We welcomed two new Board Members at our AGM in November 2023, Catherine Young and Donna Fairlie. We would still appreciate more support to ensure that the community centre reaches its full potential. Although many of our regular users have returned to normal after Covid, there are opportunities for more activities and events to happen in the Centre, but we need the support of the community to make this happen. We know that there are a lot of competing demands on people’s time, but if one person from each club or group joined the committee, it would be a huge help going forward.
It was great to see the hall being used for BBC Alba’s Hogmanay celebration at the start of the year. As well as being a boost to the hall’s finances, it was also a great demonstration of the potential of the building – but we can’t do it without your support! Up until Covid, the Community Centre managed to wash its face financially. However, increasing costs, and changes in the way that the building is used, have meant that we have been eating into our financial reserves since 2020. This is obviously not a sustainable position, and while there isn’t any imminent danger, we’d like to be able to turn this around again.
We have successfully applied to The Highland Council for support to upgrade the facilities in the kitchen, in part as a result of the establishment of the lunch club – but also to provide the opportunity for fundraising soup and sandwich events again, which in turn support the Community Centre.
We are also looking into more energy efficiency improvements, to reduce costs and make the building more efficient and comfortable to use.