Author: Emma Cowing, The Scotsman,19 June 2011

ONE COLD day last December the author Alexander McCall Smith, creator of the world famous No?1 Ladies Detective Agency, took a stroll down to Edinburgh’s Dovecot, a tapestry studio in the heart of the city. 

There, he stumbled upon artist Andrew Crummy’s Battle of Prestopans Tapestry, which commemorates the famous skirmish and at 104-metres (341ft) in length, is the longest tapestry in the world. It was, says, McCall Smith, “an extraordinary moment”.

“I was watching the expressions on the faces of people looking at it and they were just bowled over. It’s a wonderful way of telling a story and Andrew has got this marvellous ability to encapsulate a narrative. It’s a beautiful art form. So I said to him, ‘how about doing the whole history of Scotland?’ and he happened to say yes.”

Six months on and the Great Tapestry of Scotland project is gathering steam. Yesterday at the Borders Book Festival, McCall Smith, along with Crummy and writer and historian Alistair Moffat, officially launched their list of 107 historical events that will tell the story of Scotland. They will be illustrated in separate tapestry panels, each a metre in length, and will be stitched by volunteers from across the country. On completion – in about two years’ time – it will be gifted to the nation, and put on public display. There are also plans to tour it round the country. It will be something, McCall Smith hopes, that is “going to give an awful lot of people an awful lot of pleasure”.

But it might not be quite so easy as that. For this is Scotland, where all discussions about history and identity seem destined for controversy and lengthy, late-night arguments fuelled by whisky. Moffat, who took on the task of compiling the 107 events, admits that when it comes to what he’s chosen – and left out – “it’s bound to be the case that people won’t agree”.

“I fully expect it,” he says cheerfully. “By its nature it must be controversial because it is selective. And if people are critical then I think that’s great. It shows they care.”

The events – which start at the prehistoric glaciers over Ben Lomond and move through history all the way to the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 with nods to everything from Bannockburn to the Black Death to Dolly the Sheep – are already raising eyebrows.

Historian Michael Fry describes the list as “a bit parochial”, and points to a number of major events which are missing.

“I see there’s a reference to ‘Scotland and the drive for empire’, but I would have thought you could be more graphic than that,” he says

“Major medical achievements are also missing, such as Sir James Young Simpson and anaesthesia, Sir Alexander Fleming and penicillin. Two religious events also strike me as gaps: the martydrom of St Magnus on Orkney and the Disruption of the Kirk in 1843. There is also no mention of David Livingstone exploring Africa. A big black mark for missing that.”

Historian Tom Devine, author of The Scottish Nation: 1700-2007, is kinder. “Scotland is an argumentative nation, sometimes verging on the truculent,” he says. “My main impression is that they’ve done a good job. I like that a quarter of the panels deal with the early, often forgotten history of Scotland, and there is a good mix of varied historical events and elements of popular culture like Scottish comedy.”

Devine acknowledges compiling such a list is difficult. “It’s an impossible task, particularly in Scotland, where there are so many people with diversity of view. I’m certain elements on this list will create controversy. I also suspect that this is no bad thing because it gets people talking.”

Some of the panels seem almost designed to court controversy, such as the one that will depict “Cumbernauld new town” – one-time winner of the infamous “Carbuncle” award for the most dismal urban space in Scotland. Devine however, says he can see the point of that entry – as well as its wry humour.

He says: “There is a strength in the fact that it can’t be an entirely positive story. The past is chequered, there’s a lot of blackness as well as light, and I think that’s a nice wee cheeky reference there in including something like that.”

Moffat too, agrees that any comprehensive history of a nation must include the bad as well as the good.

“There are plenty of disastrous things in there – the Black Death, the Glencoe Massacre, the Darien scheme. It is a mixed story and we haven’t shirked that because I think we’re big enough to take it.”

Devine does have concerns over some of the panels, however. He says the date – 1780s – for the Highland and Lowland Clearances is wrong, and also takes issue with the panel depicting the invention of the modern kilt in 1723 in Lochaber.

Although the theory that the kilt was invented by an Englishman in that year – perpetuated by the historian Sir Hugh Trevor Roper – has found favour, many Scots historians believe it to be a false and almost defamatory statement.

“I don’t think many serious historians believe the Scottish kilt was invented then,” Devine says drily.

Devine also worries about the implications of lumping the Irish famine and immigration into the same panel as the creation of the Old Firm football clubs.

“The two football clubs were founded almost half a century after the famine and are obviously not directly related to that. I think that’s a bit iffy, not least because Irish immigration to Scotland was actually well advanced before the famine. I think a panel on Irish immigration would have been sufficient, or put Rangers and Celtic elsewhere.”

He would also have liked to see more reference to what he calls ‘greater Scotland’. “Scotland’s impact on the globe is extraordinary. Going abroad puts a Scottish stamp on parts of the world and the longevity of that huge migration is amazing. It also had an amazing effect on Scotland itself.”

But these are, in some ways, minor quibbles. Perhaps what is of greater significance is that the tapestry will get Scots talking about their history.

McCall Smith for one, feels passionately that Scotland’s history is of huge importance to its people.

“We need to remind ourselves of our history, because of what history teaches us about ourselves. If one is not aware of one’s history, one is not aware of who one is, really.”

And what of the tapestry’s future? Will its story be added to by the next generation? Moffat says: “If Scotland wins the World Cup, we’ll definitely add a panel.”

Want to know what the 107 events that shaped Scotland are? Click here 

Alex Wood, 26 Aug 2011

North Edinburgh has been a hotbed of community activism for decades, as a superb new book reveals.  Edinburgh has always been a divided city. Just under a quarter – 24% – of the city’s secondary school pupils are educated in private schools compared to 7% in the UK and 4% in Scotland. 

Nothing illustrates that division better than the index to Michael Fry’s Edinburgh, A History of the City, which mentions the New Town 29 times, the West End seven times, Queen Street, Morningside and Bruntsfield four times each. Royston, Wardieburn and Drylaw receive no mentions, Pilton and Granton one each and Muirhouse two. 

Never Give Up, a new book produced by North Edinburgh Social History Group, might help to redress the balance. It is a panoramic account of community activism in north Edinburgh, in the ignored and barely mentioned Pilton, Drylaw, Royston, Wardieburn, Granton and Muirhouse. 

Until the 1920s, these were farmlands. The Wheatley Housing Act in 1924, the first Labour Government’s single great achievement, encouraged local authorities to build good quality council housing. Building started on land between Granton Harbour and Davidson’s Mains. 

By 1940 Edinburgh Corporation had built 4,000 houses in Granton, Wardieburn and Royston Mains. Plans to build a further 2,500 at West Pilton were largely delayed by the Second World War. Simultaneously private housing for rent was also being built in East Pilton and Drylaw by Gumleys.

Interestingly – one of the few weaknesses of the work – there is no mention of Christian Salvesen’s development, initially tenanted primarily by seamen and light-housemen, between Muirhouse and the foreshore.

In 1939 Edinburgh’s Public Health Committee was informed of the extent of tuberculosis, Scotland’s age-old killer, in the Pilton area and warned it might spread – to middle-class Blackhall. The post- war campaign for mass X-rays as a first step in combating TB was a first, hugely successful joint venture between the local community and its health professionals.

The war and its aftermath created other problems, the book explains. There were high expectations of decent housing and an end to the overcrowding of the 1930s, and these led to direct action. 

In December 1945 14 families illegally occupied a former military hut at Crewe Toll. Support came from the Reverend Easton, minister of the Old Kirk. The families were rehoused. In 1946 the council took over an ex-Navy camp near Wardie School and housed 70 families there. 

Prefabs were rushed to completion, as was the West Pilton scheme. The results however were disastrous. The few pre-war houses in West Pilton, with pitched roofs and wooden windows, remain in use to this day. The result of hurried completion without adequate materials was that West Pilton was finished with flat roofs supported by metal struts and metal window frames, a disaster in terms of poor heating and internal dampness.

The West Pilton Community Association and countless other organisations led a campaign for a permanent community centre and facilities. The Rev Easton articulated local anger: “Brought down to an unfinished area, my people have had to watch their families suffer through the complete neglect of those in authority. If they have won some amenities…it has only been by fighting tooth and nail.” 

The Pilton Central Association emerged as the umbrella organisation for the greater Pilton area of North Edinburgh. The 1940s and 50s were the years of high employment. Even then reports of acute dampness in council houses were emerging.

Muirhouse and the first high-rise developments were built in the 1960s. The Muirhouse Residents Association and the Muirhouse Gala joined a list of local community ventures.

Their major campaigns were, again, for local facilities but increasingly against council imposed rent rises. In the late 1960s, a petition with 46,000 signatures was presented to the Corporation against rent rises and on that day the workers at Granton Wire Works struck in support of the rents protest.

Activism in the 1970s was centred on housing conditions and on local facilities, particularly for children. Local activists raised the resources themselves to purchase and create the Pilton Youth Retreat, Ratho, a facility which exists to this day. The Pilton Adventure Playground Association campaigned tirelessly for a local play facility.

The great housing issue was dampness. By the Thatcherite 1980s Edinburgh Corporation proposed a solution to the poor housing West Pilton: sell it off cheaply to private developers. Activists opposed the enforced housing moves. They developed Commune, the community newspaper, Video In Pilton, the West Granton Tenants Association and the Muirhouse Festival Association, supported the miners, opposed the poll tax and campaigned on local health issues.

The 1980s also, however, with enormous local job losses, saw poverty spiral and with it a drugs epidemic which brought heart-break and Aids in its wake. Since then the struggles have continued, against racism, and for the creation of new tenure models (co-operatives and housing associations) and cultural enterprises. Latterly however, the most powerful lesson learned has been that formal processes of community engagement and consultation, a model which sucks local activists into making decisions as to which bad option should be implemented, have contributed to a decline in community activism.

This superbly-produced, meticulously-researched local history connects local developments in north Edinburgh to national and international events. Never Give Up is a sharp rebuttal of the post-modern analysis of a parasitic underclass. What does emerge clearly is that in the period until the early 1970s there was a direct link between community activism and trade union and labour movement activism: unemployment and de-industrialisation have made that connection much more tenuous.

Written entirely by local activists, its production was facilitated by the support of the Pilton Central Association and The Community Development Journal. It illustrates how communities are forged when adversity and optimism meet. It is the latest reminder of the continually re-emerging creativity and the thirst for a better life in these communities.

Never Give Up is available from Lynn McCabe at the Prentice Centre, 1 Granton Mains Avenue, Edinburgh EH4 4GA. Although there is no charge for the publication, a donation of £5.00 towards postage, packaging and administration (cheques payable to North Edinburgh Social History Group) will cover costs.

Author: Brian Wilson, West Highland Free Press, 26th August

Two questions occurred to me while reading Free Press coverage of the respite care controversy in Skye and Lochalsh. Who are Carr-Gomm Scotland and why do they want to replace the local Crossroads organisation as service provider? 

The first one is easy to answer, with a little research. The second is more puzzling. Carr-Gomm Scotland are routinely described as a “not for profit” organisation which is another way of saying that they are not in it for the money. This is a significant credential given that “care” and the pursuit of profit are no strangers to each other in contemporary society. 

Describing themselves as “not for profit” is intended to distinguish Carr-Gomm Scotland from the commercial sector. But that only makes my question more pertinent. Why should an organisation which is not motivated by profit wish to displace another organisation which is not motivated by profit? And why should they be prepared to trample on local feelings in order to do so? 

At that point, the question becomes rhetorical. They should not be prepared to do so. Or at very least, they are obliged to give an explanation of their ambitions. Expansionism for its own sake does not seem like much of a reason. But perhaps Carr-Gomm Scotland believe that respite services in Skye and Lochalsh are being delivered to such an unsatisfactory standard at present that they have a duty to improve them? 

If that is Carr-Gomm Scotland’s view, they should state it and give reasons. It seems unlikely, however, that they would find much support within Skye and Lochalsh. So if we rule that one out, what are we left with? Why do Carr-Gomm Scotland,unmotivated by profit, want to descend upon Skye and Lochalsh where, to put it bluntly, there appears to be absolutely no demand for their presence? 

At this point, it may be helpful to return to the question: “Who are Carr Gomm Scotland”? According to their own website, they have existed as “a separate charity” from the Carr- Gomm Society since 2002. During the intervening period, they have extended their reach to areas which include Aberdeenshire, Perthshire and Argyll. According to Councillor Margaret Davidson, chair of Highland Council’s social work commmittee, they are “an excellent and highly regarded company”.

All of which is fine. But as has become crystal clear, Skye and Lochalsh is united in  the view that the present incumbents are also “excellent and highly regarded”, so no gain there. Why change one “excellent and highly regarded” provider for another, particularly when Crossroads is a local organisation, well known to the people who have made that judgement, while Carr-Gomm Scotland certainly does not fit that description?

The history of the Carr-Gomm Society should be cautionary as they pursue their pan-Scotland masterplan. The founder of the whole outfit was Richard Carr-Gomm, an interesting figure from a privileged London background who gave up his Army career to found a series of societies, initially to care for for the lonely elderly. Carr Gomm was an evangelical Christian who applied his faith in a humanitarian cause. 

In 1957, he and his associates founded the Abbeyfield Society and they were pioneers in the field. Abbeyfield Societies sprang up all over the country until, by 1963, the movement had 180 houses. A network of local organisations required a national headquarters and this led to a split between Carr- Gomm and the people who were by then running the society. 

According to the ‘Daily Telegraph’ obituary in 2008: “Carr- Gomm felt that centralisation had led to a loss of some of the idealistic, volunteer spirit of the early days, with a growing lack of co-ordination between the central committee and people running the homes on a dayto- day basis.” Maybe Carr-Gomm Scotland would do well to reflect on that little bit of history. 

Crossroads is a network of  essential services. Where people want to retain these locally-based services, what business is it of a national organisation to  what business is it of the local authority to facilitate that process? I think Richard Carr-Gomm would have asked the same questions. 

There was another line in his obituary which struck a chord. Carr- Gomm was eventually banned from the organisation he had founded because his colleagues were fed up with him behaving “as if I had invented lonely old age”. Carr Gomm Scotland should beware the same trap. As a not-for-profit organisation, surely they should have the humility to acknowledge the work of others and concentrate on places where there are gaps in service, rather than trying to dominate the entire respite map of Scotland. 

One does not have to read very closely between the lines to discern the usefulness of Carr Gomm Scotland to Highland Council’s agenda. The most serious aspect of the proposed changes concerns the savage cut in respite hours allocated to Skye and Lochalsh — a cut of two-thirds on existing Crossroads provision. Would Crossroads Skye  and Lochalsh have implemented that process without protest or drawing public attention to what was going on? I very much doubt it, and that is much to their credit. But for Carr-Gomm Scotland, that is the deal they have signed up to and they will get on with it.

It is interesting to see where the hours lost in Skye and Lochalsh are to go. Surprise, surprise — the big gainers will be Inverness and its environs. Once again, the periphery will pay for the growth and aggrandisement of the Highland capital. The idea that an established service of this kind in Skye and Lochalsh should be “levelled-down” in order to accommodate the needs of an expanding city is pernicious. If Inverness keeps spreading, will all public services on the Highland periphery be cut to pay the price?

As I always predicted, devolution has become the enemy of localism. Highland NHS Board (which was also party to this decision) now runs from John o’Groats to Machrihanish. Highland Council, faced with cuts from Holyrood, finds it easier to deal with a single Edinburgh-based organisation than with a network of local ones. How far is this process to continue? If everything moves to the centres, what is to be left at the edges 

Fortunately, in this particular case, there is a straightforward solution. Carr-Gomm Scotland should honour the name of their founder by pulling out of the Skye and Lochalsh contract. Then everyone — including, one hopes, the currently silent local politicians — could get on with resisting the cuts that are being imposed on this vital service, without the involvement of an organisation hired by Highland Council to do its bidding.

“No other country has mapped its Greenspace in this way.”   A blog by Andy Wightman, 14th September 2011

Today, an organisation called Greenspace Scotland launched what they claim is a world first in mapping the location, extent and type of greenspace across all of Scotland’s urban settlements. “No other country has mapped its greenspace in this way”. In December 2006, the Scottish Executive provided £298,000 for this project (actually for three projects – it is unclear how much of this was allocated to the mapping). The interactive map is impressive and allows users to look closely at greenspace of all types across Scotland.

However, the real power of such information lies in the ability to interrogate, analyse and combine this data with other data. There are many simple tools available for this and a growing international community of citizens harnessing such data for the public good (the OpenStreeMap and GeoCommons projects are good examples)

Greenspace Scotland tell us that this “world first” map can be made available in GIS (geographic information system) format as raw data so that people can actually use the data rather than simply look at it. The GIS data is useful because, in the words of Greenspace Scotland,

The full GIS data provides an incredible resource for planners, policy makers, researchers and greenspace managers. It can be used to support cross-boundary work on green networks, planning and regeneration; and when combined with other datasets on, for example, health and deprivation, can be used to support decision-making, prioritisation, policy development and research. It can also help target resources and investment to areas with low levels of greenspace

Excellent. I happen to be interested in who owns all this greenspace, how much of it is common good land etc and so I ask for a copy of the data. At this point it becomes clear why Greenspace Scotland claim that “no other country has mapped its greenspace in this way” (my emphasis).

I am refused on the grounds that only those who have an Ordnance Survey MasterMap licence are allowed to get hold of this data. Unfortunately, the OS MasterMap data licence costs many thousands of pounds. The restriction is due to OS licensing conditions on the open distribution of “derived data”. I have been here before with the whoownsscotland project. I have the t-shirt and the scars of this encounter.

“No other country has mapped its greenspace in this way” Lets then take a look at how others have done it.

Take the City of Boulder, Colorado, for example. I can view an online map with information on planning, greenspace, flooding, transportation, landownership and lots more. (Click on eMapLink here). Alternatively, I can download the raw GIS (geographic information systems) data and interrogate it.

Indeed, for any number of cities in across the world, I can download high quality GIS data and undertake research and analysis. If, however, I want to analyse the pattern of greenspace in my own locality in North Edinburgh, I can’t.

“No other country has mapped its greenspace in this way” 

Full report can be accessed here

“It is invaluable to the community”. This is how one visitor described Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh, its work with children, young people and disadvantaged adults, and the huge benefits it has on people’s physical and mental health, community cohesion, the local economy and the environment. There is a great deal of qualitative research1 to support these claims, but unfortunately very little quantitative evidence. Funders and policy makers are increasingly looking for figures to match the facts, so Social Return on Investment (SROI) has been developed as a way to try to value the “invaluable”. 

SROI puts a financial value on the impact of an activity that otherwise may not be given value and therefore may not feature in decision making. (For more details on the background and principles of SROI see Appendix b). This SROI analysis has shown that the Community Garden Project at Gorgie City Farm benefits a wide range of “stakeholders” (including volunteers, visitors, the NHS, the local council and the environment) and that for every pound invested in the Project by funders, £3.56 of social value is generated. In other words, the value of the investment is more than tripled. 

This value is likely to be an understatement, as we have been cautious in our calculations. For example, several Outcomes and stakeholders were excluded from the analysis, and it is likely that financial proxies have underestimated the value of some Outcomes (see the Audit Trail section for more information.) 

However, SROI is about much more than just the investment ratio. This analysis has been a useful exercise for the Community Garden Project. For example, the staff have discovered facts they didn’t know before, including the wonderful news that one of their volunteers had completely stopped taking their anti-depressant medication as a result of being at the Farm. The SROI analysis has also been beneficial for Gorgie City Farm as an organisation, to recognise the value of the Community Garden Project. When the Community Garden Project started in 2005, some staff were sceptical: ”it’ll never work – people are only interested in the animals!” As you will see from the results of our surveys and quotes from visitors, volunteers and other service users, this analysis has proved that this is just not the case.

Author: The Scotsman, 15 Sep 2011

Scotland’s 150 credit unions (CUs) are a considerable success story. Set up to provide financial services to people denied credit facilities by high street banks, because they were unemployed or on very low wages, they have flourished to the point where one in five Glasgow residents is a member of a credit union. 

Since the banking crisis, membership of Scottish CUs has grown by 16%. This is a consequence of the economic downturn on household budgets as people lose their jobs or have working hours reduced. But that is only part of the reason. The appeal of the CUs’ old-fashioned, no-frills approach increased as distrust of mainstream banks grew with the bail-outs for Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS. 

Nevertheless the credit unions themselves must deal with the banks. The question is on what terms. As not-for-profit organisations they fall between being a business and a charity, thus causing the banks to make a decision on what rate to charge for handling their accounts.

That appears to vary across both banks and credit unions. Until now some CUs have benefited from free banking but are now facing unexpectedly high charges. 

In the case of the Discovery CU in Dundee, in discussion with RBS about tariffs, these could be up to £800 a month. 

Another CU in Johnstone, also having to pay fees for the first time, has been offered a 50% reduction on the standard business tariff by the Clydesdale Bank. The Bank of Scotland has always levied a charge but at a reduced rate. 

CUs, whose members have a common bond such as living in the same community, operate on trust and have attracted a wide range of savers who feel the taxpayer-backed banks have failed to demonstrate a commensurate sense of social responsibility.

As a result of Government pressure, the banks now offer similar services through basic accounts to people who were previously excluded. 

This inclusive move will have been negated for many by the decisions by RBS, 83% owned by the taxpayer, and Lloyds, with a 41% Government stake, to prevent basic account holders accessing their accounts through ATMs of rival banks, including, in the case of Lloyds, those in the same group such as Bank of Scotland.

New legislation is expected to enable CUs to expand considerably next year. They will no longer have to restrict membership to people with a common interest, will be able to pay interest on savings and provide services to community enterprises and businesses. 

The banks can play a responsible part in this much-needed diversification of financial services by recognising the social inclusion provided by credit unions and charging them a fair rate. 

Author: David Maddox, Westminster Correspondent, 16/9/11

A community energy trust in Scotland has been cited as a model that could be copied elsewhere in the UK as part of David Cameron’s Big Society.

The Fintry Development Trust, which has set up a wind farm collective in the village near Glasgow, is one of the examples singled out by the social and economic commentator Phillip Blond, as a project that promotes the values of the Big Society. 

The Fintry project is run by volunteers and has generated £140,000 for the community since it began in 2003.

Mr Blond, once known as Mr Cameron’s philosopher king, made his claims in a chapter of the Blue Book, a collection of essays by right wing thinkers and politicians who want to counter the influence of the Lib Dems in Mr Cameron’s coalition government.

Mr Blond, whose Red Tory book is the basis of much of Mr Cameron’s Big Society vision, believes that the coalition has failed to be radical enough in supporting volunteering.

He also hits out at the failure of the Prime Minister to develop the Big Society vision which was the centrepiece of the Tory election manifesto.

Blond states that there is “not yet a full vision of what might be achieved.”

He adds: “Indeed the inability to follow through with the radical economic and social potential of big society risks an inadequate response to the country’s needs and the real risk that the policy becomes toxic before it is realised.”

Mr Blond has previously praised Scottish Parliament land reform legislation which allowed community buy-ups of islands and former estates as a model of what might be achieved.

In his latest piece he identifies the Fintry Development Trust, originally set up by the Fintry Four – David Howell, Martin Turner, William Acton and Gordon Cowtan – from which the entire village benefits.

He points out that this has saved each household there £600 a year in energy bills and is expected to make a profit of around £500,000 in 25 years to be invested in the community. The insulation project has saved villagers £90,000 a year and reduced CO2 emissions by 464 tonnes.

“This is what civic action and voluntary association can do,” he says.

But Mr Blond turns his fire on other parts of coalition policy which he believes is undermining the ethos of volunteering and the Big Society.

He warns that the government’s payment by results policy undermines small and mutual enterprises and he also argues that low wages and a lack of jobs means that welfare reforms are “not enough to shift people out of poverty and dependence” while “welfarism is creeping up the income scale”.

He is also critical of attempts to reform the House of Lords by replacing peers with an elected Senate. He argues that the broad and balanced array of interests within the Lords was one of the reasons Britain remained stable in the 1930s and did not turn to fascism.

Hundreds of jobs could be created to build a new £400 million village. The recently formed Kincluny Development Trust intend to apply for planning permission for the new community in Aberdeenshire.

The proposals will see around 1,500 houses built on a former quarry site between the villages of Durris and Drumoak. The Trust will run the community under social enterprise principles and have the potential to manage shops, allotments and renewable energy sources with profits being used for the benefit of local people.

Up to a third of the homes will be affordable to those on lower incomes with prices expected to start at £90,000. If the planning process is successful building may start by the end of 2012.

Bill Burr, managing director of CHAP Homes, has helped to set up the Trust and believes up to 200 construction jobs will be sustained over the 10 year life of the project. He said: “We are putting our money where our mouth is.  In addition to our £400million investment, CHAP will contribute financially to the new Development Trust by allocating a sum from each house sale with the intention of the community managing responsibility for the future development of the village. This is true sustainability.” Leona McDermid, commercial director of the Foyer charity which already runs several social enterprises, said: “A true community is one where everyone not only has a sense of belonging but also a share in a Community Trust that has its own income, manages local amenities and fosters local businesses.  Kincluny Development Trust was our Eureka moment. Sustainability is a term used too often and too lightly, covering a vast range of ideas.  This concept attempts to turn sustainability principles from rhetoric in a glossy brochure, to a day to day community reality.”

Sunday 28 August 2011

A NEW emergency response service could prove a true lifesaver for residents in Kinghorn, Burntisland and Aberdour.  Community First Responder Service is currently looking for volunteers to take part in the programme which is already operating effectively in other areas of Scotland.

They will be trained to attend emergency calls received by the ambulance service and provide care and treatment until paramedics arrives. Because they are sent out to calls in their own areas, volunteers can be first on the scene – and that can often prove vital in saving lives.

The scheme will operate as a community partnership between Burntisland First Aid Services Trust – a charity which provides first aid cover at sporting and other events and runs first aid courses for members of the public – and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Volunteers will take part in a rota system from their own home or place of work, and are called out at the same time as an ambulance to attend Category A or “immediately life–threatening” calls.

Key skills

Alex MacDonald, chairman of Burntisland First Aid Services Trust, said: “The key skills are already held by local volunteers. But, their time is already stretched by attending weekend and evening events throughout Fife, so extra training is available for any new people who want to sign up.

“The aim is to ensure that in life-threatening emergencies a qualified person can be on the scene and able to give help even before the ambulance crew arrive. It gains a few precious minutes at the time when they matter most. 

Training

“The members of Burntisland First Aid Services Trust are trained to the required standard and some have already said they are keen to join. The training required is the same as what we already offer, so anyone interested can join our regular course, which starts on Wednesday evenings at the end of September. Alternatively, they may be able to attend separate training purely for the Community First Responder Scheme.  Once we have a definitive list of volunteers it will take about two months to set up .’’

The opening of the Harbour Café follows nearly two years of hard work by Tayport Community Trust and other volunteers.

Wednesday’s opening was marked by the gathering of local business people, volunteers, sponsors and the architect at the cafe where trust members thanked them for their contribution. The cafe is also available as a community space and will provide a small gallery to display art work.

Funding to refurbish the Harbour Cafe was provided by the Scottish Government and the European Community LEADER in Fife 2007-2013 Programme, the National Lottery’s Awards for All (Scotland), Fife Council, Fife Community Safety Partnership, Scottish Community Foundation, Ferryport-on-Craig Community Fund, as well as donations from local businesses.

Support was also given by staff from Cupar-based voluntary organisations. Tayport councillor Maggie Taylor said: “I and the other Tayport Community Trust trustees and members are delighted with the success of the cafe.”

In addition to normal cafe services, it is intended the facility will offer training, employment and volunteering opportunities. The premises on the corner of Broad Street have not been used for several years.

Trustee Dr Bob MacKintosh said, “As well as providing locals and visitors alike with a comfortable place to take a break, we hope Tayport Community Cafe will encourage a sense of pride in the area and be a focus for increased community awareness, cohesion and development.”

It is also intended the cafe will provide a welcome pitstop for visitors and those passing through. Fife Coast and Countryside Trust manages the coastal path, and chief executive Amanda McFarlane said, “The new community cafe will offer another much-needed amenity for walkers of the Fife Coastal Path. It is fantastic that organisations are recognising that the coastal path is a huge asset to Fife and are looking to offer this type of facility along the route.”

Local councillors Maggie Taylor, Tim Brett and Ron Caird welcomed the progress and praised the hard work that had gone into the project.

Mr Caird added, “This will not only satisfy a need in the community, but create a potential funding stream for the greater good by ensuring accrued profits go towards provision of the long-awaited sports and community facility.

“This is something that Tayport and the surrounding area requires.”