Aird Community Trust (ACT)

Category: News

  • Work starts on community centre extension

    Well, it’s taken a while but we’re happy to say the work started on the Kirkhill Community Centre extension and refurbishment on the 20th August.

    The Kirkhill Centre Forward project will provide the community centre with a new meeting room to complement the main hall. The new room will be warm and cosy and will accommodate up to 40 people. It will be ideal for smaller groups and for meetings. It also means that new groups can be accommodated who were previously turned away because the main hall was booked.

    As well as the new meeting room the main hall will be completely renovated. We’ll have a new much more spacious kitchen, new toilets, a bigger entrance hall with space for the post office/box office.  And, thanks to funding from the Climate Challenge Fund, the hall will be insulated throughout to give us a much more comfortable and economical building.

    This project has been a community aspiration for a long time and it’s great that we are finally getting the community facilities that we need in this growing area. This couldn’t have happened without the efforts of the Kirkhill Centre Forward sub-committee which has put in a huge amount of work and continues to put in many volunteer hours. It also needed the support of the community which has raised nearly £100,000 over the years through supporting Kirkhill Gala and other events.

    The £334,000 project is funded from a number of sources including Highland LEADER, Climate Challenge Fund, Robertson Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and Highland Council. Local company R&R Regeneration has been appointed as contractor.

    The community centre is now closed and but access will be kept for the MUGA, recycling bins and football pitch. We should be ready to re-open in late December or certainly the new year. Get ready for a massive party!

    Kirkhill MUGA

    Kirkhill MUGA is still operational during the community centre refurbishments but floodlights won’t be available until the community centre reopens. Clubs and groups are welcome to book regular sessions for football, basketball, shinty etc. and tennis membership is still available.   Contact Ken MacDonald on 01463 831479, email kdaa@kirkhillandbunchrew.org.uk  or see http://kirkhillandbunchrew.org.uk/community_centre/kirkhill-muga/

    LEADER publicity logos

  • New web page for the Kirkhill Indoor Bowling Club

    Kirkhill Indoor Bowling Club have a new web page containing information of their regular events and contact details for the club. It is hoped to have more information on fixtures, team selections and results in the near future, so watch this space!

  • Inverness Open Tennis Championships 2012

    INVERNESS OPEN

    Grade 4 LTA Sanctioned Tournament

    at

    Inverness Tennis & Squash Club
    (IV3 5SB)
    &
    Bellfield Park
    (IV2 4SZ)
    Saturday 4th August – Saturday 11th August

    8&U-m (4th); 9&U-m (4th); 10&U (5th); 12&U (7th-8th); 14&U (9th-10th);
    16&U (7th-8th); 18&U (9th-10th); 16&U Boys Doubles (7th-9th); 16&U Girls Doubles (7th-9th)

    ALL OTHER EVENTS 5th-11th August (finals on the 11th)
    Mens Singles; Womens Singles; Mens Doubles; Womens Doubles; Mixed Doubles;
    40+ Mens Singles; 40+ Womens Singles; Mens Handicap Singles

    ENTER ONLINE: www.lta.org.uk/findacompetition
    CODE: NSC12S0626
    Email: InvernessOpen@gmail.com TEL: 07414 936597
    Entry form available here.

  • Kirkhill’s Got Talent – Cancelled

     

    This years local talent fest – KIRKHILL’S GOT TALENT has been cancelled – more info will follow.

  • Kirkhill Gala Queen Crowned

    Kirkhill Gala Week has kicked off with a family céilidh and the Crowning of the Gala Queen, Princes and Princesses at the Community Centre on Saturday night. The Gala Queen Louisa Fairgrieve, Princesses Anna Knox and Catriona Johannsen and Princes Lachlan O’Flynn and Cameron McDonald were crowned at the start of the céilidh.

    Sunday afternoon sees the Car Treasure Hunt with a BBQ at the Community Centre, starting at 4:00pm.

    The full Gala Programme is available for download here.

  • Beavers, Cubs & Scouts Balloon Race

    Instead of having individual stalls at the Kirkhill Gala this year, the Kirkhill Beavers and Cubs and Aird Scouts are uniting to organise a spectacular balloon race.

    Balloon ‘numbers’ can be purchased for £1 each and then, on the day of the Gala, numbered tickets (complete with the organisers’ contact details) are attached to individual balloons which are filled with helium. These are then released from a giant net and float up, up and away.

    Eventually, the tickets will fall to the ground and some are hopefully found. There is a £2 reward for reporting a found ticket, a £100 prize for the owner of the ticket which was found furthest away and a £50 prize for the ticket which was reported found first.

    The Beavers, Cubs and Scouts have each been given a sponsor sheet for the balloon race containing 20 balloon numbers to sell to their friends and family. More balloons will be available to purchase on Gala Day prior to the spectacular balloon launch.

    Environmental issues

      • Latex balloons are used in the balloon race. These are hand tied and have no attached string or ribbons. Latex balloons are 100% biodegradable.
      • Rarely do the released balloons return to earth intact. Studies show that these balloons usually rise to an altitude of about 5 miles. At this point, the low temperature and pressure causes ‘brittle fracture’ which creates spaghetti-like pieces that scatter across a wide distance.
      • While some balloons do not reach this altitude, research indicate that in an average 500-balloon release, the unexploded balloon return density is no greater than 1 per 15 square miles.
      • Research shows that, regardless of the latex balloon’s ultimate form when it lands, it will decompose , forming a natural soil nutrient at the same rate as an oak leaf.
      • The paper used for the tickets is biodegradable.