5th September 2013
Well the new website has been up for about a week now & it's looking good if I say so myself. I'm particularly proud of the new Pitlochry page with a calendar of all the events at the Centre which are open to the public for our local community and links to all sorts of visitor attractions for people coming to stay. What do you like best. Take a look and tell me:)
The staff bedsit is also finished (take a look at our facebook page for photos) and Wilma has moved in.
Amaia had a great time during her month here. It was amazing how many Spanish speaking guests we had for B&B while she was here - and what a pleasant surprise it was for them to be able to chat with her  in their own language. She went home sporting a BenY vrackie T-shirt as our thankyou to her - and she did climb it too (Ben Y Vrackie is our local mountain). As well as B&B we also had an elderly lunch club holidaying as a group and a group of adults with learning disabilities from L'Arche. Everyone ate together at one table this year and this has received a lot of favourable comments and made visitors more aware of our charitable aims, so it's been great to hear their comments.
The Craft fair went really well this summer. As a result of good sales they  raised £1,200  for charity (the result of an agreed percentage of sales), so well done them. A silent auction held  here last Friday/Saturday by the Baptist Church also raised a good sum - £1,800 for the Kitega Centre for disabled children in Uganda. They're sending a team from the church to Uganda next month and the money will go to buying equipment and toys etc. for the centre, which they'll take with them.
The 39th African Children's Choir from Uganda is with us now for the week to recuperate from their journey from the States and to prepare for their Scottish Tour. As well as practicing for their concerts they have their lessons here, studying their national syllabus so they'll fit in when they return home.It's some enterprise! There's playtime too & fortunately we have some games equipment for them to use to make visits to the park more fun. And it's so lovely to have them:) They sing to thank us for their food & give lots of hugs. Mary our cook is overwhelmed every time. It's so sweet.
On the community side there have been a lot of new initiatives from the council and voluntary sector to try to get community groups, social work and health to work together to support vulnerable people in the community better. As well as meeting here to discuss things, we've been asked for our input & support, so we're doing our best to play our part. Some post grad students from Duncan of Jordanstone Art School will be coming soon to take part in a project which should help us think out of the box. Please pray for this initiative, that it will shed light on the process and help people to make a better future together.
Next week Perthshire Open Studios will be on again. This is when artists from all over Highland Perthshire open their workshops for people to see what they do. It's real eye opener. What talent! Our own Kate Kirby (who sells greeting cards of her paintings here at the Centre) is teaming up with a jewellery maker for her open studio this year.So come to Pitlochry & have a look:) & you're very welcome to pop in while you're passing to see what we do here.