CEDAR Community Newsletter March – April

CEDAR NEWS

HELLO AND WELCOME TO CEDAR NEWSLETTER!

CEDAR continues to grow and mature as a community organisation and the year ahead marks an important milestone with the submission of our first annual return to OSCR, the Scottish Charity Regulator. While that may sound like a formal administrative step, it represents something much bigger. It
shows how far CEDAR has come in a relatively short time, and reflects the fact that the organisation is becoming more established, more active and more Involved in practical projects that benefit the local community.
A great deal of work now takes place behind the scens across a wide range of activities. This includes the day-to-day management of Crawford Village Hall, progressing the hall feasibility study, exploring community ownership of Crawford Clinic, developing the community transport project and administering the local microgrant scheme. CEDAR is also supporting a
range of local activities and groups including Tea on a Tuesday, the Book Fairs, IT sessions,Easy Movers and Toddlers.
At the same time, early discussions are taking place in relation to the Muirhall Energy Project and how this may be able to support local residents in the future.
All of this reflects an organisation that is growing in confidence, building experience and taking on more responsibility on behalf of the community. CEDAR remains focused on practical local benefits and on helping support the services, facilities and activities that matter to people in Crawford, Elvanfoot and the surrounding areas.

COMMUNITY BACKS KEY PROPOSALS IN LOCAL CONSULTATION

CEDAR would like to thank everyone who took the time to take part in the recent community consultation. The response was greatly appreciated and it was encouraging to see so many people sharing their views on issues that will help shape the future of local services and facilities.
The response showed very strong support for all three proposals put forward in the consultation. These were closing the funding gap for the hall feasibility study, exploring whether Crawford Clinic should be included in that work, and looking again at Community Action Officer funding.
That strong backing from the community is important. It gives CEDAR a clear mandate to move forward and means progress can now be made on the fesability study with Community Enterprise.
This next stage of work will be a major opportunity to look carefully at the long term future of Crawford village hall and to consider how it can best meet community needs over the next 10, 15 and 20 years. It will help build a clearer picture of what the hall could and should look like in future and how it can continue to serve the community well.

COMMUNITY TRANSPORT MOVES A STEP CLOSER

Good progress continues to be made on the Community Transport
Project with the scheme now moving a step closer to launch.
A shortlist of vehicles has now been drawn up and planning work is well
advanced.

This is an exciting stage for the project which is aimed at improving local transport options and helping people make important journeys that can be difficult in rural areas. A lot of work has taken place behind the scenes to get the project to this point and CEDAR is hopeful that the scheme will soon become a practical new service for the area.
As plans develop, CEDAR is also keen to hear from anyone who may be
intertested in becoming a volunteer driver. Volunteer drivers will play an
important part in making the service work for the community and support
and training will be provided including MIDAS and first aid training where
required.
This project has the potential to make a real difference to local people and it
is encouraging to see it moving closer to becoming a reality. Anyone
interested in finding out more about becoming a volunteer driver is warmly invited to get in touch.

CEDAR NEWSLETTER

Our Newsletter appears to be doing well! It began as a vehicle to keep everyone up to date with the work of CEDAR but has grown to include other community news and other non-CEDAR contributors. There have been very positive comments and feedback, we have even been paid to include an article!
Along side this there have been very positive suggestions about how it might improve further. If you have any ideas which you haven’t yet voiced please get in touch. Remember, anyone can contribute as a single person or on behalf of a group, we will do our best to include you! Watch this space to see where we go next!

TEA ON TUESDAY AND VASLAN

ToT would like to thank VASLAN for their grant which has paid for all our hall lets this previous year and has contributed to our ingredients too. We are fortunate enough to have their support this coming year too and have been awarded the same grants! This will enable us to run a weekly event where the community can come together in the village hall and enjoy a cuppa and some home baking for a small donation.

Sometimes this is the only point in the week when people can meet up with others so enabling us as a group to continue to provide this activity is essential in preventing social isolation.

SPRING FAYRE

Join us for our Spring Fayre! We are holding an Open Day in Crawford Village Hall in April. Keep your eye on our website, Facebook Page and Local Noticeboards for further details and updates.

SELF HIRE OF CRAWFORD VILLAGE HALL

Remember that the Village Hall Is available for Private Hire so if you have a celebration coming up, why not hold it locally? Get full details here.

OTHER COMMUNITY NEWS

Muirhall Energy – Priestgill Wind Farm and Grid connection.

Please find below information which affects our areas –