24th June, 2011

Today we've just waved goodbye to the folks from Arbroath Town Mission. This is a group of elderly guests, one of them in a  wheelchair, others a bit unsteady on their feet, who are part of a church run lunch club in Arbroath. They come to the Centre every year for a wee break and enjoy the freedom of a half board service, which lets them get out every day on a trip or a wander, all accessible from the Centre (they bring their own minibus) and come back to a nice hot meal and a blether in the evening.

It's good to have a mid week residential group. Community groups can still run regardless, as they don't use the same space at the same time and it all works very well. We've had groups in for the last 3 weekends as well. One of them is an inner city church group who we support through our subsidy fund. They came on a self-catering basis and it was lovely to meet them on the Friday evening with the fantastic aroma of a good Glasgow curry wafting through, cooked by Bangladeshi group members who had arrived earlier to prepare their meal.  Makes you feel really international and at home at the same time. This was a family group, lively with children and babies. The weekend before it was a youth group. Our accommodation is flexible enough to suit everyone & they all seem happy with their stay.

Soon we will be starting B&B. We had hoped to have a Brazilian girl with us for that, but her visa wasn't going to be ready in time, so now we're starting out with some of our local students staying overnight to look after guests and then we have a Spanish girl called Amaia coming as a summer volunteer, who will live in. Revenue from B&B in the summer and the self catering flat helps us to subsidise community groups and groups with low income as we help people to grow and find release through conferences, workshops and holidays, so if you're thinking of a trip to the Highlands, why not come and stay here. You'll have a great time and you'll be helping others.

It may not be much of a summer so far, but it's still worth coming to Pitlochry. The Festival Theatre celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, still doing the stay 6 days and see 6 plays summer routine. It's also a really nice place to go for a coffee, and there's an art gallery there too. Locally made Stuart Tower ice cream has to be tasted to be believed, but the multitude of flavours is amazing. all made with milk straight off the farm. Local adventure firm Nae Limitz has just opened Scotland's first bungee jump over the river Garry - quite a sight - and I expect quite an experience if you're brave enough. The Watermill bookshop in Aberfeldy (20 mins away) has a range of books and music you would normally expect to see in a city, with an excellent children's section and lots of local lore and mountain guides. It too has a very upmarket art gallery and a pleasant cafe for a cappuccino or homemade cake.  And there are plenty of water sctivities to go on, whether it's canoeing or whitewater rafting, fishing or gorge walking, where you'll get wet anyway. So you may as well make the best of it and enjoy Scotland here this summer.

20th May, 2011

What a busy 3 weeks we've had! We've had 2 major events in that time as well as the usual bookings and it's been all go. First of all we had the 2 open days. We hadn't a clue how many people were going to turn up, because even though we'd put out loads of publicity, very few people had indicated they would come. However on the first day, which was for the churches and included a display about our future plans for growth, we had 17 locals, and then about 50 retired Baptist ministers who were visiting for the day anyway had a look round the display in the evening. This fulfilled the criteria of raising awareness of both the Centre and biofuels in churches from around Scotland and as prayer points go up on this website and are distributed to other Baptist organisations we hope people will be praying for us, especially on our Prayer Day on 12th June. On the second open day it rained cats and dogs and so we had a select few again, but they included 3 local businesses who are thinking seriously of installing biofuel heating, people from major funders CARES & LEADER, who were both pleased and impressed with what we've done, and our English as a Second Language class, who not only asked good questions, but took the vocabulary from their boiler tour and used it for a lesson afterwards. The plant stall was laden and made a good sum of money and the guy from the Energy Savings Trust stall was kept busy giving out advice and gadgets. So a good day in spite of the weather. We're putting together a video based on the open days, so if you're really sad you missed them, you'll still be able to get a taste of what happened, hopefully out in the next 3 weeks. And if you'd like a boiler tour, just let us know and we'll arrange it for you.

The second major event was Etape Caledonia, an international cycle event based in Pitlochry. Over 4000 cyclists actually rode the course this year. Cyclists ride an 81 mile route, all raising money for Macmillan Cancer Care, and some for other charities as well. Some are racing to cover the course in the fastest time, which was faster this year than ever before. Some are completing a personal challenge to do the course within the 6 hours allowed. We even had local couple Alastair and Emily McCartney riding to raise money for the Centre. If you wish to sponsor them please email us at admin@athollcentre.org.uk. Highs and lows: A young couple, who met at the event last year, got married at the start line at  6am and were allowed to ride off first, there were tacks on the road for a second year initiating another police investigation, and one cyclist had a serious accident. So how is the Centre involved? Well, from the beginning we have been chosen as the event headquarters, so the police, fire and ambulance co-ordinators are based here, all the equipment and supplies are stored here, and the motorcycle marshalls all stay over at the Centre, so they can be away by 5 am on the day to be in place before the race starts. On the Saturday and the Sunday we are toilets, showers and tea & coffee suppliers for the marquees set up in the carpark next door, and on the Saturday we also have the massage people helping any cyclist who wishes to tune up their muscles before the race. It's a pretty full on event and Iain even stayed at the Centre overnight on Saturday to ensure everything was in place on time.

So it's back to normal now, a bit of a relief, truth be told. We've got a methodist group in this morning on holiday in Pitlochry. They've come especially to look at our Christian bookstall & have their morning coffee and chat while they browse. There's an idea!

27th April, 2011

Ok, it's a bit late to say it, but Happy Easter anyway. I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last wrote. How time flies when you're having fun ... well it definitely flies, that's for sure. Since I last wrote we've had 3 groups in at weekends and a couple of families staying in the self catering flat for their Easter holidays. The weekend with UFM was particularly busy with over 80 people as day visitors on the Saturday and several people staying for the whole conference from Friday to Sunday. Many had booked B & B in town well in advance thinking the Centre rooms would be all taken, so unfortunately for us we still had rooms to spare. It's a lesson in co-ordination for next year. However they all ate here and were ecstatic about the food. We also had a Healthy Living Day last Thursday supported by Perth & Kinross voluntary services, inviting the general public for taster sessions of massage, Tai Chi etc. and over Thurs night/Fri morning a Duke of Edinburgh mixed ability group. One girl was in a wheelchair and stayed overnights till Sunday while the others camped. Then from the Friday a family group of 24 celebrating an 85th birthday. It feels as if it's been non-stop.

 Preparation for the open days is coming along, with adverts out on email to all our contacts and through the BU, and posters on all the public noticeboards in Pitlochry. We even had an interview for Heartland radio, our local radio station, which was broadcast on Sunday and will be repeated next week.  The Climate Challenge Fund have agreed to man a stall  on the 10th to give tips on going green and the forestry commission have just sent an  interesting looking parcel which I've still to open. Still lots to do, but it's looking good, so don't forget to come: Thurs 5th May from 2 - 4pm and Tues 10th from 10.30 - 3.30.

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.