Film Forres have completed a pilot project to take cinema out to local village halls in some of our smaller communities. Through the winter of 2022/2023 and of 2023/2024, Film Forres visited village halls with their mobile cinema and provided an opportunity for community gathering and social interaction whilst watching a film of their choice.
The illumination of the Tolbooth, Merkat Cross and Nelson’s Tower in Forres have thoroughly put each of these buildings on the map. The ‘state of the art’ lighting equipment installed will enable the colour scheme of each building to be changed to reflect such events as Remembrance Day, McMillan Cancer Day, Christmas etc. The hope is to fire the imagination of the population and get them to visit the buildings, this in turn producing activities which are both educational as well as family orientated. It is hoped the fact the buildings are illuminated will encourage people to visit Forres and that an economic benefit will be derived by local businesses.
Findhorn Heritage Icehouse was built circa 1850 to store ice for preserving salmon destined for London markets. Salmon netting finished in 1986 and the Icehouse was acquired by Findhorn Heritage who have created a small Salmon Fishing museum. To allow wheelchair access for visitors throughout the building a level metal surface was constructed, supported above the existing uneven rough stone floor. Over the course of 20 years the damp environment had caused corrosion of the floor infrastructure. The grant from Berry Burn Community Fund has helped us replace the floor support infrastructure to allow continued wheelchair access for visitors.
The Berry Burn Community Fund have been an invaluable help to our club over the 2023 season. With their assistance we have managed to play all our home matches and training on the same pitch without financial worry. They have also aided us with help and advice on more practical ways to become more financially stable in the future. Big thank you from all at Strathspey Camanachd!
As of 1 December 2023, Forres has a new, free to use outdoor gym, located on Sanquhar Road. This £72,000 outdoor gym was developed by Forres Community Sports Hub and Forres Community Council with Berry Burn Community Fund giving £45,000 towards the project.
Equipment includes; multi-station/multi-user full body workout pieces, plus seats/shelters, arm bike accessible from seat/standing position/wheelchair, offering cardiovascular training. Magnetic bells give users two weights/different strength levels, agility trim trail. A free downloadable app will act like a virtual personal trainer.
Moray Council will routinely maintain/inspect the equipment and ongoing fundraising efforts to support the gym and potential future development has been created through a GoFundMe campaign administered by Forres Sports Hub.
Grantown on Spey’s festive lights seek to enrich the Christmas experience for the community with the provision of a fabulous display of lights. The funds to replace eight of the lamppost lights will support the delivery of joy for the community and provide pleasure to all generations for approximately six weeks each year. Christmas can be a difficult time for many with limited money to provide treats, presents or festive cheer. Whilst not being able to replace what will be lost due to the wider financial crisis, this project provides a free-to-access festive centrepiece for the community.
Grantown YMCA Community Centre are extremely grateful to the Berry Burn Community Fund for their quick and generous response to our emergency situation. In addition to financial support, the advice that they have given has proved to be invaluable and has helped us move forward to a more effective system of procedures and supervision.
1st Grantown-on-Spey Guides, Young Leaders and Leaders had a super weekend away at Girlguiding’s flagship camp Wellies and Wristbands at Waddow Hall. By day, girls took part in taster sporting sessions such as fencing, raced on giant inflatables and experienced fun festival activities. In the evening, dancing away at the festival main stage and dressed in festival costume themes, the girls took part in “meet and greets” with future pop-stars and made new Guiding friends from all over the UK. Attending a camp with 1,800 girls was a memorable way for the Guides to develop their skills in camping and improve their confidence.
Grantown Remakery have commissioned the final stage of Project Warm Footprint, the switch on of their Air Source Heating System in the week commencing 16 October 2023.
The Remakery have spent the last year investing in Heat Retention and Carbon Reduction measures for their building. The whole building has been fully insulated and a new ‘Wet Radiator’ Air Source Heating System fitted. The project started with the building insulation completed by Kishorn Insulations in November 2022 and was completed in October 2023 by Greenflame completing the heating installation.
Grantown Remakery are very grateful to Berry Burn Community Fund for their financial support.
Grantown on Spey has new public toilets to be proud of after five years of being closed. Burnfield Toilets, located just off The Square, have been completely refurbished and modernised to provide warm and clean men’s, women’s and disabled toilets for residents and visitors. There are also facilities for motorhome waste discharging, to improve the amenities that Grantown can offer. The project, undertaken by a group of volunteers from the Grantown Initiative, has been challenging but very worthwhile, and we are very grateful to all our funders. We hope that the new toilets are a facility that the town can be proud of.
