COMMUNITY Matters
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COMMUNITY Matters Special Extended Edition Autumn 2020 A newsletter by, with, and for local community members in Woolfords, Auchengray, Tarbrax and surrounding area. Welcome to your new community newsletter. A lot has happened over the past few months, so this new edition has lots of extra information. Our newsletter is for all of us, and we aim to ensure that there’s something of interest for everyone. We welcome your contributions, photographs, ideas, knowledge, skills and input. If there’s anything you’d like to see more (or less) of, please let us know. The last few months has shown that community spirit is alive We’re almost half way through our 2018-2023 5 year action and well in our area, and you can really see this when you read plan (if you would like a copy let us know or you can see it through all the contributions from local volunteers throughout on our website at www.watif.scot). Please let us know what’s this autumn edition. We are delighted to be working in important to you. We’re here to work for you, so please let partnership with the TWA newsletter, to ensure that both us know if you think we’re on the right track, or if you have our community newsletters provide lots of regular and local any ideas on how we can support our community! We also information. A massive thank you to all the volunteers in the have a comments box and poster boards in Woolfords Village area and to all those who contributed to this edition. Hall for all your suggestions, comments and ideas and look forward to your input! www.watif.scot Lockdown (or is it Unlockdown?) Update These are strange times indeed and have been challenging for many of us. As a community, we have pulled together even more than usual and have seen a lovely, heart-warming response from folk living in the area supporting each other throughout the lockdown period. Several new resources have also been developed since the start of the pandemic including:- our community support helpline for friendly phone calls, prescription/shopping pick-ups, and other support needs, the food larder in Woolfords and food benches in Tarbrax and Auchengray, new community veg growing initiatives in Woolfords and Tarbrax, and low-cost sanitiser, free re-usable masks and kids packs distributed. “To Ilka and Jane. Thank you for the kids packs over the summer. My favourite thing is the lego. I drew a picture of rainbow dash. I love her because she is colourful”. Ashton (7 years old) & Jenson (5 years old) from Auchengray. Tarbrax Village Hall It is now 5 months since Tarbrax Village Hall was closed course we now have the community growing raised beds and at the time of writing this, it is unlikely that we’ll be and flower planters in the Hall grounds – these were built re-opening the hall this year. The Covid-19 situation and and maintained by local residents. The community beds available guidance is being kept under review by the Trustees have provided a welcome additional outdoor space to meet and the Hall is being up safely, chat, and grow maintained and indeed food together. improved, ready for when we are able to reopen. There have also been some changes to our We have received a grant committee. Our trustee from South Lanarkshire Eric Williamson is now Council to help tide us Chair of the board and over this difficult period earlier in the summer, with loss of income and we welcomed two new to, as far as possible, put Trustees who live in the Hall in good shape Tarbrax, James and Steph. for reopening. This grant together with a The Trustees look grant from WAT IF? forward to the time when has allowed us to undertake improvements to the Hall it will be safe to welcome you back to Tarbrax Village during this period of closure, when rules and regulations Hall and in the meantime we welcome and will support permitted. This means we have finally completed the new residents to get in touch with suggestions as to how we can meeting room, painted and decorated the interior of the support safe outdoor activities. Hall and corridors, repaired the patch in the floor of the main hall, replaced all external lights with LEDs and of John Tucker Big thanks to Susan, Jim, Fiona, Eric, Tommy, Steph, James, John, Barbara, Louise, Catherine (local volunteers and hall trustees who helped to get the hall back into working order after painting work was completed). Woolfords Village Hall Woolfords Village Hall have kindly agreed to host the food larder, at least until the end of the year. The hall is also a pick up point for community members to pick up books, jigsaws, hand sanitiser, homemade masks and other essential items. There will be a review in 2021, for now however, the hall is not available for hiring. Please find the Woolfords Village Association on Facebook for keeping up to date with hall activities. Contact Wendy Jones at I PAINTED A PHONE BOX! [email protected] “Wat If? very kindly let me attack this after I both volunteered to actually paint it and won the design competition too - I’ll never get over how amazing it was to paint my own design! While it was definitely not easy and required hours of cleaning first, it’s Bowling Club turned out to be one of my favourite bits of art to date. I’ve been so lucky to do this and have enjoyed every Outdoor bowls has just minute of it - from scrubbing it to drawing designs bigger than me to spending my days up a ladder to finished up, and there are finally getting to stand back today and smile at it all. currently no plans to start And a big thank you has to go to everyone who walked indoor bowls, we will update past and had a quick chat with me, it was so lovely to hear everyone’s comments and see how excited you you if there are any changes all were. to this over the next few If you know the area then the sides will hopefully months. make a bit of sense to you, but if not, let me know on the Wat If? hobbies and leisure FB page and I’ll give you a crash course on the history of each village!” Susan Aitken A massive well done to Susan Aitken, for her inspired and talented design on the Woolfords Phone box! Wat If? Shopping, Swapping and Giveaways… As the saying goes, ‘One man’s rubbish, is another man’s treasure’…If you have something you don’t need or want, or are looking for something second hand, join our FB page where you can swap, give away or look for items locally. LOCAL shopping! Social Media We have regular updates on the Wat If? Shopping page on If you’re not online or on social media and want to be, Facebook. If you’re not online and would like a list, please let please let us know. Alternatively, if you would like to list us know if you’d like us to send you a paper copy. something, we can do that for you. The list includes:- takeaways, shops and restaurants nearby. See contacts at end of newsletter. The Food Larder and Food Benches Did you know that • Please ensure any food you leave is in date. If you our community is in spot anything out of date, please remove it. the top 5% of access • Please respect our one at a time, and no mask no deprived communities entry rules at the larder. in Scotland? Did you • We’re working on a plan for winter to make sure know that in Scotland essentials are still available and accessible throughout alone, 600,000 tonnes the winter months. of food goes to waste • We welcome additional volunteer support to make every year? this all happen (see contacts at end of newsletter). Auchengray Food Bench With both these in mind, we are receiving regular food donations to reduce the need for long trips, expensive fuel bills, reducing our carbon footprint and to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill every year. If we were to reduce our food waste by just half, we could save over 27 million square feet in Scottish landfills every year, as well as the average household enjoying over £200 in extra cash annually. The food larder in Woolfords, and the benches in Auchengray and Tarbrax are regularly stocked with essential items “It’s been really great to see how much has been on a ‘take what you need, donate if you can basis’. With happening in the community throughout the lockdown food being one of our most costly monthly expenses, the period. The food bench is being accessed by a few benefit of reducing waste is seen in our wallets as well as people, but I worry that many people don’t know that our environment. By utilising our food larder in Woolfords it’s there. and benches in Auchengray and Tarbrax, the better off our I’m pleased we have a newsletter to reach people who may not be on-line. It’s directly outside the primary pockets and our planet will be. school gates, and it’s for all of us to use. Please have a Community members are also using these facilities to look in when you’re passing, and take what you need.