On Thursday 5th May, members of Ardentinny Community Trust Ltd. met with officials from Forestry Commission Scotland and members of the National Forest Land Scheme’s Evaluation Panel whose members are drawn from organisations with forestry and community interests throughout  Scotland, e.g., Assynt, Forres, Community Woodland projects and other community buy-outs.

The Panel took a tour of Glenfinart Walled Garden and discussed, with the Trust, the progress made to date. More useful contacts and offers of support were made and both groups concluded that the visit had been very worthwhile.

You can now donate to the Glenfinart Walled Garden Appeal online at www.mycharitypage.com/ArdentinnyCommunityTrustLtd.

Last week, members of Ardentinny Community Trust’s Walled Garden committee attended a seminar entitled ‘Maximising your Profits – Making Money from Events and Festivals’ It was organised by Craignish Community Company and the Community Assets unit of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and held in Craignish Village Hall in Ardfern, with the purpose of exploring how community groups can reduce their reliance on grants and make money from organising arts events and festivals. As Ardentinny and Cowal, in general, have a plethora of artists, in a variety of genres on their doorstep and, as many of them have already been active in their support of the Walled Garden project, it seemed appropriate that it be represented.

35 delegates attended and topics ranged from ‘Inspirational Stories’ with examples from the Enchanted Forest events programme and the Lochshiel Spring Festival; official input from Argyll and Bute Council on the logistics and legalities of event management; and how to market events locally and to the wider world. On Day 2 a ‘Community Cafe’ comprising four rounds of interactive discussion on Marketing; Income Generation and Sponsorship; Setting up Systems; and Social Enterprise provided an abundance of ideas and advice as all delegates got the chance to share their experience. This was also an excellent opportunity for networking and potentially forging long-lasting, collaborative relationships.

A busy week for members of Ardentinny Trust’s Glenfinart Walled Garden committee (see separate story) concluded with a display at Colintraive’s Christmas Fair. As usual, the stall had on sale arts and crafts donated by Elizabeth Bruce, Anne McLintock, Anne Hammil and Bill Williamson. Unfortunately, due to space restrictions, they were unable to mount the complete Walled Garden display. However, with a single information panel and information leaflets, they hoped to successfully inform another area of Cowal of the plans for the garden.

The fundraising display relies upon the artists who give of their time and expertise in providing crafts for sale and on the volunteers who staff the events. They very much welcome further craft donations and offers of help from supporters to staff the stand throughout Cowal.  If you are interested, please get in touch.

You can also now donate online to the Glenfinart Walled Garden project here.