Rutherglen.”

It is unclear how much a deal would cost, or how much cash it would take to refurbish it.

The building is located on Farmeloan Road and is connected with the Aspire Business Centre, which opened in 2003.

Rutherglen and Cambuslang Housing Association bought it with the church in 1986, and used it as an office before moving to the Aspire.

It is currently leased to Healthy ‘n’ Happy. Health ‘n’ Happy was established in 2002 as a community health initiative. It became a community development trust in 2012 and moved from Whitlawburn to their current base in May last year.

As well as health initiatives, the group have established Camglen Radio Station, worked on regeneration projects, incorporated a local NHS youth health service and established a social enterprise arm.

Trust executive director, Brendan Rooney, said: “We are currently in discussions, very positive discussions. It would be fantastic to own our own base.

“The building would be an asset and would be put towards community use and to support the work we are doing.”

The trust hope to run Camglen radio out of the building as well as “a range of new community activities.”

Dave Anderson, director of Rutherglen and Cambuslang Housing Association, added: “Talks are ongoing between ourselves, Healthy ‘n’ Happy and Clyde Gateway.”

Author: Graham Martin, TFN

A millionaire Tory minister has launched an astonishing attack on civil society – telling charities to stay out of politics and “stick to their knitting.”

The Westminster government’s new charities’ minister Brooks Newmark made the remark in his first major speech.

He said:  “We really want to try and keep charities and voluntary groups out of the realms of politics. Some 99.9% do exactly that. When they stray into the realm of politics that is not what they are about and that is not why people give them money.

“The important thing charities should be doing is sticking to their knitting and doing the best they can to promote their agenda, which should be about helping others.”

Charities reacted furiously to Newmark’s ‘patronising’ comments, which have been seen as fitting in with the Westminster government’s wider agenda of silencing charities which campaign against austerity and poverty.

Mr Newmark appears to be like the Countess in Downton Abbey, thinking we should all appear with a basket of homemade buns and knitted socks rather than fighting our cause

John Downie, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO), director of public affairs, said: “This is just the latest in a series of gaffes from the UK government in its underlying agenda to silence the third sector as they try to keep charities out of politics, but we won’t let them gag us.

“Charities don’t get involved in ‘party politics’ but we can get and are involved in ‘politics’. The third sector campaigns on a wide range of issues to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in society. Everything is about ‘politics’.

“All Brooks’ comments are going to do is make the third sector, including SCVO, want to ‘stick’ it to the UK government even more over the lobbying bill.

“At SCVO we will be campaigning to fight and protect the liberties of Scotland’s third sector.”

Oxfam’s Ben Phillips said: “We work to improve the lives of millions. When we find something that policy-makers need to address, it is our duty to tell them and tell the public.”

Frances Crook of prison reform charity the Howard League said: “Mr Newmark appears to be like the Countess in Downton Abbey, thinking we should all appear with a basket of homemade buns and knitted socks rather than fighting our cause.”

Third sector groups’ frontline role means that it is essential they have a voice in both shaping and criticising policy.

However, there has been disquiet recently over moves by the Westminster government to stifle criticism coming from organisations such as Oxfam and foodbank organisers The Trussell Trust, while justice secretary Chris Grayling has questioned the ‘neutrality’ of campaigning charities.

The Westminster lobbying bill (now an act) has been seen as a means of suppressing dissent – and senior government figures have brought pressure to bear on organisations that they say are acting too politically.

In Scotland, MSPs have been challenged by SCVO to protect the right of the third sector to campaign against and criticise government policy.

Introduction to SCA’s written evidence  in response to the call for evidence from Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Regeneration Committee on the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill. Closing date – 5/9/14

Full submission can be read here

Scottish Community Alliance (SCA) is a coalition of national networks that provide specialist technical advice and opportunities for peer to peer support across a broad range of community based activity that takes place throughout Scotland. Many of these intermediary networks have developed a body of knowledge and expertise which relate to specific measures proposed in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill. For instance, Community Land Scotland, Community Woodlands Association and Development Trusts Association Scotland have significant expertise in relation to the provisions which seek to extend the Community Right to Buy and simplify and improve the provisions contained in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Some, like Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, Nourish and Federation of City farms and Community Gardens have a special interest in those proposals that relate to allotments and the expansion of community growing and will be providing expert evidence in that regard. Others have a more general interest in the broader principles of community empowerment and may offer some comment or detailed evidence on that basis. The evidence submitted here by SCA will not replicate the detailed evidence and analysis of its member networks. Instead SCA seeks to offer some general comments on the measures proposed by the Bill.

During the early consultations on the Bill, SCA took the view that legislation of this nature should be underpinned by some ‘first principles’ of community empowerment. These are:

•             Subsidiarity is an organising principle that should inform all aspects public policy in Scotland and be at the heart of the new legislation on community empowerment.  The principle of subsidiarity requires any matter to be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralised authority capable of addressing that matter effectively.

•             Self-determination.  Local people should be allowed to determine for themselves how their community is defined and which local organisational structure is best suited to take forward their programme of local empowerment.

•             Local people leading. Community empowerment only occurs when local people lead the process of taking power and resources to themselves.  Communities empower themselves through bottom-up activity and the evidence points to the fact that better outcomes are invariably achieved when this occurs.

•             Land and self-generated income.  Ownership of land and control over land use, and the capacity to generate income streams which are independent of the state, are critical in determining the degree to which a community is able to empower itself.

Oban in Argyll has been confirmed as the location for the first ever Scottish Rural Parliament, taking place from 6th to 8th November 2014. The Rural Parliament will bring together the people of rural Scotland and policy makers to enable better understanding, improve policy making and address rural issues.

Around 400 people will gather in Oban for the three day event which will develop and agree a way forward for rural Scotland as well as celebrating the strengths and achievements of rural communities.

Register your interest in attending by clicking here

Who can attend?

Any one living, working or with an interest in rural Scotland can attend.

Registrations of interest are open now. Click here to register until midnight on 25th September. If more people are registered to attend than we can accommodate then we will use the information you provide to ensure that we have a good spread of interests and location.

If there are places left after this they will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Where & when is it?

The first Scottish Rural Parliament will be held in Oban, Argyll & Bute from 6th -8th November. The programme starts at 9am on the Thursday and finishes at 1pm on the Saturday. The official opening is at 5pm on Thursday but there will be visits to local projects and the exhibition open all day on Thursday. If you do not want to take part in the local visits, you should arrive at 5pm for the official opening or a bit earlier to have time to view the exhibition.

How much will it cost?

We believe it is important that wherever possible people attend for the full three days in order to contribute fully to the process. The fee for attending therefore includes attendance for all three days, lunch on all three days and dinner on Thursday and Friday night. It does not include travel (which can be subsidised) or accommodation.

The fee depends on what role you are attending in:

Representatives or employees of the public or private sector – £250 per person

Representatives or employees of non-profit/third sector/non-governmental organisation with a turnover of over £50k – £100 per person

Representatives or employees of non-profit/third sector/non-governmental organisations with a turnover of under £50k – Free

Representatives, members or employees of community groups – Free

Anyone who lives or works in rural Scotland who is not attending on behalf of a group of organisation – £100

If the fee is a problem for your group or organisation then please contactevents@scottishruralparliament.org.uk and we will call you to discuss. We do not want to prevent anyone from attending.

What about travel costs?

We will be able to subsidise the travel costs of some people attending. Details will follow for those who are offered a place.

When will I know if I have a place or not?

By the end of September.

How do I register my interest?

Click here to complete your registration.  If you have any problems registering then please contact events@scottishruralparliament.org.uk or call the office on 01700 500177.

What will happen at the event?

There will be a mixture of plenary sessions, workshops, visits to local projects, time to network, an exhibition, entertainment from Skippinish and other performers and presentations. More details will follow shortly.

Can I have a stall in the exhibition?

We expect places in the exhibition to be limited. Details of how to apply will follow shortly.

Where will I stay in Oban?

There are plenty of accommodation options in Oban and we will send you a list of providers when we confirm your place.

How else can I get involved?

A series of smaller events are planned across Scotland in the run up to the Rural Parliament which will feed into the discussion and debate at the event itself. Find out details here:http://www.scottishruralparliament.org.uk/events/