Arran CVS - News on Arran

ACVS AGM

Arran Council for Voluntary Service Annual General Meeting took place on Friday 14th November. A brief business agenda included proposals for changes to the committee. Elizabeth Watson has been elected Chair, replacing Jim Lees who remains a member. In addition there were 3 new members to the committee.

This year we were fortunate to have Alex Anderson, Economic Development Manager, North Ayrshire Council as our guest speaker. Alex covered a range of issues of interest to the Arran Community, including Community Planning, developments in Social Enterprise, leveraging European Funding into North Ayrshire and future arrangements for Business Gateway services.

Attendees were invited to ask questions and among the issues raised was the potential impact on local funding of a European-wide recession, which prompted speculation into the predicted duration and extent of economic downturn. Alex was quick to point out that current funding agreements are part of well-defined plans, which will usually be effective for several years. Leader, for example, which is part of the European Agricultural Fund, is in the early stages of an agreement which extends to 2013. Securing match funding, however, may well be more of a challenge.

Heritage Lottery Fund - Landscape Partnership

The recent meeting of parties interested in joining Arran's potential bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund was held at the Ormidale on 27th October. It has unanimously been agreed that the November 30th deadline for initial applications is not realisitic for an Arran bid, as more work is needed in the development of a strategy and thematic structure before submission. The next step is to identify all potential organisations who either may wish to become involved directly, or who could provide valuable advice, and conduct a desktop survey. The intented outcome is to generate ideas and identify a "thread". As funding consultant Chris Yorke said many months ago, in the context of the Landsacpe Partnership, "Arran needs a vision."

For more information on necessary objectives, and to view the projects which have been successful, go to HLF's website

Fairtrade on Arran

September 3rd - 10th sees The Burnside Gallery in Brodick host an information stand and video about Fairtrade on Arran. It is hoped that, with continuing support from businesses and consumers, Arran Fairtrade will be able to develop a directory and website of their own. The Co-operative Community Fund has awarded £500, and it is anticipated that Arran's Fairtrade status will benefit the island economy by marking Arran as a 'Green Tourism' destination. Signs may well appear on the ferry and at the pier in the near future, welcoming visitors to Arran - a Fairtrade Island. Local schools have been players in increasing awareness of Fairtrade, and will continue to play an important part in educating consumers for generations to come. Subscribing businesses and organisations, and local contact details can be found on the map.

The release of funding from The Argyll and Islands Leader has recently benefitted Arran community-based projects. Local Action Groups, of which there are 16 in Scotland, meet several times a year to consider new applications. In September the Brodick Seafront Walkway was awarded £144,750 towards its total project cost, and in May of this year the Kilmory Wildife Viewing project based at Kilmory Hall was awarded a grant for almost half of their project costs, as were the Argyll Fisheries Trust and Visit Arran Market Research. In total, the Leader Programme has boosted Argyll, Bute, Arran and Cumbrae community groups by £1,687,004 over the last 3 rounds of funding.

The next Leader meeting is coming up on 12th December 2008, with the deadline set at 7th November, and it is hoped that Arran will again feature in the projects bidding for funding. We will keep you posted on their success.