Trossachs Area Network Meeting
23 September 201022 February 2012
Blairdrummond Community Hall
PRESENT:
Margaret McKechnieStirling Council
Claire McDonald (Minute)Stirling Council
Kevin Findlater Central Scotland Police
Patricia Scroggie Central Scotland Police
Keith Graham Port of Menteith Community Council
John Bothams Callander Kirk Hall
Fred BauerBlairdrummond Community Hall
Katy LambKinlochard Village Hall
Jelle Muylle Thornhill Community Hall
Peter RickardThornhill and Blairdrummond Community Council
Jim MaxwellThornhill and Blairdrummond Community Council
Neil Black LLTNPA
Lynne McKinleyStirling Council
Pauline RobertsStirling Council
Janet StewartAberfoyle Memorial Hall
M Harvey Community Partnership
Claire Walker Community Partnership
Dick Johnson (Chair)Fiona McEwen Callander Strathard Community Council
Alison Keir North West Forth Valley Partnership
Nigel Cole Port of Menteith Village Hall
Apologies:
Barbara Allan Stirling Council
Fergus Wood Stirling Council
Keith Graham Port of Menteith Community Council
Netta Pitts
- Welcome and Introductions
Dick welcomed everyone to the meetingand explained the purpose and format of tonight’s meeting.
- Minutes of Last Meeting & Feedback
The Trossachs Area Network agreed to approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 November 2011 as a correct account of the proceedings.
Update
Steering Group meeting in January. Margaret had asked if people could come forward from the November meeting who would be interested in sharing resources and expertise across community halls. It was felt that some caretaker training with Stirling Council would be useful. Also, an inventory of equipment across halls might be useful. It was agreed to gather information from halls on this. Some halls looking at refurbing – lighting, cookers etc that could be reused? Film clubs held in halls.
Margaret went on to say that the Hall Revenue Forms which were sent out from the Communities Team were a good way of gathering information on halls. There was discussion about developing projects which could provide a steady income for halls eg community hydro scheme - small but revenue is equally shared between communities. There is some funding available to do research into this, and the Steering Group would examine this at its next meeting.
- North West Forth Valley Partnership
Alison Keir from North West Forth Valley Partnerhship introduced herself to the group. She explained that the partnership was a community based, multi agency approach to delivering an integrated model of care. Resourced via Healthcare Strategy (Rural Provision), covering Doune, Deanston, Thornhill, Callander and north to Killin, Crianlarich and Tyndrum. It does not cover West Stirlingshire, Bridge of Allan or Dunblane. The Project Board and Project Team are a mix of health and social care staff
There is joint supervision of support staff – employed through social care but day-day responsibility through health. Co-location of staff in Callander Medical Centre. Intensive Support at home (for a fixed time period - number of people depends on need and number of visits required). Support to facilitate hospital discharge
Improves transitions between phases of care. Review of current referral routes to be more streamlined and local. Shifting the balance of care and improve involvement of carers/ families/ communities
Alison showed the group a short documentary of older people who had experienced the partnership first hand and described their experiences.
- Hall Booking System – Callander Kirk Hall
John Botham introduced himself to the group and explained that he had been looking in to a booking system online for Callander Kirk Hall. There were several elements that had to be looked into before deciding on an effective system i.e. the purpose, accuracy of recording the booking, info on user requirements, quicker to invoice etc. The system that fitted the purpose only became available on 1 February 2012. This system was still free to churches only but the price would have been £500. John went on to give a brief demonstration of the system that the attendees could look at further over the networking break.
- Community Partnership Update
Cara Walker and Marie gave the group an update on the Community Partnership. They have a new chair, Celia Burn, who will take over from the current Chair Ian MacInnes in April. Celia has been a board member for the last 3 years and has had a career in education in the community development and the voluntary sector. They also have three vacancies on the CP board, which they are looking to be filled – if anyone would like more information on this to contact Marie or Cara.
Community Action Planning: there are 5 communities currently undergoing action planning - Gartmore, Callander, Drymen, Lochgoil and Benmore & Kilmum. 4 other communities have applied for support to the CP for 2012/13 these are Kilmaronock, Strachur, Sandbank and Strathfillan. There are several projects happening which include the Apprenticeship Project, Paths in the Park, Community Futures Goes Green and developing the webpage. Other events include a path workshop on 25 February, Funding Roadshow on 20 March at National Park HQ and The Gathering on 3 November – there has been no theme confirmed as yet, listening to feedback from communities.
- New Council Website – Community Halls
Lynne McKinley, Team Leader Stirling Council and Pauline Roberts, Community Publicity Officer, Stirling Council introduced themselves to the group. They explained that Stirling Council has recently launched their new website. It has been developed in line with a national structure – if anyone goes on to any local authority website in Scotland everything should be named the same and in the same place so it is easier for the public to find. They explained the pros and cons of using Scot navigation and the Communities Team is in the process of working on community information. They are eager for community groups to test the system but they are still restricted to what they can do. It is hoped that through the new community section on the website there will be some basic information on halls and centres, link to other websites or contact information. They are keen to raise the profile of community halls through the Stirling Council website.
Lynne went on to explain about caretaking training. Stirling Council offers a 4-day caretaking training programme. This includes H&S issues, Stirling Council policy etc. Callander Kirk Hall had taken part in the programme but felt that there was a lot that was not relevant to community managed halls. Lynne is hoping to work with TAN to offer a training programme which would reflect the needs of community managed halls. If anyone is interested in this please contact Lynne McKinley at Stirling Council.
- Community Updates
Port of Menteith – Lakeside has changed hands, carpark is in a state of disrepair in talks with National Park for a Volunteer Service Has confirmed a verbal agreement with regard to car park.
Thornhill/Blairdrumond – Losing out of school care.
Kinlochard – Hall refurbishment.
Callander– Callander Charette, looking at long term plan. Opinion on doing a social TAN event for the Jubilee this year.
Police – Fire logs – meeting with land owners, problems with traveling . Peter point out the rant in the TAN community digest paper. Roads and Pot holes are an issue need more work. Bus services – David Brown from Stirling Council- the bus service will be going out to tender in March next year. Q Aren’t Stirling Council also building houses?
A.The monies come from different funding source than Rural Housing gets
Community Partnership are running a fundraising master classes – the next one taking place on 26th Feb at Balloch, There is more information on their website They are also delighted to announces two job opportunities, a development officer and support officer. Everyone was encouraged to sign up for the enewsletter.
LEADER Forth Valley – submitted a bid to the Scottish Government for high speed broadband and they were successful. Transmitter will be on the old town jail allowing high speed broadband for south west rural areas. The purchasing of equipment is being undertaken and it is hoped that it will be up and running by mid to late spring 2011.