1. The mystery of the Uig van
Extract from Scottish Community Land Network website…..
 …..nice to hear of the mystery purchase of a new van for the Uig community shop. The Uig shop on the Isle of Lewis uses a van to collect supplies from Stornoway and to deliver goods to customers.  But their previous van was on its last legs, putting future deliveries and the community-run shop’s supplies at risk.  Then, out of the blue, a mystery benefactor stepped in and purchased a lovely new refridgerated van for the shop.  And before you ask, it wasn’t even an episode of the Secret Millionaire…….

2. The purchase of this woodland is the final piece in the jigsaw of Birse’s sustainability plan

Birse Community Trust had planned to buy Balfour Wood for years to complete the re-instatement of the three forests that used to belong to Birse parish on Deeside.  When the Trust’s application to the Lottery was rejected, it seemed that BCT would not be able to buy the Wood before the purchase deadline passed.  Then, with a week to go before the opportunity would be lost potentially forever, an anonymous benefactor step in with an incredibly generous donation to save the day.  Members of the Trust have been surprised and delighted that they are able to buy the Wood at the 59th minute.……

From the Save Overnewton website http://www.saveovernewton.org/

Glasgow City Council has chosen to ignore to concerns of the user of Overnewton Community Centre and pressed ahead with closure plans despite serious doubt over the financial figures and a complete lack of consultation with users.  Only the SNP, Greens and a few Labour councillors voted against the closures and we thank them for standing up for the users of ORC and the people of Glasgow in general.

GCC’s surveyors recently visited the community centre and found what the users have been saying all the time: the Centre does not need £78,000 – £125,000 of repairs. It needs less than £2000! Full report (1 page) from here

Rebranding exercise for Culture and Sport Glasgow

Commenting on reports that Culture & Sport Glasgow have spent £50,000 developing a new brand identity, at a time when they have withdrawn vital funding from community facilities across the city, SNP councillor Craig Mackay commented:

“The council have just approved Culture & Sport’s recommendation to close eleven community centres and halls across the city, based on a budget shortfall. I was therefore stunned to hear that at the same time they are spending tens of thousands of pounds on external consultancies to re-brand themselves.

“£50,000 would have been enough to keep several community halls open for a further year, which would have been sufficient time to develop sustainable community management structures outwith Culture & Sport. These halls provide a vital service to grassroots community organisations and sports clubs, and are one of the core functions Culture & Sport was set up to support. A shiny new logo will do nothing to help these groups, and this re-branding exercise could easily have waited until the financial situation was more favourable.

“I have been working with community organisations in an effort to save the Overnewton Recreation Centre in Yorkhill, and this news is simply a further kick in the teeth for the groups who will be displaced by its closure.”

Nina Baker, Green councillor for Anderston/City described the decision as a “disaster”.

She added: “I am furious that Culture and Sport Glasgow is spending £50,000 on a new logo at the same time they are closing Overnewton Community Centre for want of only £1,800 of basic repairs.

“Culture and Sport have their priorities all wrong if they think it is better to spend all that money on an image makeover rather than on keeping essential community centres open.

“They have never made any attempt to work with the community to find new users so the income could improve and are only interested in getting rid of the hall.

“They are a disgrace – all style and no substance.”

Ms Baker said the only alternative community meeting points in the area are in church halls some distance away, Kelvin Hall sports complex or in Partick.

She added: “If they take the community hall from us there will be no council community centre in the entire ward.”

A spokesman for CSG insisted £50,000 was a small amount to pay for a new brand and said the money was included in the marketing budget.

He added: “We presently have 55 different brands, including Glasgow Museums, the Mitchell Library and the Glasgow Club and we need to find a new brand structure to connect better with the public.

“We generate £21million in customer income every year.

“The £50,000 is a tiny amount compared to the millions spent by other organisations on rebranding.”

The Overnewton centre is one of 11 which will be closed down in a bid to save £3.4m next year.

The spokesman said: “The city council took the decision on which to close on the basis of the number of people using them and repair costs.”

Tim Pauling, The Press and Journal

Community projects throughout Scotland are to benefit from the final share of a multimillion-pound fund to help reduce climate changing gases.

Successful winners range from a project to help students in Aberdeen reduce their carbon footprints to a scheme to encourage people to eat local foods in the Highlands.

In Perth and Kinross, Letham Residents’ Association was awarded £71,000 to encourage local people to grow their own food and to compost waste.

A total of 90 projects were awarded £5.5million by the Scottish Government yesterday. It was the final slice of the £27.4million Climate Change Fund agreed for ecological projects by ministers with support from the Green Party.

Aberdeen University Students Association (AUSA) was awarded more than £111,000 for a variety of projects designed to give students the tools and knowledge to cut their carbon emissions.

AUSA president Robin Parker said: ‘This is an incredibly exciting moment for AUSA, putting us at the forefront as a student community in finding creative solutions to the challenges presented to us by climate change.

“The project is based on enabling and empowering students to find out more about the carbon impact that they are having and to take action themselves to reduce it.”

Transition Town Forres Ltd will get £41,000 to develop, manage and evaluate a range of projects, including a large community garden, energy group and re-skilling programme.

The Park Ecovillage Trust, in Moray, was awarded £241,500 to provide hands-on eco-kits for the region’s schools, showing how whole sustainable systems work so that pupils can take action at home and at school.

Transition Black Isle will get £86,000 for a carbon cutting programme including introducing the “Black Isle Diet” to encourage local food consumption and establish community gardens.

Coimhearsnachd Bharraidh agus Bhatarsaidh Ltd, in the Western Isles, was awarded more than £139,000 to establish a household energy efficiency taskforce to help people examine home energy use.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “We have tapped into communities’ desire to do more to help the environment and I look forward to seeing what will be achieved long-term through this exceptional fund.”

Green MSP Robin Harper said: “The Climate Challenge Fund is a chance for communities to innovate and lead, and to find opportunities instead of problems.”

Positive Action in Housing Ltd is a Scottish wide charity working with communities, housing providers, voluntary organisations and faith groups to enable everyone to have an equal chance to live in good quality, affordable and safe homes, free from discrimination and the fear of racial harassment and violence.

We offer advice, information and support to people from new migrant, refugee and minority ethnic communities. We run a free, confidential and impartial casework service for those facing poverty, homelessness, racism or poor housing. We run a Hardship Fund and provide emergency shelter and practical resources for destitute asylum seekers and their families.

We provide volunteering and sessional work opportunities. We support human rights and anti-racist campaigns. We inform social policy from a user-led perspective. We offer training, consultancy and best practice guidance to Registered Social Landlords, voluntary organisations and minority ethnic/refugee organisations.

A volunteers perspective….

Alison Swinfen is an education professor at the University of Glasgow, researching languages and intercultural studies. Over the last few years she has provided accommodation to a number of destitute asylum seekers, and spoke to us about her experiences.

 “I’ve been volunteering for two or three years now. The first person who came was actually with us for about 5 months which I think is Positive Action’s record, and they sent us a lovely box of chocolates after that. And then we had a couple of folk for just two or three weeks, then someone else longer term and then another for about 6 weeks. “Being in the house when Joyce was reunited with her sons in Kenya whom she’d lost touch with was incredibly special. It was just such a happy moment and to be able to share that was a huge privilege. “Watching Shah Lin’s English get better and better too was amazing. When she first arrived she could barely speak but by the time she left she was much more confident, and we’re seeing the same thing with Rima at the moment, who’s just turned 17. She’s brought High School Musical and Dawson’s Creek into our lives. We just love having her around and learning how to look after a teenager. She’s learning to cook now so the house is full of the smell of lovely Eritrean food. “
Obviously when people stay they kind of want to give you something back so we’ve eaten some really amazing stuff.  Shah Lin was incredible, when she got her money from Positive Action in Housing she used to go to the  Chinese supermarket and cook amazing stuff for us in the evenings. We’d come in from work at the end  of the week and there’d be this fabulous food waiting. We used to say ‘no, we’ll cook this week’ but it was really important to her. I think it gave her a sense of worth that she was able to do that. “It’s not  that people are coming with terrible stories. They may have terrible stories or they may not, that’s not the point. They’re just sharing a home, which means different music, different books, different conversations. Initially people have taken a little bit of time to settle and gradually developed a structure and routine around ours. And then gradually we’d involve them a bit more, and then started eating together and cooking together. That’s just really special, to have people from diff rent parts of the world with us and sharing their stories. And we do have a lot of laughter in the house. “It was lovely at Christmas, we had a couple of people back who’d stayed with us previously. It was a really special day. We just sat round sharing, telling stories and remembering things that happened when they were here, just things that were funny. “I would absolutely recommend volunteering, it’s transforming in all the best ways. Keeping a good routine and normal structure I think is important, not stepping out of your own routine and not going overboard. Keep things kind of normal so people don’t feel that they have to behave like guests because that can get quite heavy, it’s a lot heavier being a guest than being a host. Good patterns and rules around washing up and so on are important, the kind of things you’d have with your kids or your partner or anyone. People will want to contribute, to give you something back. What’s important is that you give a rhythm and structure to life. Some of the folk I stayed in touch with will probably be friends for life.”

An asylum seekers perspective….

Clive, 39, a Minister from Zimbabwe, was made destitute, while his claim to asylum was still unresolved. He is forbidden to work, access benefits or even stay in homeless shelters. Having slept rough with nothing to eat, he approached us for assistance. He now receives basic emergency accommodation and food vouchers, while waiting for his case to be properly considered.

“When I first approached the Refugee Council after being made destitute, they had nowhere for me to stay, so I had literally nowhere. I would sleep in the street, and go without food. The Home Office said that before I was granted Section 4 they couldn’t help me. But I needed food and shelter, my health was not good. Since I’ve found Positive Action, I’ve never really been stuck.

“Staying with volunteers is better than hostels. In hostels I would share a dorm and someone would nick your toothpaste or your towel or soap, and that’s all you have. If someone steals that from you you’re stuck. In one hostel, after paying for my three nights, I was forced to clean the toilets, forced to make beds. The guy said ‘if you don’t do it, get out’. So I had no choice. I was also once put in a mixed dorm. People would go out to clubs and come back at 3am, they wouldn’t care. For 2 nights I couldn’t sleep.

“I stayed with volunteers on three occasions, first with a couple in North Queensferry. Then I stayed with a lady for a week in Edinburgh, then again with a lady in Glasgow for about two weeks.

“I was free to use the facilities, the kitchen and whatever I needed. I really felt at home. There was an  incident in North Queensferry. I have a heart condition, and at the time I didn’t have any medication. I collapsed and the couple took me to the hospital out of their own concern. I’m really grateful because if that had happened and I was alone, I wouldn’t be here. “We’d socialise, going for walks or to the beach. I honestly didn’t expect that, I’d expected to stay in my room and that’s it. I’m actually still in contact with them. We went to a football match, I’d never seen one before. They support St Mirren so we went to Paisley to see them play Hibs. “It’s a real comfort to know there is hope for people who are going through what I went through. I’ve been fortunate, but some people out there are not fortunate enough.”

The modelling world conjures up images of glamorous fashion shoots in Paris, New York and Milan – and now Govan has joined select band.

The venture started with a calendar to boost funds for Govan-based homelessness charity Starter Packs, but now it has evolved into a social enterprise modelling agency, Magpie Models.

Around half a dozen women and girls of all ages have already signed up for the venture and it is hoped they may be called up soon.

Sarah Findlay, development manager of Starter Pack, said: “We are a model agency but not in the traditional sense. It’s not about models competing for shoots, but a group of women who are helping to raise the profile of the charity.

“It all stemmed from Govan Gals 2010 calendar, which we put together last year, and we realised we could do more.

“The calendar was great but we realised it didn’t have to be a one-off. We have a mum of three and her daughters involved as well as a housing officer and a local businesswoman.”

Proceeds from any future shoots will help fund the charity, which provides recycled household items to give people a start in life. Among the models who have signed up are Johanne Gregory, 39, and her three daughters Natalie, 18, Natasha, 14, and seven-year-old Mirren.

As featured in the Evening Times, the Govan Gals 2010 calendar enlisted the help of volunteers and residents to model vintage clothes and designs made from reclaimed fabrics such as bed linen.

The idea for the calendar was hatched during a volunteers’ night out at an eco-fashion workshop hosted in Magpie’s Nest, a clothing and textiles thrift shop operated by Starter Packs.

The first calendar, published for 2009, was cobbled together in a few days last year and went on to sell 1,000 copies

Gerry Braiden, Evening Times

A lifeline has been thrown to community centres in Glasgow threatened with closure.

The city council is offering community groups the chance to run the centres in their area. But community activists claim the conditions it is imposing would make it difficult to take on the venture.

Eleven centres are earmarked to shut by the end of this month as part of cuts by the council’s arms-length Culture and Sport Glasgow body, which also runs the city’s museums, art galleries, libraries and sport centres.

The council ratified the decision to shut the facilities, has now said it is prepared to allow any of the centres to stay open if they receive viable plans for their use from community groups and social enterprise organisations.

The centres, considered to be in very poor condition or suffering from lack of use, will now close on March 31. But rather than their immediate demolition or sale, they will be marketed between April and June, although any proposed takeover would need to meet a series of stringent conditions.

But trade union leaders have described the move as “a complete sham” and said the offers are a thinly veiled attempt by politicians to respond to mounting criticism over the closures.

Unison has said that conditions imposed by the council on interested community groups would make a takeover practically impossible. The plans, expected to be approved on Friday, come after revelations that Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon sought meetings with the leadership of the city council after the decision to close a centre, claiming the figures were flawed.

Councillor George Ryan, executive member for business and the economy, said: “Most recreational facilities are local assets, often providing a range of services to meet the needs of a local community and acting as a social hub for an area.

“We therefore welcome approaches from groups interested in taking over the management of these centres. The council can offer support with the preparation of a business case which is needed to demonstrate that the property will be satisfactorily managed, utilised and funded in the future.”

The proposed closures are among Culture and Sport’s intended cuts of £3.4 million in the coming year, which will see some museums close on Mondays. Hundreds of staff will lose up to £1500, in part due to the closures, with balloting for strike action in the next week.

But the announcement of the closure programme has led to several councillors receiving enquiries from groups interested in taking over the management permanently. SNP MSP Bob Doris is coordinating efforts to save Cadder Community Centre and Ledgowan Tenants Hall in north Glasgow; a church group has expressed interest in Lorne Street Community Centre; and Yorkhill Housing Association has enquired about Overnewton Recreation Centre.

But they must be willing to enter into a 21-year lease with an option to purchase, have access to cash for rent/non-domestic rates, utilities, insurance, security and property maintenance and have a clear business plan.

Sam McCartney of Unison said: “This is a complete sham, where the council is attempting to protect its political masters from mounting criticism in communities. Offering these facilities for takeover is an attempt by the council to remove responsibility for the closures from themselves. Culture and Sport has made it clear it can’t afford these and conditions have now been set up which have not made it an any easier for community activist groups to run. They aren’t fooling anyone.”

As part of the savings plan, Argo Recreation Centre in Drumchapel is due to close. The centre is home to the Evening Times Community Champion finalists, the Argo Boxing Club.

The club’s coach, David Savage, said: “Most of the people involved are volunteers who also have full-time jobs, so this idea would mean asking an awful lot of them.

“It seems the council is more interested in funding other projects, but if enough money was put into our centres, we would not have all the problems that badly affect our communities, such as crime and drugs.

“In principle, it seems a good idea, but there would be a lot of time and money involved, which most people don’t have.

“I suppose it’s a case of, if you want something, you have to work hard for it, so we will have to work hard at keeping our community centre going.

“At the moment, Argo’s volunteers are looking at new premises, so we will have to wait and see if anything is to come from this latest announcement.”

A spokesman for Wyndford Recreation Centre said they would have to review the implications and the viability of the community to keep the centre going.

He said: “The community would need to pull together to keep the centre going, but it is a possibility. Local people are very angry at the closing of the centre. They have spoken to Culture and Sport Glasgow and have put in funding bids to help secure the future of the centre.”

Making good society
Carnegie UK
March, 2010
Foreword
Geoff Mulgan, Commission Chair
Take a few streets in a typical town in Donegal or Denbighshire, Devon or Dumfriesshire and you don’t need to look far to find civil society. Whether it’s visible in the streets or behind closed doors, every community hosts an extraordinary array of civil society activity including sports clubs, care for family members or local residents, homework clubs and support networks. As individuals, many of us are active in local groups, charities, in churches, mosques and temples or trade unions. We play our part in campaigns to end poverty or combat climate change. As consumers we support ethical products offered by co-operatives or social enterprises.
Civil society is not governed by profit or power but by values and enthusiasms – a word that originally meant the god within us. Some of us are inspired by frustration and anger, others by hope, and others still by fun. Together, the many parts of civil society contribute enormously to our everyday quality of life.
The good news is that right across the UK and Ireland the daily life of civil society activity is thriving – with no signs of long-term decline and decay, or for that matter any rise in selfishness and other ills, despite the pressures of recession. Civil society is made up of a myriad of circles of freedom and circles of cooperation that have proved to be remarkably resilient.
But it’s also clear that civil society is less than it could be. For a century or more it has been pushed to the margins by commerce and the state, which have claimed the lion’s share of resources and power. It has been paid lip-service, but generally neglected. And it has lost ground in areas it was once strong, like finance or childhood.
Today we can see the convergence of both long and short-term trends which point to a major change in the position of civil society associations. The long-term trends can be traced back to many sources – the rising economic importance of charities and social enterprises globally; the counterculture of the 1960s; the global flowering of civil society activity in the wake of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall; declining trust in politics and the rise of a culture in which people seek and expect expression and voice.
The short-term push to strengthen civil society comes from the coincidence of three crises: the financial crisis and its economic effects, which have sharply reduced the status and confidence of market liberalism; the ecological crisis, which has moved centre-stage as never before in the wake of the Copenhagen Summit at the end of 2009; and a crisis of political confidence, particularly in Britain, because of an accumulation of events, including most recently the scandal of MPs’ expenses.
Each crisis poses very different questions. But it is now impossible to imagine plausible answers to these questions which do not involve a widened role for civil society associations – as the complement to representative democracy; as the place where a different kind of economy takes shape, or is being rediscovered; and as the site for everyday solutions to the effects of rising carbon emissions. This makes now a remarkable time of opportunity. We need to set our sights far beyond the narrow arguments about contracts or fiscal treatment for the voluntary sector, and look instead at how civil society activity can shape our world, and how we can make the transition from an age of ‘me’ to an age of ‘we’. Civil society was born out of the idea that we do best when we work with others, and when we understand our interests as shared with others. That idea is more relevant than ever in an intimately interconnected world.
Here the Inquiry Commission sets out an argument for putting civil society at the centre. It’s not a blueprint or a detailed roadmap – but describes the directions of change, the critical choices, and the many things which could be done by governments, foundations, corporations and civil society associations themselves to make the most of the moment. While the Commission fully endorses the broad direction of travel outlined in this report, we do not pretend that its contents represent a complete consensus.
Given the many thorny issues addressed by the Inquiry, it will come as no surprise that there were many divergent views among Commissioners, although throughout our work we were repeatedly surprised at how convergent many of the discussions were at the many Inquiry events. There was a common appetite for change, shared frustrations about the challenge of influencing systemic change, and a sense that the door is open for some radical breaks.
This has been very much an inquiry of civil society, rather than civil society: shaped by hundreds of participants who shared their ideas and their passions. The Inquiry Commission and the Carnegie UK Trust are very grateful to all of the many individuals and organisations who took part, and helped form the recommendations made here and the associated research.
The Commission are also very appreciative of the dedication and hard work of the Inquiry staff team. Any omissions and errors are obviously our responsibility – but we hope that many will see the fruits of their contribution in what follows. This is a great time of possibility for civil society to spread its values not just in fields such as care and community, where it is already strong, but also in fields where it is relatively weak, including the economy and the media, energy and politics. We believe that if that happens, everyone stands to benefit. That is the ultimate promise of the hundreds of projects, ventures and organisations mentioned in th report, which add up to a radical vision of how our society could grow, not just in material wealth but in social wealth too.
Download full report here http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/files/main/Makinggoodsociety.pdf

Living with the land – Summary

Scottish Environment Link

1. The Scottish Parliament recently passed a Climate Change Act which has been described as world-leading. One of its provisions gives Scotland the potential to have a genuinely world leading Sustainable Land Use Strategy (SLUS). This was widely welcomed by member bodies of Scottish Environment LINK, a network with a combined membership of over 500,000 people. The SLUS is badly needed; although several strategies already exist for various types of land, these are largely for specialists in each field, and there are too few connections between them. This encourages a sectoral mentality and a single purpose for each piece of land, rather than a wider view of the multiple benefits which are the reality in most parts of Scotland.

2. Although its main purpose is to tackle climate change, the SLUS provides real opportunities to deliver other public objectives. It has potential to support landscape and wildlife protection, to ensure more co-ordinated planning and delivery between agencies, to reward multi-benefit land use and to resolve conflicts between different land uses. To do this effectively it needs a long-term vision, strong principles, clear definitions and as broad a scope as possible. Critically,it needs to be based on the internationally-accepted definition of sustainable development, in which environmental and social goals genuinely have equal status to economic ones.

3. This paper sets out LINK’s proposals for the vision, principles and definitions which should underpin this Strategy, its suggestions regarding its status and scope, and its views on the principal issues which it must address. We look forward to discussing our views with all interested parties.

For copy of report see http://http/www.scotlink.org/files/publication/LINKReports/LINKReportLivingwithLand.pdf

Community Learning and Development ?
 
London CITIZENS
London CITIZENS is a powerful grassroots charity working with local people for local people. Our goal is social, economic and environmental justice. We meet that goal by training people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds to take action together for change. Our dynamic campaigns have secured many victories for the people of London. Beginning our journey twelve years ago as TELCO, our membership today includes over one hundred civil society organisations across the city.
 
What London CITIZENS do
London Citizens develops skills and leadership capacity in the neighbourhoods where we work through hands-on experience of taking action for change, through formal training and with the support of professional organisers. When members identify an issue requiring change, we look together at who can make it happen, and how we can enter into a constructive relationship with them.We know that real change mostly happens after a struggle which involves holding ourselves and the powerful to account. This takes courage, and isn’t always welcome. But again and again we find that after the initial tension, London Citizens members win real respect and succeed in bringing about much needed change.Our members make decisions together democratically on a regular basis. In bringing together different interest groups into a trusted forum to listen to each other and to take action together, we play an active role in breaking down mistrust and suspicion across diverse communities.
 
London CITIZENS campaigns
London CITIZENS campaigns on issues that matter to people in their communities. Local people decide what they want to change, and together with London CITIZENS we make it happen. Below are some of our current campaigns. 
 
London CITIZENS CitySafe Campaign  builds the power of local communities to tackle crime and the fear of crime.
 
Where it comes fromCitySafe is now top of the London CITIZENS agenda. Over the last 18 months, 10 young people from London CITIZENS member groups have been murdered on the streets of the capital. After 6 months of Mayoral Election 2008 Listening Campaign, London CITIZENS voted CitySafe number one priority in March 2008 at the Delegates Assembly. The CitySafe approach has been developed through conversation and research involving hundreds of young people, youth workers, teachers and community leaders. At the heart of this process has been the voice of young people saying we are not the problem, we are the solution.
 
The Living Wage Campaign
 
What is the London living wage
The London Living Wage (LLW) is a London weighted minimum wage, which takes into account the higher living costs of London. The figure currently stands at £7.60 per hour; £1.87 above the National Minimum Wage
 
Who works out the LLW?
The London Living Wage is worked out by the Greater London Authority (GLA) London Living wage Unit.
What is the campaign calling for?
That all employers become Living Wage Employers. For a list of what this includes Living Wage Employers
Successful?
Since its launch back in 2001, the campaign has put an estimated £24 million back in the pockets of low-waged workers.

Author: Jeremy Cooke, BBC News

Island hopes for a windy bounty
23.03.10
It is among one of the most remote corners of Britain. It is also one of the most unspoilt landscapes this country has to offer.
But right in the centre of Westray Island, in the Orkney Islands, stands a 67m wind turbine that dominates the surrounding countryside.
It is exactly the kind of alternative energy project which would seem certain to attract bitter opposition in many of our rural communities.
But here there has been not a single planning objection to the turbine.
David Stephenson is a retired Englishman who has chosen a new life on this Scottish Island. He is a prime mover in the community trust which built the turbine.
“There were no objections,” he says. “That’s not because everybody on Westray likes wind turbines. We know that some don’t but they think that if there is an opportunity for a turbine on Westray, then let it be owned by the community with all the benefits from it being invested back into the community.”
And that’s exactly what is happening. It was the community itself which raised the £1.5m to pay for the turbine, through a combination of bank loans and grants.

That means that, perhaps uniquely, the project is wholly owned by the community and will eventually raise a projected £200,000 a year in annual income.
For the ladies of Westray’s knitting circle it is this common-ownership-for-the-common-good approach which helps make the turbine acceptable. As they chat over tea in the Half Yok café they seem well acquainted with the business plan.
Kathy Maben sums it up: “We all had a chance to say what we thought and we all had a chance to put forward our views. It really is a good thing. The money that will come from it in the long run… will do so much to help Westray.”
Not everyone here loves the look of the turbine. In the sunlight it stands even more prominent as the light reflects off the rotating blades. But Dorris, a long time Westray resident with a beautiful Orcadian accent, laughs as she describes how she uses it as an instant update on the weather.
“It’s quite fine. I look out the door every day and see it barrelling away. If it goes round fast you know it’s a bad day and if goes round slowly you know it is a better day.”
Theological gains
So could the Westray model be used to help make alternative energy schemes more accepted in rural communities across the country?
The instinct to protect the landscape is often the driving factor for the more than a hundred campaign groups in Britain which are dedicated to stopping the renewables scheme in their areas.
In Westray that opposition seems to have been removed. That’s largely because of the cash benefit to the community but also because of the scale of the development; one wind turbine rather than a big wind farm.
At the Island Church, or Kirk, Reverend Iain MacDonald believes Westray’s example could be a way forward for other communities: indeed other islands have are already investigating their own “community energy projects.”
As he stands in the Kirk, which has its own small wind turbine and ground source heat pump, it is clear that he believes alternative energy is the right thing to do: an act of faith.
“It’s an environmental thing, clearly. It has an ethical angle. From a Christian point of view it’s got the angle of theological stewardship. But it’s also a very cost effective thing. Stewardship is not just about the theological side, it’s also about the very practical side… And we gain on both,” he says.
The Westray project is in its first year on line and as the blades go around, the control room at the base of the turbine keeps track of the amount of energy which is being fed from here into the national grid.
It will take some time to calculate just how much cash will be raised. But the community here takes satisfaction in the fact that whatever money there is, will come back to them, rather than profit a big energy company.