24th April 2015

We’re having an Open Day on Saturday 6th June at 1 pm here at the Atholl Centre. Why? To officially open our new accessible facilities completed this year (to be opened by our local MSP and Deputy First Minister, John Swinney), and to thank you for your generosity and give you a chance to be nosey and take a look for yourselves. We’ll start with a buffet lunch, then a couple of speeches and a chance to take the tour. Preparations are in full swing and already several people have signed up to come. If you want to come please get your name on the list so we have numbers for the lunch.

As I mentioned last month we’re also having a Big Lunch (Eden Project scheme) on Sun 7^th June to launch the community garden where we hope to be eating some of our own produce! You’re very welcome at either or both events for this big celebration of what God has done & is doing through us, but do let us know if you’re coming. Any volunteers to bring food to share at the garden lunch?

We had the last soup lunch of the season today & Fiona Johnstone was busy interviewing people with her i-pad. We’re making a video for the open day to showcase all the community groups who meet here, so if you’d like to take part let us know.

In April we welcomed 3 brand new residential groups: A group of Iranian asylum seeker families came with the Tron church. This was a group which grew arms & legs. We started off thinking there would be 10 and ended up with 52, 42 of whom slept at the Centre! As well as bible study they had great fun playing badminton & football in the amazing sunshine. Persona counselling group spent the week here and kept us on our toes and we also had MECOPP disabled folk & their carers from the Travelling community as a mid-week group. They not only loved our new accessible en-suites, but really enjoyed that their folk in wheelchairs could be equally involved in every activity because of our inclusive space. That week the Centre was full of music, laughter and creativity led mostly by Pitlochry specialists.

The thrift shop to raise money for the new meeting room with AV & loop went disappointingly slowly this month, but praise God we were awarded £30,000 towards it from the Community Innovation Fund. Only £35K to go! Have you tried easyfundraising? Do pick up a leaflet from us next time you’re in to find out how you can raise money for the Atholl Centre at no cost to yourself when you shop on-line.

The garden continues to develop and we’ve now started to buy plants. However if you have colourful or scented shrubs, herbs and ground cover plants you could donate from your own garden please get in touch. This way we make our budget go further and you share in making the community garden. 

                                      24th March 2015

The great news is the garden’s started and they’re even here in the snow today (White in Moulin but no snow on the ground down the street here). We’re looking forward to seeing the finished article. 4 volunteers from Scottish & Southern Electricity are using their Help in the Community day to give us a hand in April and we’re applying to Dobbies in the Community as well. Liz enjoyed her Trellis conference & is now doing a risk assessment for us.

March has been a busy month residentially with groups every weekend and the Baptist Ministers Continuing Ministry during the week too. They all had successful conferences with us and seemed very impressed with our new rooms as well.

Anne went to a workshop on creative breaks last week to find out how we can help more disabled people & their carers come for a holiday here and this week we’re exhibiting in Perth at a Self Directed Support showcase. Self Directed Support is where disabled and elderly folks who need support are given control of their own Social Work budget so they can choose where they get their help from, including respite breaks.

Last month Comic Relief celebrated huge fundraising success on Red Nose Day and we’re planning a big celebration of our own to thank God for the money He has given the Atholl Centre through you and others. We’re meeting this week to plan our Open Day on the 6^th June  (John Swinney our local MSP is already booked to come) and have signed up to join the Eden Project’s Big Lunch on Sun 7^th to open the Community Garden too. Please put these dates in your diary & join us for this big celebration of what God has done & is doing through us.

Meanwhile we continue to raise funds so we can get on with phase 3 – making a new accessible conference room by extending & dividing the dining room. Please remember our Thrift shop on from the 11^th – 16^th April (11-4, except Sunday) and if anyone is interested in joining in with Etape Caledonia to raise money for the Centre, do let us know. It’s only 5 weeks away!

   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...