Tues 24th Feb 2015

We’ve just said goodbye to a huge youth group from the Church of the Nazarene. Having made it a regional weekend away rather than a local, they ended up with over 70 youngsters at the last minute. They’d already booked the youth hostel, but needed more room. Atholl Centre to the rescue. Fortunately we had room from Sat night, the deacons retreat from Central, Dundee,  being only a 24 hour event, so not only could we provide beds for the boys (girls at the Youth hostel), but they were able to eat here all together and have their teaching sessions here and in the church. So they went sledging all day Saturday & turned up wet but high for their meal & evening session (A photo of the pile of sledges is on our Facebook page. Do take a peek to keep up with our news). This was the third youth group to stay this month and we had Baptist ministers and folks in the flat too so it’s been a busy month.

Our ground floor bedrooms are now finished (bar snagging) and are looking good. It was a huge rush at the last minute with several trades all working at the same time. Mistakes were bound to happen - like the shower parts going in the skip :& having to be rescued by eagle eyed David our project supervisor & the carpet layers trying to lay carpet when there was still wet paint on the skirting boards, but they were finished for when we needed them, so God answered our prayers. Thanks for praying. The asbestos removal went smoothly and some things which we feared were dangerous asbestos turned out to be ok and didn't need to be removed, which saved us some money as we didn't have to replace whole walls, just pipe boxes in the end. There was also a bit of a saga with the double glazing as we're in a listed area, but we were allowed to put in high quality PVCu double glazing in the end, so that was another answer to prayer. You’re welcome to come for a tour to see what’s been achieved. God has really blessed us.

 For fundraising we’re now focusing on the new conference room, which, being accessible and having a loop will be a great help to our community groups as well as allowing us to generate extra income to ensure our sustainability. During the week we had our first ever auction. Thanks to everyone who donated items. A disappointing 10 people turned up and we were worried it would be a flop, but God blessed us with a total of £370 from commissions and sales on the day. One person commissioned a painting and just as we were wondering how to get it to her in Dundee she discovered one of her friends would be at the Central Deacons retreat, so it all worked out perfectly. There’s still quite a number of objects left over so we plan to try Ebay. We’re also planning our usual Thrift shop for April so keep an eye out for posters. The new room is going to cost over 100K so please keep on praying.

People have responded really well to the concept of a community garden here and are full of ideas as to how we could use it to bring people together and promote healthy living. However the actual development is coming along more slowly than we would like, so we’re still at the planning stage but a new volunteer, Liz, is going to be attending a Trellis (therapeutic gardening network) conference in March in Perth on our behalf to learn how to help people use it effectively. Please pray for real progress in March as we have a funding deadline at the end of the month. We've also got more funding requests in for this project, so please pray that we have the amount we need to complete the garden, including the sensory area.

We'll be open for B&B in the first 2 weeks of April (5th - 16th), so do get in touch if you fancy an Easter break in Pitlochry.

 Mon 2nd Feb 2015

 Happy New Year! And this is February too - are you allowed to still say it ? So here's what's been happening since I last wrote...

Snow & high winds  in January meant a few community groups had to cancel. We also were asked to be on stand-by as an emergency Centre, but in the event even though there were people stuck at the snow gates, due to lack of communication we weren’t used that night. However we were thanked for being available and since then many more local groups have been checking they can use us in an emergency as well, including the local old folks home. 

Community Groups are back in full swing now.  Eve is multi-tasking as before with adult literacy & English as a Foreign Language, WA lunch is back to high numbers and, as well as the other regulars, a new support group for mental health started up, so the calendar is filling up.

Although the chalet & the apartment have been open for use, with the refurbishment we thought we’d not really have any residential guests in January after being as full as possible with folk celebrating the New Year (with even a wee family ceilidh in the dining room). However local friend Dee booked her family in for her son's funeral and she ended up staying too so they could see as much of each other as possible . Their stay was further extended by the weather, so Dee had her family round her for a good long time and we were glad we could support her at this sad time. We’ve also been able to help a couple from another church with accommodation on their way to another funeral, so it’s good to see how God is using us to support others in difficult times.

The asbestos removal folk came as planned and declared the area clean and so the builders are back and working as fast as they can. It will be finished behind schedule, but with so many groups coming this month, please pray it will be no more than a week late.i.e. that they'll finish by the end of this week. - so far it looks possible! Meanwhile our first residential training group of the year has arrived, fitting into the upstairs bedrooms the flat and the chalet. First comment of the day," I'm in the same room as before, but there's a much better lavvy. You're no moving me." As this is a minister's conference the leader replied, "I thought they were on the road to sanctification" to which someone else quipped - "Well we're going in the right direction - cleanliness is next to Godliness"

As for the garden – it’s been good to hear ideas & promises of support from quite a few folk. We’re getting help from a garden designer from Trellis (therapeutic gardening network), so it’s looking promising and had our first planning meeting a couple of weeks ago. Do ask if you’d like to be involved.

Please pray too for the Trustees meeting tomorrow as they discuss the nest stage of developments - timings and strategies for the new accessible conference room. 

We’re having an auction on Wed 18th Feb at 2pm (viewing Tues 17^th 2-6pm) to continue to raise funds for the dining room to be extended, giving us a ground floor conference room with AV and loop. This is a departure from our usual thrift shop as we're focusing on quality items and hoping for generous offers. If you have anything you wish to donate for the auction we’ll take goods from the Monday. We’re pleased to announce we received another £5,000 towards the new conference room in January, but we still have a fair way to go. Do come along and help us to create a space which should prove really useful for our community groups amongst others. If afternoons don't suit you and you'd like to view in the evening and put in a secret bid, do let us know and we'll make arrangements for you.

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy…Today a Saviour has been born to you.” Luke 10: 10 -11

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

from

Iain, Anne, Chris & Wilma

at

The Atholl Centre, Pitlochry

 We've got guests in both apartments over Christmas and New Year, but the staff are getting some time off:) Please pray they have a restful time & experience God's blessing as they stay here.

 This month there was quite a bit of progress on the downstairs en-suites and yesterday they came to measure for the new windows, Praise God the Council allowed us to install good quality PVCU frames. Permission for that was one of the delays. The other delay is due to asbestos. Although we had a report from a few years ago, they hadn't noticed everything that was there and thought it was lower grade than it is. So the official asbestos people are coming on the 7th Jan. The place has to be closed off for a few days and then an air quality test done after that. When all this is over there will be a mad rush to get everything else done in time. So please pray for that. Curtains, wetwall & flooring are already chosen so at least that will not delay anything. 

All the community groups have now stopped for Christmas, but we have been inundated with cards & gifts, so thank you for your generosity. Thanks especially to those who have donated to the food bank. CAP, social work and citizen's advice have all been referring over the year. Christmas can be a time of great need at home as well as abroad. 

 Friday 28th Nov 2014

Hello again. No, I haven't been hibernating for the last 2 months. Yes, it's been incredibly hectic - so, sorry I've missed a month. Here goes:

One of the reasons for  our hectic state is that Xander, who had joined us for 9 months to do marketing as a result of a grant from the Enterprise Ready Fund, was so keen to stay in Pitlochry he thought he would apply for other jobs early to make sure he had something to move on to. Much to his surprise he got a job as de facto manager at the Red Brolly Inn in Ballinluig. As it was a permanent post he felt he couldn't turn it down, so he left on the 6th Nov. While we wish him well, it left us a bit stuck.  Fortunately Anne has agreed to work full time to take on Xander's responsibilities as the work he was to do is essential to making the refurbishments work for us and to satisfying our funders their money has been well spent.

Our big news is that work on the remaining ground floor bedrooms to turn them into disabled en-suites has begun! Not only have they started downtakings - i.e. stripping the rooms & removing tiles, cupboards, carpets and even walls, they've also framed the partition which will transform room 6 into 2 en-suites for the rooms on either side and started the wiring. 2 things you could pray about for a speedy resolution: The asbestos cladding around the pipe boxes turns out to be of moderate rather than low grade, so we're waiting for the official men in white suits to get back with a date to remove it. We are replacing the windows with higher spec double glazing, but the council are still deciding if they'll let us have  high spec PVCu frames. If we are forced to use wooden frames (because we're in a conservation area) it will cost a fortune without being any more efficient or long lasting. We haven't budgeted for that.

Meanwhile the chalet is looking good, if I say so myself. The kitchen has now been filled with kitchen furniture & equipment (Thanks to Colin & Norma for their very nice old kitchen table) and curtains and pictures are up too. Do come & have a look. The lounge area has been carpeted and a flat screen TV (thanks to Doris's family) installed on a swiveling bracket so its position can be adjusted.Curtains will go up there soon too. So it's ready to book. Please tell your friends:)

We got some good news about the conference room too. Santander awarded us £5,000 for the AV system and as it's a Social Enterprise Award we can get advice, training and maybe  other help from them too. We were worried we would lose the remainder of our Gannochy Trust funding as the deadline of 31st Dec was approaching fast, but we're pleased to announce they have granted us an extension till July 2015. Please continue to pray the remaining funding will come through. The conference room has now gone out to tender and we should hear next month. I also forgot to say that the Baptist Building Fund are behind us and have authorised a loan to us when we receive full funding so we have no cash flow problems when it comes to the build.

The Centre has been incredibly busy with community groups, including 2 weeks of the Atholl Craft Fair in October and a one day Craft Fair  last weekend. We had our own Thrift shop at the same time and made £600 for our disabled improvements. We've left a Christmas gifts table up which includes Anne's Spiced Apple Jam and there are cards for sale from Tearfund as well. So you 're not too late:) English as a foreign language is picking up and a new story time for parents & children is being developed to encourage people to write and tell stories from their own cultures. The hope is that this, as well as giving people confidence, will help integrate  locals with the overseas workers in our community. In addition Adult Learning is producing another booklet of stories from the community. If you'd like to write one, please let us know and we'll send it on to them. This week there are 2 local consultations, one on library services ( last Tues) and one on elderly mental health (especially dementia) which takes place tomorrow. The rotary are putting on an exhibition of Higher art from 4-6th Dec as it didn't get shown at the Young Artist Exhibition in the summer due to exam changes. Should be well worth a visit.

October B&B was very busy with visitors for the Enchanted Forest - lots of families - and we hear it was highly successful this year with a 16% increase in visitor numbers in spite of the rain (which just made it atmospheric.) Even though our main residential block is now closed for refurbishment at the moment we've had quite a few day groups, including an Alpha group from Balerno and an IPAD for beginners course put on by Perth College. Perthshire Brass band managed to get in before the refurb began  and so did Ignite Youth and the Girl Guide Leaders Mountain leadership training. The flat has been busy too and the chalet kitchen was used for the first time by a man with his disabled daughter 2 weeks ago. 

I wrote last time about a garden project. We've been awarded funds to start a garden in the Centre grounds. We're planning a sensory garden and some growing beds (veg, fruit, herbs) for community groups to use as a resource (healthy living, inter generation working, art....other ideas?). We went to a meeting in Glasgow bringing together therapeutic gardening people from all over Scotland and came back with some great ideas. We'd like to hear what you think too, so please let us know if you're interested in helping get it up and running. Cuttings from your own garden might come in useful as well. So do get in touch if you can help.

Tues 6th October 2014

Autumn is making its presence felt now and our focus for the Centre changes too, with community groups starting up again for the winter. WA lunch club got off to a good start last Friday and currently we're in the middle of Wellbeing week, a new initiative from Perth & Kinross  which coincides with Mental Health Week in the UK and World Mental Health Day to provide an inclusive focus on living active and healthy lives in our communities. The Atholl Centre has been the venue for events in Pitlochry and yesterday we had art taster sessions and today is a community marketplace showcasing different organisations who are here to help. PKAVS have brought along "Depressed cakes" - dark on the outside, but with a splash of colour inside - to show that how we look may not be how we feel, that even when there is darkness in our life, there is always some colour to be found.

The Community Challenge Fund launched at the beginning of this year has led to a few new initiatives, some of which will be meeting in the Centre in the future. Leila Maine, Herbalist will be starting workshops - in November it will be make your own  hand & face creams, Isobel Wilson will be starting R&R relaxation sessions and Dee Bowman is setting up a bereavement group. Some great new initiatives:) WA lunch club is also planning to expand into after lunch activities to extend the benefit folks receive from meeting up together.

Our residential groups are changing too, from B&B vistors (from all over the world) to groups (mainly from Scotland). Michael, our Polish intern, left a couple of weeks ago after a very encouraging summer. He really enjoyed his time here and the new friendships he made and after a short holiday with Wilma & David C. in Northern Ireland he left strict instructions to come & see him in Poland.

 After the hectic challenge of full on B&B, it's a chance for us as a team to regroup & plan the next stage, making sure we make full use of our new resources to grow our reach. Xander has started a marketing course which will be practically one to one advice to help him do his job here at the Centre and yesterday Ian Black came to share his Publicity on a Shoestring presentation, helping us to focus on how we can best reach and help new people. The promotional video wee Ewan made in the summer finally made its way onto Youtube. You can see it on our facebook page or go straight to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE_u5RLM12A  Please tell us what you think

 The chalet is getting there, although far more slowly than we had hoped. I've learned a new word "Snagging", which means all the wee things which have been overlooked or are not quite right, and there has been a list which is slowly being worked through. While the en-suite bedrooms have been fit for use, the living area & kitchen have been held back with various snagging issues. The living area carpet will finally go down on Friday and the curtains should be ready soon too. We're hoping to have an official opening for the Chalet in November, so please keep an eye out for that on Facebook. Xander & Wilma spent a day in Edinburgh at the Kidz Scotland Exhibition for disabled children to start advertising the Chalet.With its disabled en-suites & kitchen the chalet has huge potential to make respite and family holidays easier and more inclusive for disabled folks. Please pray for word to spread.

Meanwhile we just heard that building warrant has been granted for the next stage of the building renovations and the new conference room will go out to tender in the next couple of weeks. This really is a step of faith as we have still quite a large funding gap to fill to have enough money to start the actual build. There are lots of funding requests out which haven't been replied to yet. Please pray  the funding will come through in time. If we haven't got enough before the end of this year we lose some of what we've already been promised, so there is a sense of urgency to reach the £110,000 needed for the new conference room. Any help from you guys would be appreciated. Why not have a coffee morning for us, or do a sponsored run?

Alastair & David have been working  hard to make our entrance beautiful with plants & flowers & were rewarded with a Silver Award last week from Pitlochry in Bloom. Congratulations guys! Plans are afoot for a sensory garden to be created next year. So watch this space...

                                                  Wed 27th August
So we're at the end of the month and the chalet's still not finished! It was time for plan B when we realised it wouldn't be usable when the elderly lunch club from St. James, Pollock arrived this Monday as very few of them could manage the stairs. The staff bedsit became a twin bedroom. With it's own en-suite shower that made a good option. The TV room also became a twin bedroom for the week, so there's been a lot of furniture moving.

You'd be surprised how flexible our accommodation has become over this period when the chalet has been out of use. When not needed for meetings the conference room was set up as a bunk room and beds have been changing rooms to accommodate the changing needs of different guests from night to night during B&B. We've been much busier than previous summers due to a combination of our new website grabbing attention more on search engines and putting some of our rooms on booking.com. The desktop booking system which it was Xander's first task to source, install and populate has finally gone on line and so individuals & families can book B&B through our website now as well. We're asking larger groups to phone or email in their bookings as normal as there are too many configurations (requirements & prices) to make on-line booking practical for groups.

We've been surprised how often we've had to come to the rescue this year as well. Not only the odd backpacker or two finding Pitlochry fully booked when they come - a couple of girls were all set to kip in the Episcopal Church doorway when they were redirected to us - but a pack of 43 German scouts flooded out of their camp. They had planned a walking, camping and canoeing holiday in Scotland and only had a support van for transport as they were using public transport for longer journeys and otherwise walking. They hadn't planned on the tail end of Hurricane Bertha causing landslides and widespread flooding. They couldn't canoe because it was too wild and they couldn't camp. Their tents were sodden and so were the children - soaked to the bone. Iain, Jim (who was staying in the flat) and Alastair (local trustee) ferried them to the Centre in a combination of private cars and the community minibus and got them warm & dry with hot chocolate & a carload of chips from the chippie. The girls then camped in the conference room and the boys in the dining room, enjoying hot showers and clean, dry clothes - our washing machine & tumble drier came in handy. We got in touch with the local scouts who agreed to put their tents to dry in the Scout Hall and they had room to  park their canoes there too. They ended up staying for 3 days to recover and wait for the weather to improve. Meanwhile as well as us being an answer to prayer for them, they were an answer to prayer for us too as they helped out with housework, freeing our guys to paint more and a small group of scouts also helped with the painting - a pity we didn't get a snap of them in their protective bin bags:) 

So the chalet is mostly painted now and the builders are saying they should be finished today and it will then be up to us to clean, put the carpets down and curtains up - was sewing a pair yesterday:) and get the furniture in. It's looking as if it will be ready to use on Monday when the ME group comes, which is just as well as a number of them are in wheelchairs. Hopefully they will have finished installing the community generator by then…We had a surprise on Monday when a bunch of electricity guys arrived on the doorstep. "We're here to install the community generator" they said. After the 2013 storms when power was off for several days in the winter we had said we would be willing to be a community emergency centre as we would only need a little electricity to kick start our woodpellet boiler and to operate the pumps. This means that with a small generator we can provide heat & hot water throughout a power cut and cook on our gas stove. Hence the generator. Still working on it today. Meanwhile our current guests have been very understanding, having to come in through the church on Monday as the path was completely blocked, which wasn't ideal when they were all arriving with their suitcases and zimmers!

Emilien returned to France after a busy and fruitful month where he not only helped with the day to day running of the Centre, but wrote an excellent intro to the Centre in French for us to use with French speaking travel agencies. Michael is with us till the end of September and still going strong.

This month we also held our AGM. It was encouraging to remind ourselves of how far we have come in one year. In 2013 we completed the office & staff bedsit & we were still far off target for the rest of the project. In 2014 the Enterprise Ready Fund said Yes to the majority of what we needed for the chalet and disabled en-suites (the remainder having already been promised by other Trusts) and suddenly we were accepting tenders and starting the build, putting out job adverts and recruiting our new marketing development officer. It has been a steep learning curve, but looking back it’s obvious how much God has blessed the Centre, so at the AGM we gave thanks and are grateful to you too for your support as you read this and pray for us.

Next target is the downstairs conference room. We still have a long way to go there, although this month we also applied for building warrant, which is a step in the right direction. We also have to find more money to cover extra costs to do with the chalet build, so please help us raise funds. Why don't you try out easy fundraising (http://www.athollcentre.org.uk/support_us/easy_fundraising.html) or have a fundraising tea party, swim, run or even bungee jump. We'd love to hear your ideas,so please get in touch. Email: admin@athollcentre.org.uk or phone 01796 473044. 

   Thurs 7th  August

So, July has come & gone & I'm only just getting round to catching up on this blog - 3rd time lucky:)

Well, as you might have guessed it's been hectic, especially with the chalet now in its birth throes as we try to get it ready for use before the end of this month. It was supposed to be ready by the end of this week but as usual with these things it's running over time and we're keeping to budget by doing the painting ourselves. Hence - paint party! Our interns, Michael & Emilien and of course Chris, our painter in residence, have already made a start, but it would be nice to have more hands - we already have more paint brushes. Want to  join us ? Just pick up the phone (01796 473044). If you're local - any time. If you're from further away phone to book and we'll provide food & accommodation.

Meanwhile we have chosen our curtains & flooring, kitchen units & wetwall & it's all getting rather exciting as it takes shape. Anne had fun playing house when she went to buy items to "dress" the rooms and there have been many discussions about colour schemes. So many different opinions, but I had the final say so we got there in the end.

What's been really brilliant is the way our team has developed: Michael & Emilien our interns from Poland & France, David K our project manager and David C. a local volunteer  have teamed up with Wilma,Chris & Xander & got up to all sorts of fun & games.Then young Ewan joined us as well. He came to have a holiday with his grandparents (his grandfather built the Centre) & they asked if he could do stuff at the Centre to keep him busy. So he spent 3 weeks, 3 days each week making a promotional video for us. He's only 14! So when it was David K's birthday there were 12 of us watching him blow out his candles -& helping him eat his birthday cake:). It feels like an extended family.

During all this upheaval we've still been running our summer B&B and this year it's been busier than ever with folk from Germany, Holland, France and even a party of schoolkids from China. Community groups continue to come too - The Atholl Craft fair is on its 3rd week in the dining room, English as a second language is slowly building up (with Michael & Emilien joining in), Positive Choices continue to giggle their way through to helping chronically ill people and their carers relax and the IT class for September is fast filling up. Four ways continues to meet as regular support over the holiday months is essential for people with mental health problems.

We were at 2 community events recently. The first was a family fun day held by the Baptist Church and the Council together at the school playing fields. Lots of kids & families came to enjoy the fun. Lots of bouncy castles, a display of highland dress & weapons, stalls & activities from the leisure centre & the cycling group, stalls to advertise adult literacy & English, Christians against Poverty debt advice, ourselves, an advocacy service and of course the church stall which looked really vibrant. So well done guys and looking forward to next year.

The second was an event to remember the battle of Killiecrankie (one of the Jacobite battles which took place locally). A historic re-enactment group and local Riders of the Storm horseback gymnasts took part to take us all back to the past with displays of formation riding and weapons and highland dress of the day. It was the first time they had held this event and they hope to put it on the tourist map for the future. A few of the participants stayed in the Centre. Alan, who is a real former soldier disabled in battle, really appreciated our disabled facilities and the 2 lady professors who came to show & tell historical artifacts raved about our home-made jam.

The food bank (Trussel trust) who supplies our own food bank has arranged 2 fundraising events in Perth this month, so please support them if you can. 2 guys are doing a sponsored bike ride on the 23rd August from Perth to Edinburgh and there is an Alastair McDonald Concert on the 19th August at St. Matthew's Church. Contact  info@perthkinross.foodbank.org.uk to donate.