Aird Community Trust (ACT)

Category: Uncategorized

  • 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

  • Sliding all the way

    Sixteen scouts from 7th Inverness (Kirkhill) Scout Group between the ages of 11 and 14 attended an amazing ski weekend at Cairngorm, Aviemore in April. We stayed in the comfortable Highland Council Lodges at Badaguish near Aviemore. This meant we were close to slopes for a quick start. The ski equipment and two days of ski instruction were provided by the Highland Council instructors Ron, Davey and Alastair. The scouts were divided into beginner and intermediate groups and after kitting out went off with their instructors. The weather was a bit of a challenge with some high winds and icy slopes but the instructors knew the best spots and we all learned new skills. The lodge was great to come back to after a tiring, cold day and the scouts had great fun playing games and chilling out. Apparently the weekend was “beast” and “epic”!

    Trip report by Cameron Kent, Aird Scout

    On the 1st – 3rd April the scouts went on a skiing trip to the Cairngorms. We took a minibus to Badaguish. On the way there, we stopped to hire our ski kit. At Badaguish we stayed in one of the big lodges. It was very nice and it had a T.V for watching DVDs and some of the rooms had bunk beds. In the morning we had breakfast and went skiing. After skiing we came back and most of us played football in the indoor hall. On Sunday we skied and at lunch time there was a ski and snowboard competition so we watched some of it while we were skiing. We had two groups for skiing, a beginners and an intermediate. On Sunday it was sunny so only a few slopes were open. When we came back from skiing we packed up and gave our skis and poles and other ski kit that we rented to the instructors. After that we drove back home on the minibus.