Ford Village Hall Committee

Ford Village: an ancient community looking to the future

To contact us for enquiries or hall bookings - fordvillagehallargyll@gmail.com

BREAKING NEWS!!!

6th December

Ford's Lords  Night

Come for some early festive fun and pomposity at the Hall's pop-up pub night. Traditional pub games, licensed bar and music.

Community Wood Project Update

The Ford Village Hall Committee has received significant funding from the Scottish Land Fund to support their efforts to purchase land put up for sale by Torran Hostel. This would bring 50+ acres of land alongside Loch Awe into community ownership and provide safe access to a community woodland and the Loch for the residents of Ford and visitors to the area. We are awaiting the vendor's response to our offer of the asking price.

Update: MSP Jenni Minto visited the Hall on Saturday, 22nd November to discuss the future plans for the community wood and lend her support for this "generational project".

Major Breakthrough In Funding For Village Hall Renovation!

£100,000 in funding secured.

In the last two weeks, the Ford Village Hall Committee have successfully applied for and received funding to complete Stage 2 of the renovation project as highlighted in the current Community Action Plan. As you may remember, the first stage was to clean and redecorate the Hall so that it could be used again for village events. This was completed in the summer of 2024. The next stage was the modernisation and decarbonisation of the Hall's energy and heating system. We can now announce that funding has been secured to complete this important next step in safeguarding the future of the Hall. Almost £ 100,000 has been secured from CLLD, Local Energy Scotland (CAREs) and Foundation Scotland.

The next stage will be completed using the local business, Crawfords. It will include the installation of two air-to-water heat pumps and associated equipment, internal insulation throughout the hall, both in the walls and roof space, and associated electrical work. This work, when completed, will provide the hall with greener, cheaper heating that only heats the hall, not the wider Ford environment. It will further modernise the electrical system in the hall and provide instant hot water in the kitchen and bathrooms. This will inevitably lead to the closure of the hall whilst these works are undertaken. Details regarding this will be published after a meeting with contractors this week.

A special page will be added to this website, which will track the renovation project so the Ford community can follow the exciting work.

Ford Village Local Place Plan:

This document contains 5 proposals that the FVHC would like  Argyll and Bute Council to include in their Local Place Plan 3. The proposals are based on the current village Community Action Plan and also future projects which may require planning permission.

You can find the Ford LPP here.

For more general information on what an LPP is, click on this link

The Local Place Plan is now with Argyll and Bute Planning Department for assessment.

Lego Club

The Lego Club for kids has its third get-together on June 8th.  CANCELLED!

With thanks to the above & more for the initial funding that has allowed us to complete stage 1 repairs to the Hall!

To find out more about the repairs and the next stages, read our latest newsletter online.

https://www.argyllcommunitylottery.co.uk/support/ford-village-hall-and-community-project

Click on this link to purchase lottery tickets that will support Ford Village Hall and other Argyll good causes.

_{Research has shown that when an individual contributes to their community their physical and mental health improves as well as their social wellbeing. Community decision making processes are most effective when individuals get involved. As a result their environments in the widest sense improve as well.}

_{Many of the photographs of Ford and its locality on this website have been taken by Aileen Gillies - https://www.aileengilliesphotography.co.uk/}

_{Ford Village Hall Committee fully supports the Fair Work First Commitment. In seeking contractors to provide services to the Hall, we will give priority to those who can demonstrate that they pay their employees a living wage, regardless of gender, are committed to providing their employees with a workplace voice, skills training, and avoid restrictive and unfair workforce practices such as zero hour contracts.}