7th September, 2010

OK so where did the rest of spring and summer go? It's a long story. As you can see we changed the appearance of our website. We also changed our website provider, but the changeover has not gone as smoothly as we had hoped, so there have been a few months where we had no access to manage the website and have only regained access in the last couple of weeks. A lot has happened since I last wrote. We've had lots of groups coming, and also some B & B which started in July this year. This week we have an ME group with us. This is their second year with us and they really appreciate that we can have so many wheelchair guests at once and that we can make their stay special by making tasty meals, catering for several different diets at once. We also offer the services of a local sports and therapeutic masseuse for this group, who find her work very beneficial.

We've had extra help over the summer with some of our local students, Ewan & Josh  for quite a few weeks and Callum, Eilidh & Catriona for shorter periods, enjoying some paid employment. Julie joined us from France for 3 weeks as a temporary worker and Fatima from Portugal has been with us all summer as a volunteer. It will be very quiet when they have all gone and we wish them well for their futures. Elizabeth, who has been cleaning with us for a few months now, is moving down south so we wish her all the best too. Christine, who has volunteered once a week as a secretary for the last 3 years, is retiring from the Centre. We are very grateful for her faithful support & service & wish her a peaceful retirement.
The plans for a new wood pellet boiler, solar panels and insulation are coming to fruition. We have now received promise of 50% funding from Community Energy Scotland and 5% from the Gannochy Trust and should hear soon about planning permisssion. We are waiting to hear from LEADER (EU Funding) about a further 35% of the total cost. They meet this Friday(10th Sept) so please pray for that meeting. If all goes well we hope the boiler will be installed in November.