Kyle and Lochalsh Community Trust (KLCT), Holds Weekly Videoconferences to Discuss Local Needs and Track Progress of Individual Projects

Lochalsh Community Response

LOCHALSH’S COMMUNITY COMMUNITY LANDOWNERS RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUSCORONAVIRUS RESPONSES Here to answer any questions you may have and direct you to the relevant support and volunteers. 01599Kyle 534 and Lochalsh 505 Community Trust

[email protected]

Who can use this service? Are you able to provide volunteer support? Anyone in Lochalsh who is isolated and needs support or advice. Get in touch, we are here to help. There’s never been a better time to volunteer for your community. Volunteers are needed for a wide range of tasks from manning phone lines, to doing deliveries, or just checking in on your neighbours. Please get in touch if you would like to volunteer.

www.lochalshcommunityresponse.co.uk 1

A new COVID-19 support network has developed in Lochalsh in response to the COVID emergency. Called the Lochalsh Community Response (LCR) - its purpose is to provide support for local communities and try to minimise Coronavirus impact on people in the area, particularly if they are self-isolating, being shielded due to underlying health problems or affected by poverty and loss of income.

The LCR, which includes around 20 organisations, community councils and initiatives and is led by Kyle and Lochalsh Community Trust (KLCT), holds weekly videoconferences to discuss local needs and track progress of individual projects. These are attended by one of their local councillors to ensure that local volunteer effort is linked to wider support from public services. KLCT received £24,625 from the Scottish Government’s Supporting Communities Fund to support the first two months of LCR’s work. The group is now putting a further funding bid to allow its work to continue until the end of September.

The group grew from the Lochalsh Collaboration which itself links local community councils, community development trusts and groups to look at community engagement and community action planning in the Lochalsh area. 2

Lochalsh Community Response covers seven community council areas and additionally supports the neighbouring Kyleakin & Kylerhea Community Council area which doesn’t have its own community trust. LCR provides the following services:

• A Lochalsh-wide Helpline which people can call to request help with shopping or other errands. This information is then passed to specific community council areas where local volunteers help to carry out the tasks and ensure that people get the shopping and medication they need and know how to contact other essential services.

• A dedicated website and Facebook page where people can find information about locally available support. With the help of the Community Land Scotland outreach grant, it has also produced a leaflet with information which has been delivered to all households in Lochalsh (c.2,700 people).

• A Food Share Project where food, nearing its sell-by date, from the local Co-op and Spar supermarkets, is distributed to those in need. People can call a newly set up Food Share Helpline to have it delivered or collect it from set locations. The local Food Bank has also asked LCR that if there are any spare fresh fruit and vegetables from the Food Share could they have them as at present they have lots of dried goods but few perishable items.

• A Community Food Vouchers project for residents of Lochalsh, Kyleakin and Kylerhea that are struggling financially due to the crisis. The weekly voucher allowance per household is currently £20 - £25 (1 person), £30 - £35 (2 people), £40 - £45 (3 people) and an extra £5 for each additional person. Seven local businesses are participating in the scheme. In the first 4 weeks 71 families (223 people) benefited from this service, with a direct support of £2,760. The demand is growing each week.

• Promotion of the befriending and support services run by Skye and Lochalsh Council for Voluntary Organisations for those experiencing additional hardship, mental health problems and other issues. 3

LCR is making good use of technology and has teamed up with a local Pilates teacher to produce a series of online video classes that people can access at home, at their leisure. These classes have proved very popular; and is also working with a local outdoor professional to produce a series of short bike maintenance videos to help people resolve simple problems and get out riding their bikes safely for their permitted exercise during the Coronavirus lockdown.

The Group has also set up a Virtual Meeting Space using both online platforms and group phone calls, led by volunteer tutors and hosts, in an effort to try and keep community life going during the crisis. This offers different activities from quiz nights, foraging and preserving, pet show, Zumba and a telephone Ceilidh of local stories and history.

As the local newspaper has closed temporarily and many people are not on Facebook, other social media platforms or familiar with technology, the LCR started to produce a regular community newsletter to keep the community in- formed about what’s going on locally. The first edition was distributed on May 18th and it is hoped will be published fortnightly during the crisis. It covers all seven community council areas plus Kyleakin and Kylerhea. This initiative has proven to be immensely popular within the community, especially with older folk who feel quite isolated during this pandemic. 4

NB: LCR did consider setting up a Meals on Wheels service but after undertaking a risk assessment and looking at the health and safety implications decided not to go through with the project. The food needed to be cooked and delivered at a certain temperature and due to a large geographical area, difficult terrain, lack of suitable delivery vehicles and difficulty with estimating demand, it was decided that a better option is to refer people to free frozen meals provided by the Highland Council.

As with many other community anchor organisations KLCT has secured funding for local organisations from the Supporting Communities Fund so they can support their vulnerable members during the outbreak. This includes organisations supporting young people and those who are disabled or with special needs as well as a neighbouring community council which works with a hotel to make and deliver meals to vulnerable people (currently 160 meals per week) in Kyleakin and Kylerhea. The funding also covers volunteer expenses and mileage.

In addition, a new sub-group has been established by members of the community concerned about food securi- ty. Much food is imported from abroad and people are concerned that at some point there will be a shortage. The sub-group is currently focused on local people growing their own food, making links with local food providers, local hotels and restaurants to see how they can work together to make food production and supply more resilient. 5

In terms of the future, the ability to continue these services, if the crisis is prolonged, will be difficult as funding from local / central government and other agencies will run out; organisations delivering COVID-19 related services also have projects they have existing funding for which need to be progressed but have currently put on hold; furloughed staff, that are currently acting as volunteers will need to return to their paid employment, reducing the availability of community support; and organisations that have taken central roles in co-ordinating local efforts may need to spend time, which has currently been diverted, on securing their long-term future. Jo Wawrzyczek, Development Officer for Kyle & Lochalsh Community Trust, says, “The situation is complex and changing quickly. If communities are to continue providing support, they need the necessary resources to do so”.

As Jo explained, KLCT has recently been really successful at obtaining funding for other projects they are working on but a condition of grant is the need to contribute match funding. However, the Trust’s ability to match fund has been impacted by COVID-19 as their income-generating assets have been shut down. As well as working on support services for the community during this time of crisis, it is also necessary for groups to spend time on revisiting their own finances and potentially significantly reprofiling their own projected income and expenditure over the next few years.

Lochalsh Community Response

LOCHALSH’S COMMUNITY RESPONSEwww.communitylandscotland.org.uk TO THE CORONAVIRUS Here to answer any questions you may have and direct you to the relevant support and volunteers. 01599 534 505

[email protected]