Annual report 2023

The Care Project has now been in existence for 8 years and we continue to be active in the community, providing support where we can and reacting to circumstances and requests as they arise.
Without funding we would not be able to achieve all the projects that we do, and we must thank trustees Shirley Matheson and Alison Seller for all that they have done in this regard. Alison in particular this past year has been researching sources of funding and making applications.

The projects that we have been involved in this year are the following:

The sharing larder has now been running for almost 3 years and continues to be well used. The larder is restocked daily, and we are very grateful to the volunteers who do this on a rota basis. Storage this year has been in the shed behind St Regulus church and our thanks go to the church for being willing for us to use this facility. However, it would be much easier and less time consuming to have all the storage at the site of the larder and to this end we are hoping to install a shed there but are currently waiting for funding. Fare Share continue to deliver food that is surplus from supermarkets and would otherwise go to landfill.

The funding for the larder is now by way of grants from the North Highland Initiative and the Corra foundation. The funding from Highland Council ceased in June of this year.
Since June 1st 2023 we have spent £ 1229 on the larder.

Thanks go to all the volunteers for restocking the larder and to Maxine and Simon for doing the bulk of the shopping at Bookers.

The volunteers are – Jenny Pyle , Lindy Cameron , Rhona Garratt, Maxine Chapman, Sheila Currie, Alison Seller, Anna Terje, Jill Stoner and Simon Evans.

Jill continues to do some household deliveries depending on what fresh food we have and other items that need to be distributed.

In January 2023 fuel payment of £90 each were awarded to 58 households. The funding came from a grant from CORRA. There is no means testing involved; the grants are advertised to the whole community and people are invited to apply.

The cost-of-living crisis has continued to be an issue this year. A grant from Making a Difference Locally enabled us to purchase and distribute 48 Slow Cookers to help reduce electricity bills. They have been very well received in the community.

The Lunch Club ran last winter from the end of October to March at the Fishertown Inn and was well attended. Our thanks once again go to Ingrid and Pete at the Fishertown Inn for agreeing to run the club on each Monday from the beginning of October until March 18th with a break over Christmas. The club was missed over the summer, and it is hoped that next summer we may be able to provide an alternative venue.The club has been very well attended during this session so far.

We are grateful for the £8000 grant from the Bank of Scotland Foundation for the Lunch Club. We have been able to reduce the amount for those attending to £3.00 each; CCP contributing £10.00 per head. The lunch club is also supported by the Albert Hunt trust and Making a Difference Locally.

The trikes have taken around 50 passengers on trips throughout the year. We have regular requests for trike taxis to the Monday Lunch Club and the Cromarty Classic Film Club. In addition to this the trikes have been in use for community events including the Open Gardens and the Cromar T in the Park Coronation event.

A film about the trikes has been made by Eden Court. This has been viewed 1,300 times on the Cycling Without Age Cromarty Facebook page. A shortened version has been made to be shown at the Cromarty Classic Film Club as a short prior to the feature film.

In Spring, summer and autumn the trikes are stored in The Sheddie at the Victoria Hall. Over the Winter they will be stored in David and Susan Kent’s garage to allow the gritter users easier access to the Sheddie. We are very grateful to both the Victoria Hall and to David and Susan Kent for their support.

We were sorry to lose our trainer Ian Mitchell who moved away from Cromarty. Nigel Shapcott has taken over as trainer. Alasdair Matheson is servicing the trikes regularly. No new trike pilots have been trained up this year, although there are a number of people who are considering undertaking training.

Shirley Matheson is stepping down as a trustee of Cromarty Care Project and the organisation of the Cycling Without Age Trikes project will be handed over to Maxine Chapman.

The TT club is still going on a Monday at 10.30. We had to leave the West Church Hall earlier in the year but have reconvened in the Victoria Hall since August. Thanks to Alan Plampton who was most helpful. Only 2 tables can be accommodated in the VH so 2 are presently in the shed at Barkly House. The numbers vary between 3 and 9 so 2 tables are fine at present.

In the October holidays we were joined by some of the local children for 1 session. Some of the older girls at the Youth Café have also used the tables, which is great. Alan Rycroft is our key holder as he is a very regular attender. Some of the outdoor TT players have returned, so that’s lovely. We should consider re-advertising it soon. Donations by the players cover most of the cost of the hall hire which is £16.50 per week.

The Parent and Toddler group started on the 8th of November last year and has had a great response with people coming from outwith Cromarty, it ran until July in the Cromarty West Church hall and is now currently in the Victoria Hall. The group still have some funds from pre-Covid times, which they use to pay the rental. Parents donate weekly which will help towards the costs.
Classic Film Club Report (Helen Charley)

This was started in 2017 in response to a Health and Loneliness report by NHS Highland. It ran in the administrator’s house for 3 yrs before Covid hit.
It was resurrected in Dec 2021, this time at Cromarty Cinema, on the 2nd Wed of the month at 2.30pm. Since then we have had anything from 10 to 32 people attending. Since Dec 21 there have been 401 attendances at 24 films, giving an average of 17 people at each film. Now, thanks to the grants from Albert Hunt and Bank of Scotland, applied for by the Cromarty Care Project, the Club has increased the films shown per month and have added the 4th Wed of the month for Oct and Nov, then Jan -April.

As ever we are very grateful to the volunteers and staff at the cinema and especially to Alastair Morton our projectionist, Grazyna who checks the films beforehand, and Gail Stuart-Martin who deals with the finance.

We look forward to enjoying more films this winter.

This summer there have been two successful trips on the Caledonian canal with the Seagull Trust. Six people from Cromarty were transported by volunteers to the boat on each occasion for a 2-hour trip with tea and biscuits and a warm welcome by the crew. The trips have been really enjoyed by those that we have taken and hopefully next year we can take more folk out. The Seagull Trust provide the trips for free but each year we have sent them a donation.

Cromarty Primary School turned to us for help with their school trips, the costs of which had risen dramatically. We are delighted to report that, when we approached Global Energy, they immediately responded and have made a very generous donation, meaning that trips can go ahead for P5, P6 and P7 pupils. A total of 25 families will benefit from this much-appreciated assistance to the school and the community.

Over the past 12 months Cromarty Care Project has been supporting home care in Cromarty in a variety of ways. We provided an office for care staff in the West Church Hall until December 2022 when we vacated it due to the possibility of the church being sold sometime in 2023. We have also been advertising for more home care staff.

TopCare is pulling out of the Black Isle as is Highland Home carers and it is of great concern that, unless more staff are recruited, there will be a home care crisis in the second half of December this year.

We wish to thank the following trustees for all that they have done for the Care Project, as they step down: Nigel Shapcott, Shirley Matheson, Brenda Monk, and Fiona Grist. It has been great to have you all on board, bringing your many skills, wisdom, and ideas. Thank you for all that you have contributed.

We welcome Karen Mackay, and Jenny Henderson to the board.

This has been another busy and successful year for Cromarty Care Project in which we have been able to help so many families throughout a difficult year with the cost-of-living crisis.

I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for everything you all do for the community and I would like to think we are on a very good front foot going forward.

Denise McIntosh
Chairperson