Community groups share £10,000 in sixth Your Cash Your Caithness
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ELEVEN local groups benefited from a share of the £10,000 which was up for grabs in the latest round of funding from Your Cash Your Caithness.
A total of 25 charities pitched their project ideas to the community during the event held in Thurso High School on Saturday.
Coming out top in the voting was the North Highland Cancer Support and Information Centre which received £1000 towards the provision of complementary therapies.
Iain Gregory, who gave a three-minute presentation about the work of the support group based in High Street, Thurso, said: "This means a huge amount. The £1000 will enable 40 people to receive complementary therapies and will greatly enhance their sense of wellbeing and set them on the road to a great improvement in their conditions.
"This charity receives no formal funding at all, just donations and legacies. We are extremely grateful today as it enables us to start approaching other funders."
The centre is not just for those who have had cancer but for family members too. As well as offering emotional support and guidance, it provides therapies such as massage and Reiki.
A bid by John O'Groats Mill Trust for £1000 to help set up a community and cultural hub was also successful.
Pitching the idea to the local audience, trust chairman Rognvald Brown said: "It is a very important and historical building, the last mill in Caithness, and it is capable of working."
He explained that people in the John O'Groats area wanted a place they could drop in to for "a yarn" and the mill would make an ideal centre for local folk, both young and old.
During the short question-and-answer session Mr Brown said that the mill could produce meal on a commercial basis and over the building's three different levels there was plenty space for other activities.
The Macular Support Group also won the support of the voting public, securing £1000 which will go towards travel costs – allowing people without their own transport to benefit.
Group chairman Eric Farquhar said: "I am absolutely over the moon. It will mean we can keep taking people out of their houses and into the social place at Pulteneytown People's Project."
Giving his presentation, Mr Farquhar explained that the eye disease affected over one million people in the UK, with 600 in Caithness alone.
When he first contacted the Macular Society he was told the nearest support group, apart from Inverness, was Kirkwall, and told them: "That's a heck of a long swim."
Mr Farquhar was then advised to set up his own group, which he did five years ago. Get-togethers take place at the Pulteney Centre, giving people the chance to socialise.
He pointed out that the money would be used to book taxis for people who would otherwise not be able to attend meetings. "It might seem expensive, but it is so worthwhile," he added.
Bower Busy Bees Early Learning Centre will be able to revitalise its nursery garden and use the produce grown there in lunches open to the community, thanks to a successful bid for £1000.
One of the presenters, Sharon Dismore, said: "We are so grateful to the community for voting for us and we are so excited for what we are going to do with it."
The unique outdoor nursery, located behind Bower Community Centre, had been on the brink of closure last year due to low attendance numbers and reduced funding. However, after some hard work and support it was able to continue and now has 20 children on the register.
The money will go towards buying a potting shed, a polytunnel and gardening equipment required for the intergenerational project, which will involve the provision of soup-and-sandwich lunches.
Another winner was the Caithness Broch Project which received £961 for a fantasy-style map leaflet which will help tourists see many places of interest in Caithness.
One of the project's directors, Iain Maclean, said: "We are always pleased to take part in Your Cash Your Caithness. This is the third time we have taken part in it – the first money we got was by winning, and that really gave us the boost we needed.
"It is an excellent event and a wonderful opportunity, but I always feel sorry for the groups that do not win.
"We hope to get the leaflets printed and ready for the beginning of this season."
Caithness Street Pastors were given £1000 which will go towards getting the first cohort of pastors kitted in their uniforms before taking to the streets locally.
Chairperson the Rev Ellie Charman, of the Scottish Episcopal Church in Wick and Thurso, said: "It is a wonderful start for this fledgling organisation which we are still in the process of starting up."
The launch of the group will take part on Wednesday evening at 7pm at St Peter and the Holy Rood Episcopal Church in Thurso.
Volunteers from Thurso Community Café were successful in their bid for £1000 to purchase computers that will allow people using the facility to access the internet in a safe environment.
Thurso Community Development Trust received £1000 towards carrying out a feasibility study into creating a community hub in the town. The old Drill Hall in Sinclair Street has been identified as a possible venue for the project.
No Limits Caithness, which is based in the Wick Family Centre, was awarded £990 to run life skills sessions for children with additional needs, while Northern Stars at Thurso High School won £500 towards a dance and drama showcase.
Home-Start Caithness received £525 for parenting courses for dads, helping them to feel more inclusive in their children's lives.
This was the sixth Your Cash Your Caithness to be held in the county with the money coming from the Highland Council which was given £9497 from the old Caithness Partnership last year on condition that it was set aside for the event.
The council topped up the amount to £10,000 and left it to members of the public once again to decide for themselves where the money should go.
Compere on Saturday was the Caithness civic leader, Councillor Willie Mackay, while the format of the event was explained by Highland Council's Caithness ward manager Alex Macmanus.
