Village grass-cutting volunteers are making a difference
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
"MOWER power to your elbows" could be the call from the people of Castletown to three volunteers who have been helping tidy up parts of the village.
Gavin Sutherland, Ross Sutherland and Brian Dewhurst have been cutting grass at four locations for the past eight weeks.
They responded to a call for help during the coronavirus lockdown and have been busy ever since, as Gavin – the treasurer of Castletown and District Community Council – explained. The organisation was asked if there was anything it could do to help during the health crisis.
Some community councillors were shielding at the time and others were regarded as key workers and were unavailable, so Gavin looked for other volunteers and Ross and Brian agreed to help out.
With the backing of Highland Council, they have been cutting the grass at all three Olrig cemeteries, the sheltered housing at Olrig Place, the children's play park on Main Street and Memorial Square behind the village war memorial. They did that so it would look tidy for the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe.
Gavin said: "At a time like this you just want to help out and do what you can. We keep to the guidelines on social distancing and do one cemetery each when we are cutting the grass there.
"The feedback we have been getting is unbelievable, especially the first time we did it. People can see it is making a difference and very much appreciate what we are doing."
Some of the equipment used to do the work is supplied by Contec Design Services, a Thurso-based electrical, control and instrumentation design company in which Ross Sutherland is a director. It has also donated fuel for the machines.
Gavin added: "We have been doing this since the end of April and will keep on doing it as long as we can."
