28th March, 2011

Hooray! The boiler and solar panels are finally functioning. Scottish Baptist ministers' wives were the first group to enjoy our new eco heating system and that week the church (which is connected into the heating system) was so warm people were taking their coats and jumpers off - after freezing the previous week because the electric fires had tripped the circuit and gone off and the free standing gas fires had suddenly run out of gas. The contrast certainly was appreciated. When they're on the place is really cosy... just need to get on top of programming the  boiler clock ! (We were nearly caught out by the time change this weekend & Iain had to dash down again on Saturday night having just got home from work at 9.30 pm to set the clock forward an hour so there would be heating & hot water first thing on Sunday). It's quite a job to claim the grants, which are paid out after the contractors have been paid - lots of paperwork, but that's all on target, and while we're waiting for that money to come in, an interest free loan from Perth & Kinross has to be paid back. Fortunately when we told them our circumstances they offered to hold onto our cheque until one of our donors has paid in full.  Isn't that great! There's going to be 2 open days in May: May 5th will be a Friends of the Centre Open Day and all the weekend user groups and Centre supporters are warmly invited to that. May 10th will be a Community Open Day with the emphasis on showcasing the Centre and the new heating system to the locals.

 This weekend we had URC ladies fellowship. They had Bible study & talks while their husbands went out for hillwalks. They enjoyed their stay so much they've booked up for the next 2 years. This week is the last week of the Youth Cafe (run by Perth & Kinross Council) before the holidays. So much work has beeen put into it, but there are still only a few youngsters attending. It would be really good to see it take off properly. Adult education is in full flow and seemed to be able to work around the disruption caused by the boiler installation without any problems, and we've got Madcaps in tonight - a local music and drama society who do a lot of fundraising performances as well as having a good time together.  So it's business as usual in a cosy and greener Centre.

2nd March, 2011

Well, Simeon has gone home and we're all missing him. Aww! He made a brilliant tourist guide for a Pitlochry walk from the Centre to Moulin, with a wee spiel about all the sights on the way. He spent ages reading up on it all and then used publisher to make it.

The boiler's now installed, and it is on course to be operational in the next few days. We're now waiting for a wood pellet hopper to arrive and get set up before it can have its maiden run. The solar panels are up and connected too. Can't wait.

We had deacons from Dundee Central in last weekend. They raved about the food - especially Iain's porridge! - and seemed to have a profitable time here. Some hadn't been to the Centre for a few years and were really surprised  and pleased at all the changes we've made. Prior to them it was the SU young leaders' training, who were a self catering group. Largely due to Iain's good management, no-one has had cause to complain about the heating during the changeover of the boilers. He's been running about setting up electric heaters and portable gas fires to make sure every room being used is cosy, especially during the cold weather.

The sun is out now and it is actually 10 degrees today - something that cheers us all up.

15th February, 2011

We have a young man from France with us for 3 weeks. Simeon is studying tourism in Biarritz and asked to come here for a placement. One of the things he has been doing is making a bilingual tour guide for a walk round the sights of Pitlochry, but he's also been helping out with guests, preparing rooms, serving meals and showing people where to go. It's been interesting to see the kind of things he's expected to learn and sharing our experiences with him.

One notable experience is the boiler changeover. Work has started to install our new woodpellet boiler, to be followed by solar panels. Unfortunately delays have meant that it is happening when residential guests are coming at the weekends and community groups during the week. Iain has had his work cut out securing enough heaters to keep the place warm in the interim (and making sure we don't fry our circuits in the process.) and the plumber is installing a temporary immerser in the new cylinders so we don't go without hot water while the changeover is taking place. It's beginning to take shape now & we're very grateful Hugh is on board to supervise the work. We hope to have the new boiler in and working by the end of next week.
We had the Salvation Army Youth Choir in over this last weekend training with a professional voice coach and they sounded wonderful. Highways support group for local adults with learning difficulties met on Saturday morning too. They are looking for volunteers to help members be part of their local community, so if you live in or near Aberfeldy, Pitlochry or Dunkeld and are interested please get in touch.

31st January, 2011

We had a very good write up in Connect, the Scottish Baptist magazine this month, so we're hoping to generate lots of interest through that. Our newest innovation is a voucher scheme, giving discounts for return visits: £1 off for B&B, £10 off for the flat & £50 off for large groups. Please take a look and see how you or your group could benefit in the future.

Our first residential group of the year arrives tomorrow for a 3 day training course, so it feels good to get going on that side of things again.

Simeon has just arrived from France to spend 3 weeks with us doing a placement for his tourism college course. He & Chris are getting on like a house on fire as Chris shows him the housekeeping ropes.He's already taken part in a worship jam at Pitlochry Baptist & has been earmarked for a football session. Nothing like chucking him in at the deep end!

A team will be coming to remove the old boilers next Monday. The new one is due to arrive in the country this Friday (it's coming from Austria). So it's all go. The main thing is trying to ensure we have sufficient resources to get alternative heat and hot water for groups while the changeover is taking place. It's a shame it has been delayed for so long or we could have had it installed at a quieter period, but c'est la vie, as they say.

18th January, 2011

Great News - our building warrant has finally been granted. (The hold up was that the frame for the solar panels needed an engineer's certificate) Now we can order the solar panels too and real progress can be made. The boiler is on order and the boiler house has had a good clear out. There's a meeting this afternoon to co-ordinate all the work.

The last couple of months we've been working on publicity for the year to come. The Centre is now on Facebook. See what you think. We made up a leaflet for the Landmark catalogue which goes out to every school in Scotland and we've just received the balance of the print run - an extra thousand - to send out to other schools & children's groups.

We've just updated our price list. Take a look at the new pick & mix menu & see if there is anything that would suit you or a group you know this year.

It's good to welcome back our day groups  which have started up again.

7th January, 2011

Happy New year to you all. Christmas was a quiet period for us, especially with the snowy weather, which resulted in some cancelled bookings, but the flat was being used all December and into the New Year. In fact quite a few people have booked it recently for personal retreats coming up this year - well, Pitlochry is a beautiful & inspiring place to take time out to take stock after all - so if you want to book please do so well in advance. It's getting quite popular you know! The freezing weather  gave us some frozen pipes but our friendly plumber was very good at  fixing it even though it was Christmas Eve. Iain had to keep an eagle eye on the system throughout the holidays, meaning he never had a day away from the Centre. Christmas was a time for "thank you"s so Iain was invited to a prize giving at Pitlochry Festival Theatre for the adult literacy group and the Centre staff got together with volunteers for a Christmas meal. It was a time for pressure as we realised that time was running short to get the boiler project into its installation phase & many urgent phonecalls were made to push it along.We will shortly be placing our order for the new boiler (at last) and hope everything goes smoothly from now on. Hugh Henderson is now on board to project supervise & we're very grateful for his help & advice. It has also been a time for coughs and colds, some spending their Christmas holidays feeling distinctly under the weather, but we're back now and raring to go. We start the New Year with some  freshly revamped chairs for the upstairs lounge thanks to a local upholsterer. We're really grateful to have so much local loyalty within the community & as local day groups start up again we get the chance to play our part again in serving our community.

6th December, 2010

It's really cold and the snow is thick on the ground. The main roads have been cleared and the A9 is open, but the trains and buses are still unreliable. Our weekend group (40 people) had to cancel as did all events during the week but one (children's christmas crafts). Even the Council of Management was cancelled for tomorrow as people are having trouble digging their cars out! The intrepid Glynnis still made it from the back of beyond into work last week and this, so it shows what can be done with a lot of determnation and a four wheel drive. Still, more chance to catch up on admin as emails aren't snow reliant and the post seems to be working fine. A great big thank you is due as we have received quite a few donations as a result of Iain's appeal at the BU assembly. This is really encouraging as we realise how much support and goodwill towards us there is out there. Next year's weekend bookings are filling up nicely, but there's still plenty of room midweeks, so if you have a midweek conference or holiday in mind, please think of us.

It looks like we won't have the new boiler in for Christmas, as we're still waiting for a technical certificate before it can go through building control, but it's in process, which is  good. Please pray for Hugh, our works supervisor, and the different specialists involved as they co-ordinate their plans, ready for the start of work. We've already noticed the chalet is warmer since the walls were insulated, so it's good to see tangible improvements.