LIDDESDALE PARISH CHURCH June 2020 The Parish of Newcastleton is situation on the - border, the epicenter of the new ‘Borderlands’; the new cross border region made up of the counties of Cumbria, Northumberland and on the English side and Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Our location Borders on the Scottish side. This new region coupled with the creation of the new south of Scotland Enterprise agency, recognises the unique nuances of the south of Scotland and its people. Both national governments recognise our ‘patch’ as needing extra support and investment to deliver sustainable outcomes for its communities. Their creation recognises that those living in rural places like ours have different needs to their urban counterparts. Our community has a huge heart, is passionate and resilient, we work collaboratively to get things done regardless of what may divide us as Approach to life individuals. It is community spirit in all its senses that holds us together at times of crisis. – a place strategy We have fought many battles in our past and continue to fight today for the things we believe in, we love where we live, working together at being an inclusive place where no one is left behind. Our role Newcastleton Parish Church and its members play an active role in supporting the parish; under the leadership of Newcastleton & District Community Trust the community has developed a ‘place’ strategy plan to overcome the challenges we face; we are all actively working to raise Newcastleton’s profile ensuring decision makers are aware of our challenges. This is particularly relevant today as we have had to cope with a double whammy which knocked us sideways; Storms Ciara and Dennis left their mark in February 2020 damaging 108 homes and facilities, cutting us off for weeks without communications and little support. It is the resilience of the whole community pulling together that got us through, but this is by no means resolved. We still have much to do to rebuild once people have returned to their homes in terms of heart and soul. The church will continue to play a significant role in supporting them through pastoral care and by doing whatever we can to help with community support alongside the Community Trust and village groups. Just as we were emerging with a ‘rebuild’ plan the Covid-19 pandemic hit us removing access to people and places we rely on for companionship and solace due to social distancing and shielding measures. But, as only we can, a whole new troop of resilience support emerged with many younger volunteers stepping up helping deliver the frontline needs of the community. The church played its part too, creating weekly reflection with hymns and bible readings available online on church Covid-19 website, regular contact with parishioners via social media, telephone calls & printed newsletters The Presbytery of Annandale & Eskdale and many of its churches have been tremendously supportive of the village with many of its churches still raising funds for the villagers affected by the floods and many having to lock down away from their own home due to the virus Our future

Newcastleton village is home to 762 residents who live within its environs, another 120 live in the wider valley. We are also known as Copshaw Holm, named after the homesteads on which the village is built; two crofting farms were leased from the landowner the Duke of Buccleuch. In 1792 he decided to ‘clear’ the hill of homesteaders to create a grouse moor and the Holm Hill Estate was created adjacent to the Tarras-Water Estate. This land, some 25,000 acres is now commonly known as Moor a place of peace and serenity which divides us from our nearest neighbours 10 miles away. The community spent much of 2019/20 working together to decide if we should buy the land so we could expand our boundaries and seek inward investment to create local employment spreading wealth to sustain the community going forward. The community, with the financial support of the Scottish Land fund (£850k) is now able to commence this negotiation. Once concluded community ownership will allow us, for the first time in our history, the chance to decide our own future and for the whole community to benefit from the lands that surround us. Liddesdale Parish church and parishioners are very much looking forward to continuing to work with community groups to bring this enormous challenge to bear fruit. It will be a whole new era for the community and a chance to build a lasting legacy for our children and their children. The church is located in the heart of the village with ample street parking. Newcastleton has many facilities; primary school, medical centre, butcher, baker, corner grocery shop, spar including a post office, hardware, antiquities, bank, garage and community owned fuel pumps. For leisure we are lucky enough to have two hotels both with restaurants and a pub, two further cafés, astro-courts for tennis and ball games as well as a small gym, golf club, bowling green. All these leisure facilities are now owned by the Community Trust but independently operated by the committees that managed them day to day with huge volunteer support. We hope to grow and develop many of these facilities now they and local lands are in community ownership. Commercially our largest employers are RockUK Outdoor Activity Centre and Telfords Coaches. Liddesdale Both hit extremely hard during this current crisis and we pray they come out unscathed, many Parish livelihoods depend on them. Around 25% of our working population are self-employed, we have many micro businesses and small trades, these are dependent on a buoyant local economy which relies heavily on tourism, forestry , transport and health as its main employment sectors. Grant funding has been awarded enabling the community to upgrade an underutilised building, modernising this to become the new community enterprise & learning centre, sustained by a 14 -bed bunkhouse and community enterprise laundry. This is a major capital investment and once completed will provide a modern, warm and inviting space to deliver outreach learning to children/further education, spaces for reading and quiet areas where people can take time for themselves. This investment will allow us to truly put back a beating heart in the centre of our village. Our visitors The village is a popular destination for walkers, fishermen and mountain bikers; Newcastleton is one of the 7stanes destinations that make up the world-renowned South of Scotland premier mountain bike network. This attraction, plus our wide natural asset base and local environment attracts many visitors throughout the year. Fortunately, we do not suffer too many peaks and troughs as we also benefit from extremely dark skies. The world-famous Kielder Observatory is just 30 miles away across the Northumberland border. As a community, we expect to ‘ride the tide’ post Covid and flood with much to look forward to as our biggest assets continue to be our people, our environment and now our rurality which we all value even higher now Covid-19 is amongst us. We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful part of southern Scotland. The Manse & Worship

The manse is a large family home stone-built double fronted house with 4 bedrooms, 2 receptions, study, kitchen/breakfast room, bathroom and two cloakrooms. It sits behind the church and has a large gardens and off-road parking. Photos here Sunday morning worship is at 10am with a midweek short service on Wednesdays at 10am. Occasional Sunday evening Songs of Praise Service. A traditional service is given with occasional café style sessions, regularly hosted community gatherings; commemorations and memorials. Church roll number is 133, Sunday congregation is regularly 30+ Elders (6) with an experienced elder available to undertake funeral services when required. Her local knowledge has been a powerful factor in enabling us to administer Gods work in the absence of a regular Minister. The community have come to rely on her dedication to the task when she is asked to perform and many praise her level of commitment to the subject matters she has had to cover in the recent past. We plan to host services coming together as a community post our recent traumatic experiences and expect these to be well attended as many have asked for guidance during these troubling times.