This year, for the first time, you will need to show approved Photo ID to vote in the Elections on 4th July. This can be a Passport or Driving Licence. But what will you do if you don’t have these documents?

Katie (our Health & Wellbeing Officer) will be available at Digital Buddies for the next 4 weeks to help those who need to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate because they do not have approved Photo ID. You will need to bring along your National Insurance number. Katie can then take a digital photo of you and help you through the online application process.

Moniaive Initiative are pleased to announce that we have been granted £54,366 by the National Lottery Community Led Fund, in support of our three year “Connecting Glencairn” project.  The funds will be used to cover staff costs to enable us to provide a range of activities to tackle social isolation and economic disadvantage and to improve community health and wellbeing. 

From left: Julian (Hive Volunteer & Retail Coordinator), Innes (Trustee), Shirley, Heather, Jacqui (Volunteers), Deborah (Project Coordinator), Karen (Trustee), Anne and Maxine (Volunteers).

Much of Moniaive Initiative’s work is carried out through our community Shop and hub.  This grant will enable Julian, our Volunteer & Retail Coordinator to work three days a week supporting our volunteers at the Hive.  His position is also part-funded by income from the charity shop.

Katie, our Health & Wellbeing Officer, already runs a successful monthly Repair Café, alongside Arty Crafty @ The Hive, Digital Buddies, and a popular table tennis club, all currently funded by Dumfries & Galloway Third Sector Community Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund.  The National Lottery grant will enable her to expand her recent work on our newly created Community Garden, which aims to encourage and facilitate local food growing and healthy eating.  Katie says: “Everyone is really excited about our new garden, and how it is transforming the old Picnic Area into a great space in which to meet, grow food and enjoy being outside.”

Deborah, our Project Coordinator, supports The Hive and Health & Wellbeing elements of our project and will also be working on sustainable transport and community land access.  Her post is also part-funded this year by the Glencairn Community Council Windfarm Fund.

Moniaive Initiative’s Vice Chair, Kate Craig, says of the grant award: “By granting us multi-year funding, the National Lottery provides us with the security to continue working for another three years on projects identified by our community as important to them. We will use this money to progress projects that help to connect the residents of Glencairn.”

Have you seen our progress in the new Community Garden?

Volunteers have been busy creating a new Community Garden in the Picnic Site at the Village Car Park since the start of the year. A donated shed has been moved into place and re-roofed and refurbished. Pallets have been turned into a Compost area. Donated baths and other large containers have been boxed-in to create raised beds. And the Community Payback Team have constructed three new timber raised beds.

We held our first Planting Day at the start of May and used donated plants and seeds to start filling our raised beds. There is still plenty to do, and we will be holding more work parties and events in the new garden over the coming weeks.

On Friday 19th April 2024 we shall be supporting the Glencairn Land & Woods Trust with their Film Night at St Ninian’s in Moniaive (-full details below).

The film TALIESIN documents the first 20 years of a community woodland near the Solway shore in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The transformation of the land after 20 years of careful stewardship is remarkable, a rewilding in miniature, but it goes hand in hand with the story of the people.

Alyne Jones explains: “Over the years, Ed [Iglehart] and I documented our camps , the crafts we learned, the coffins and boats we built, and the endless enjoyment of all ages being in the woods. We started collecting and organising our footage four years ago in preparation for a professionally-made film. The film includes some early footage of very young trustees and the iconic tipi images which marked our early days, interspersed with reflections from the elders and the new generation, who have taken over running the organisation, and lots of children having fun. What is remarkable is the change in 20 years, from a bleak, almost barren 23-acre site, bordered by plantation forestry, into a jewel of biodiversity.”

Following the film, there will be refreshments, demonstrations and an opportunity for discussion. Moniaive Initiative will be there to discuss all aspects of community land access, so please do join us and share your thoughts and ideas.

We will be supporting the Glencairn Land & Woods Trust with their Tree Planting on Sunday 17th March. We will meet by Moniaive Primary School and walk from there round to the planting site by Cairn Pool. Please do come along and plant a tree – everyone is welcome, but children must be supervised, and due to lambing we’re not able to accept dogs on this work party, thanks.

Are you interested in fermenting food? This workshop will give you an introduction to the process and is ideal for beginners. All the details are below, but please note that BOOKING is essential!

Starting this week at The Hive, we are introducing a Digital Buddies session to help you with all things technical and internet. You don’t need an appointment, just drop in and have a chat. If you need help with a smartphone, tablet or laptop, please bring that along.

Thanks to those who joined us for the Paths Event in February.

We started the day by offering a “Wax your Walking Boots” session at the Repair Cafe, followed by a warming lunch of Soup and a Roll, before heading out for an early afternoon walk.

Our walk took us out of the Glencairn Memorial Institute and along Chapel Street to the the Waulkmill Bridge. From there we cut through fields and along the river bank to Blackstone Bridge, before re-joining the river bank to walk along to Holmhead. We crossed the fields to re-join the ‘back road’ beside Blackstone Cottage, returning into Moniaive via Blackstone Bridge and the river bank back to Waulkmill bridge. It was a lovely (almost circular) walk taking in fields, narrow river banks, fields and roads, and giving us views of beautiful swathes of snowdrops along the river, and red kites over the fields.

Finally, it was back to the Glencairn Memorial Institute for a presentation by Luke Phillips from the Ramblers, who explained all about their Paths Mapping Project, and how communities like ours can get involved.

If you missed the Presentation, it is available to view now as a short video on our N76 page (under the PROJECTS tab).

Thanks to Rosie from CES, Luke from the Ramblers, and Katie (our Glencairn Health & Wellbeing Project Officer) for all their help with this event!

This month our Repair Cafe will be joining in with our ‘Walking’ event. 

We will be offering a free WAX YOUR WALKING BOOTS session, to get that footwear ready to head out on an afternoon walk. Oh, and did we mention, our ‘Fixers’ are happy to take a look at your walking poles too!

We’re hoping lots of you will join us after lunch for a gentle stroll through the fields and riverbanks around Moniaive, before returning to the Memorial Institute to listen to Luke from the Ramblers telling us all about their Scottish Path Mapping project.