Aird Community Trust (ACT)

Author: SH

  • Panto – mania hits Beauly!

    Lots of people are finding it tough to make ends meet right now, and Widow Twanky and her boys are no exception. Life in Peking is rough with local gangsters running a protection racket and washing machines shrinking anyone who gets too close. Poor Aladdin is out of work and having to fetch lamps for evil wizards, when he’d rather get a job at the Palace and get to know Princess Jasmine better.

    Aird Branch Highland Hospice presents Aladdin which is directed by Inchmore’s Liz Hoey and includes a strong cast of Kirkhill talent. It’s a traditional family pantomime with the best of Christmas entertainment – songs, jokes, a juggling dog and an Abba reunion! Forget the winners of Strictly and X Factor, this show has the answers to the questions on everyone’s lips this December!

    Will Princess Jasmine escape her arranged marriage?

    Will the evil Abanazzer succeed in taking over the world?

    Will Widow Twanky finally find herself a man?

    Book your tickets now to find out!

    Performances are at the Phipps Hall, Beauly on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th of December at 7:30pm, with a 2:30pm matinee on Saturday.

    To book your tickets, head to Morrisons Hardware Store in Beauly or Robertsons Farm Shop, Beauly or ring Liz on 01463 831 422.

    Tickets cost £7 and £5 concession (£6 and £4 Saturday matinée).

     

  • Local renewable energy case studies

    Find out how some local residents have engaged with the renewable energy revolution and fitted microgeneration equipment in their own homes.  Read about their experience and thoughts on the process.  And if you are interested in installing renewable energy in your home, don’t forget you can get a free, impartial and no obligation visit from a Government funded advisor. They can discuss the best options for your home and requirements.  To arrange an appointment call 0800 512 012

    Find the case studies at our Energy Efficiency and Low Carbon Programme pages at the local information section.

     

  • Energy Efficiency Programme – October Update

    Renewable Energy fair

    At the end of October the Kirkhill Primary School hosted a Renewable Energy fair, supported with the Climate Challenge Funding. Several local organisations attended: Inverness College which has established Scotland’s first renewable energy training centre, Highland Birchwoods, a local charity encouraging the uptake of wood fuel systems and local firms AVC Energy, Begetube and Black
    Isle Renewables. Staff from the local Energy Saving Scotland advice centre were also present and several community residents booked up free, impartial home visits to discuss which renewable energy systems would be most appropriate. We are grateful for these businesses and organisations making the time to attend. Senior pupils at the school have been working on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and some of their work was also on display at the Fair.

     Community Case Studies

    As interest in renewable energy grows, there are an increasing number of community residents installing systems in their homes. For
    some residents this has involved fitting new renewable energy systems to replace older electric or oil/LPG heating.  For others it involves fitting renewable energy systems in their newly built house.  As building standards and energy prices rise, an increasing number of newly built houses are incorporating renewable energy systems as part of the heating mix. Several residents were happy to discuss experiences with their renewable energy systems so we have prepared a suite of case studies that highlight the pros and cons,
    what went well and what didn’t.  We hope these are of interest and use.

     Solar Panels

    Over the last year or so, I’ve received numerous flyers from companies offering to fit solar panels on my roof. By receiving a payment from the big energy companies for every unit of electricity produced by the panels, homeowners were getting some support to offset high purchase costs. The additional payments, added onto the reduced energy bills, meant the new solar systems were paid off in a reasonable period of time. Revisions to the support programme have now halved the payments received by homeowners installing any system after Dec 2011. If you are thinking about a solar PV system, a very simple calculator that lets you see the benefits.

     Extra £400k pumped into Scottish home insulation scheme

    An additional £400,000 is to be allocated into the Scottish government’s Universal Home Insulation (UHIS) loan fund to help more
    homeowners lower their energy bills and reduce emissions. Already £12.5 million has been invested in the scheme in September and the boost will see more households given interest free loans for extensive energy efficiency upgrades like renewable energy systems and new condensing boilers. It is also hoped that the additional funds will prevent more Scots from entering fuel poverty.

  • Energy Efficiency Programme – September Update

    Renewable Energy Fair – Sat 29th October 10.00 – 14.30

    Kirkhill Primary School.

    We will be holding a renewable energy fair on the 29th October to help raise awareness of renewable energy and low carbon heating solutions. Local renewable energy kit suppliers and specialsists will be on hand to explain the different systems and help, support and advice you can get if you would like to install renewable energy in your home.

    Scottish homeowners given access to free insulation

    A £12.5 million energy efficiency scheme has been announced by the Scottish government to help thousands of homeowners cut down on the price of energy bills and lower carbon emissions. The government will launch the Universal Home Insulation Scheme next year, delivering free insulation to around 200,000 households in the country.

    It is hoped that the home improvements, which will be administered by local authorities, will stem the number of people falling into fuel poverty.  Other schemes helping Scottish households to control their energy use include the Boiler Scrappage Scheme, which offers £400 towards the cost of a new energy efficient boiler.

    Pylon design competition finalists unveiled

    A competition to find a new design for the British electricity pylon has been short listed to just six concepts, which are now on show at a London exhibition.

    With the Beauly Denny line upgrade on our doorstep, work has already started on installing the bigger pylons we will need to take the renewable energy we generate in the north of Scotland down to the central belt. A couple of years back I came across a similar Icelandic competition which generated some very interesting pylon designs. How would you feel with pylons like this in our countryside?

    Energy Assistance for Carers

    Carers who look after family and friends will now qualify for free energy assistance backed by the Scottish Government. The Government is
    extending its energy assistance package to people in receipt of carers allowance. This means that around 7,000 carers will be able to access funding for;

    • New central heating and where appropriate air source heat pumps,
    • A new boiler
    • Draughtproofing
    • Internal or external wall insulation
    • Cavity wall insulation
    • Loft insulation
    • Room thermostats and heating controls
    • Insulation of tanks and pipes.

    Home Energy Checks.

    A simple way to find out how you can make your home more energy efficient and if you will qualify for subsidised or free insulation tops ups is to complete a Home Energy Check.  These are a very simple, user friendly list of questions supplied by the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre, a Government funded team. There is a local office in Inverness who supports our Programme and they are happy to chat with residents and provide advice and information as well as the Home Energy Checks.  The office can be contacted on the following free phone number 0800 512 012

  • Tennis membership rates reduced until March 2012

    The KDAA are offering reduced tennis membership rates for the rest of the season, until March 2012. Make the best of the last of the summer (?!) weather with family membership now only £15.

    Booking forms and tariffs are available here.

  • Gala week success and hall renovation news

    Gala Week 2011 success

    Gala Week in Kirkhill has always been something of an event. The whole community getting behind a weeklong programme of events and activities culminating in Gala Day.  This year though was something special. Buoyed up by the success of the last year the Gala Committee  were determined to do better, and they did!

    The week was a nonstop whirl of activity from the family ceilidh which kicked off the week to the Gala Dance at the end. It’s difficult to single out any particular event as they were all great fun and catered for a range of ages and interests. But new for this year and a huge success was the Fashion Show held at Achnagairn House.  The Antiques Roadshow was also a great success with some people leaving with their treasures clutched a little tighter.  It also wouldn’t be gala week without the Bingo ably managed as ever by Kirkhill Bowlers and the Pet Parade this year enhanced by the dog agility course.

    After some iffy weather in the week Gala Day itself stayed fine and we had a great turnout. There was so much going on it was difficult to get round it all and there was some great music too.

    As well as being a great community get together and social occasion for all the week was also a financial success.  The amazing amount of £9300 was collected – a huge amount for a small community and it just goes to show what great community spirit we have.  And huge, huge thanks to the hard working gala committee (and all their friends and relatives that they dragged along to help), to the many other volunteers  and to everyone that came along to support the events.

    The funds will go towards the upkeep and improvement of Kirkhill Community Centre and sports facilities for the benefit of the whole community.  And we’ll need all that and more as we progress our plans to renovate and extend the hall.

    Hall renovation project

    Where are we now with our hall renovation plans? Well, we’ve got feedback from the community and users on what they think are the most important issues. Top of the list were improvements to the kitchen, toilets and changing rooms and increased storage and more choice of space to rent. We’ve taken this information and, working with local architect Erik Lundberg, have come up with some proposals for improvement. Ideally we’d like to extend the hall to provide toilets and a meeting room while internally renovating to provide a bigger kitchen, improved changing and a bigger vestibule. But this won’t come cheap and estimates at the moment are around £250,000. Our next step is to work on our feasibility study and business plan and identify funders that can help us with the project. It won’t happen quickly but we’ll keep you informed about how the project is progressing. In the meantime if you got any bright ideas about how to raise more money let us know!

    If you’d like to help with this important community project get in touch with Alasdair Morrison on 831185.  We particularly need people with building, project management , administration or financial skills.

    Kirkhill MUGA

    One year on and the multi use games area (MUGA) is being well used and the tennis membership has been successful. To help young people benefit from the facility we’re please to offer limited after-school sessions. These are free sessions for young people on Thursdays from 4pm to 6pm from now until the October holidays. The court will be opened and closed by an adult but the activities will be unsupervised. This is for a trial period and any abuse of equipment or unacceptable behaviour may result in the sessions being stopped.

    AGM

    Kirkhill District Amenities Association AGM will be held on Thursday 10th November at 7.30 in the Community Centre.  This will be a great opportunity to hear about our renovation plans and the gala success and have a cup of tea and a chat. We promise we won’t twist any arms to come on the committee (…but if you are interested call Ken MacDonald on 831429).