Inside this issue

Buchan in Bloom

BDP - How can we help

Events in Aden Country Park

Ardallie FC

Shell Small Grants

Community Shares Scotland

Sunrise Partnership

Volunteers Always Wanted

FCC Scottish Action Fund

Beyond the Usual Suspects

Aberdeenshire Third Sector

Support Group

Mintlaw Men’s Shed

Production of the

Buchan Bulletin is

kindly sponsored by

Shell UK Ltd

Well what a busy year 2019 has been for Buchan

Development Partnership and 2020 looks like it will be

just as busy.

In addition to our work supporting groups, BDP and

has worked with partners on local initiatives aimed at

tackling child poverty and rural transport issues.

Looking forward to next year’s challenges, we are

committed to continuing this worthwhile work, helping

to make life a little bit easier for those who are, often

through no fault of their own, struggling to make ends

meet.

After 34 years with the council, Buchan Area

Manager Chris White is retiring. We’d like to take this

opportunity to wish Chris all the best and thank him for

his unwavering support and encouragement.

Our Spring Forum will be held on 5 March 2020, venue

to be arranged. Paul Anderson - Community

Outreach Manager with the Scottish Parliament will

be our guest.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New

Year.

Diane, Leona & Alison

BUCHAN

BULLETIN

Issue 75

December 2019,

January, February

and March 2020

2

Buchan In Bloom

This year’s Buchan in Bloom was a nail

biting experience for many of the villages

that entered the competition.

A total of 17 villages entered the annual

competition which was judged by

representatives from Aden Allotments

and Buchan Development Partnership.

Stuartfield has dominated the

competition for more than 10 years,

impressing judges with their beautiful

displays throughout the village, however

the winners of the coveted title this year

were New Leeds who wowed the judges

with their quirky village romance themed

displays and beautiful blooms.

Stuartfield were awarded second place,

Hatton placed third and Old Deer were

presented with the prize for the most

improved village.

New Leeds were also awarded the

Aberdeenshire Council award for

biodiversity and were presented with a

bench for the village.

Following the competition, Lorna Boyle,

chairperson of Kininmonth and New

Leeds Community Group, explained that

the group decided to get involved with

volunteering in the village to promote

community spirit, enhance the aesthetics

of the village and to enter the Buchan in

Bloom Competition, she said: “The group

gained a great deal from the

experience, as it brought the community

together.

Everyone wanted to help and they

enjoyed getting involved and feeling

part of a team. The children especially

enjoyed it. Everyone enjoyed seeing the

village look so pretty and the icing on the

cake was winning the Buchan in Bloom

competition. Many people benefited

from getting involved. Many retired

villagers were involved and were always

keen to help. Dog walkers were stopped

in their tracks often to move a planter or

3

help to lift something. They used to joke

that they weren’t safe to walk the streets

now without getting roped in to do

something. You could tell they enjoyed it

hough and were proud to be involved.

Even a resident who was receiving

cancer treatments said how being

involved with us wifies and our flowers

helped him take his mind off his illness. He

felt having the village to focus on was a

huge benefit to him. It was a real team

effort and everyone has benefited from

seeing the village looking good and

enjoyed the banter associated with the

work entailed.”

Lorna says the residents had such a

fantastic experience preparing for the

competition and highly recommends

others take part, she added: “We would

definitely recommend other villages to

get involved and embrace the

opportunity to enter the Buchan in Bloom

competition. It certainly changed the

way we live our lives in New Leeds.

People left their homes to walk round

and see what was going on. We saw

each other, we spoke to each other.

Meaningful friendships have been made

and the whole village got behind the

competition and everyone has been

thrilled to have won first prize.

People from other villages have visited us

and have shared a lot of banter

between us. It is a fantastic competition

for bringing communities together.”

Buchan In Bloom

Any not for profit community

organisation based in Buchan can

apply to join Buchan Development

Partnership (BDP) and benefit from

the support services we offer.

Individuals who share our aims are

also welcome to apply to become

members.

Membership is free, so what are you

waiting for? Get in touch for more

information or to request a

membership application form. Simply

email us at info@bdp.scot

BDP can offer support with a range of

issues including:

* Governance and Structure

* Applying for Charity Status

* Sourcing funding

*Advice on completing applications

* Research and Consultation

* Independent Examination of your

Charity Account (for a small fee)

* Project development advice

We also have a bank of equipment

(funded by Shell UK Ltd) that

community groups can borrow free

of charge including:

* Projector and Screen

* Microphones and mike stands

* Wireless Headset Systems

* Wireless lapel Microphone

* Portable PA System

An important part of our role is

keeping groups informed and

connected through Facebook, the

Buchan Bulletin and our Quarterly

forums.

All our members receive a copy of

the bulletin. We also circulate it

throughout Buchan in libraries and

local shops. If you want copies to

distribute in your area, or would like to

place an article or advert in the

bulletin please get in touch with any

member of the team.

Our forums are a great way to find

out really useful information from

interesting presenters, and are an

excellent opportunity to network with

other community minded people

over a cup of tea and a fine piece.

Recent forums covered topics on

Tackling Poverty and Inequalities,

Insurance Essentials for Community

Groups, Developer Obligations and

energy saving advice from Resource

Efficient Scotland. Copies of some of

the presentations are available on

request. Either ring on 01771 613584

or email info@bdp.scot

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BDP - How can we help?

5

The Friends of Aden will host their

popular Christmas Fayre in the

polytunnels on Sunday 1 December

from 11am - 3.30pm. Pop along and

have a browse around the many

stalls selling gift ideas, homeware,

jewellery, food and more. Santa will

also be taking some time out of his

busy schedule to attend.

A good Christmas film is always

guaranteed get you into the festive

spirit, so BDP will be screening Elf on

Sunday 8 December in the theatre.

Tickets can be booked online at

www.neatshows.co.uk

Now is a good time to start planning

for the Spring so we’d love for you to

start collecting seeds for Seedy

Sunday which will take place on

Sunday 15 March. For those of you

who have never been to the event,

Seedy Sunday is a fantastic

gardening, food and drink festival

held in the polytunnels. The festival

features stalls selling local produce,

environmental agencies providing

free information, local gardeners

sharing tips and advice, and various

cooking demonstrations throughout

the day. There will also be an

opportunity to pick up some free

seeds from our seed swop station.

BDP will be, once again, holding the

Easter Eggstravaganza event in 2020.

This excellent event will take place on

Sunday 12 April. Times and tickets will

be announced at a later date on

Facebook.

We are excited to announce that we

are working with a number of groups

from Mintlaw to organise a

celebration in the park to mark VE

day on May 8 2020.

The day will be an opportunity to

reflect on the joy felt that day by all

the people who lived through the

worst of times, and also to remember

those who fought for our country.

The event will feature live music,

family games and picnics as well as

an opportunity to mark the occasion

and pay respect.

BDP events are always lots of fun to

volunteer at and volunteers are

always treated to something to eat

on the day. If you would like to help

us with any events at Aden, please

get in touch as we rely on volunteers

to ensure the smooth running of

events. For information on any of

these events please visit the Aden

Country Park Facebook page.

Events in Aden Country Park

After 5 years, Ardallie football team

had their first home match on 31

March 2019.

Following damage to its drainage,

the pitch flooded and fell into

disrepair. After repairs were carried

out in April 2018, the hard work

started to raise the funds needed to

reseed the pitch, extend the car park

and erect new fencing. Chair John

Finnie describes his project below.

We have our own grounds, an

excellent Pavilion built in 2013 and a

very small car park. Our group has

been in existence since 1952, and the

team has played in the North East

Welfare league every year without

missing a season, so we are delighted

to play on our own grounds again.

In recent years, our local school,

Church and Pub have all closed, so

the pavilion and pitch were the only

community facilities left in our area,

so we were keen to preserve them for

future generations.

Raising money for the works was not

easy, but we were determined to do

it. We completed lots of applications

for funding, and we had a few “No’s”

along the way.

After over a year of completing

applications, the total project cost of

£15,129 was raised through grants

from Buchan Area Committee, Shell

Small Grants, Ellon Rotary, Baxter

Foundation, and the National Lottery

Awards for All. In addition to this Ian

Mackie and Jackie Cameron’s

contributions to the project were

much appreciated.

Once the work was completed, we

wanted to have a special Official

Opening day to thank the funders for

supporting our project and everyone

else for their hard work. So, on June

16th we had a friendly match

between the existing team and

former players. The match was

officially opened by ex-Scotland

Manager , Craig Brown who

entertained everyone with his

anecdotes. The match ended with a

surprise 8 – 5 victory to the older guys.

BDP were delighted to support this

project and wish Ardallie Football

Club all the best with their fantastic

new facility.

6

Ardallie Football Club

7

Shell UK Limited has strong ties with

the communities who live close to

their sites. They support the

communities near to their UK

operations in a number of ways

including providing small grants of up

to £750 for activities that meet

community needs or address

particular issues.

The scheme is open to any

constituted community groups and

community-run organisations in the

Buchan area.

Consideration will be given to any

project that can clearly demonstrate

it will improve the quality of life of

local people, will be of long term

benefit and has wide community

support. Preference will be given to

projects where no other source of

funding is available.

Applications from individuals, from

groups not run by volunteers and for

transport costs will not be considered

under the grant scheme.

The grants can fund activities such as

Start-up costs for a new group,

equipment, training for group

members, encouraging active

participation in your community and

improvements to Communi ty

Facilities.

Over the years 251 Buchan based

groups have benefited from a total of

£190,000 worth of funding towards a

wide range of projects. including

* start up costs

*sports projects

*hall/building improvements,

*the purchase of safety equipment,

*noticeboards

*creating garden spaces.

There are four rounds of funding

throughout the year with deadlines of

mid February, May, August and

November. Groups can only submit

one application per year.

Application forms are available from

Buchan Development Partnership on

info@bdp.scot or call 01771 613584.

Shell Small Grants

8

What are Community shares?

Community Shares can be a great

way for the people in a community to

invest in what matters to them. Since

2009, almost 100,000 people have

invested over £100m in community

shares to support 350 community

businesses throughout the UK

including: pubs, shops, community

buildings, harbours, renewable

energy initiatives, sports and

recreation projects and arts, cultural

and heritage.

Community members buy shares in

enterprises providing goods and

services that meet their community’s

needs. In turn, the enterprise is owned

and managed the by the

community.

Case Study - Port Patrick harbour

The harbour was at risk of being left to

rot, but villagers saved it by raising

£350,000 to buy it. £125,000 of this

was raised through Community

Shares.

With Community Shares Scotland

(CSS) guidance, the local community

advertised the opportunity to buy

shares to tourists and locals alike. In

just three weeks, 554 shareholders,

buying shares for a minimum of £25

each, had raised enough money to

save the harbour.

Can any social enterprise offer

community shares?

Only Community Benefit Societies

(CBS) or Cooperative Society’s can

offer community shares, because

these structures enable genuine

community ownership.

Community Benefit Society’s exist to

benefit the wider and collective

interests of its community, with the

profits reinvested back into the

enterprise itself or into the local

community. For social enterprises it

provides a source of long-term

patient risk capital which helps

attract other forms of finance (grant,

donations and debt) giving the

Community Shares Scotland

9

enterprise a good chance of viability

and sustainability.

What is in it for investors?

Community shares don’t offer the

prospect of capital gain. There is a

limit on the interest paid on share

capital, based on the principle that

interest should be no more than is

sufficient to attract investment. So,

investors will be people who share

interests with the underlying purpose

of the society.

Each shareholder only has one vote,

no matter how many shares they buy.

This key difference from other kinds of

ownership structures prevents large

investors from taking over. The share

capital can’t be transferred between

people, but shareholders can

withdraw their share capital (subject

to terms and conditions that protect

the society’s financial security).

About Community Shares Scotland

This programme is funded by the

National Lottery Community Fund

Sco t l and and the Sco t t i s h

Government. It is delivered by the

Development Trusts Association

Scotland, affording access to a

strong network of community

organisations Scotland-wide.

They offer hands on support to guide

communities through every step of

the share offer process, and the

Edinburgh-based team would be

delighted to chat to you if you are

interested in learning more.

Eligible organisations can also access

funded consultancy to help develop

their business plan and share offer,

and a grant to help promote their

share offer within their community.

More information on the free support

available to enterprises and investors

c a n b e f o u n d h e r e :

www.scotland.communityshares.org.

uk/support

Community Shares Scotland is run on

a day-to-day basis by James Proctor

(Programme Manager) and Toby

S a n d i s o n ( P r o g r a mm e &

Communications Officer).

Contact them on 0131 220 377.

Community Shares Scotland

10

Sunrise Partnership, a local charity

providing free, confidential support to

children and young people who

have been affected by loss and

bereavement, were delighted to win

the best “Small Organisation of the

Year” Award at the recent Celebrate

Aberdeen Awards 2019.

Loss and bereavement can impact

on children and young people both

emotionally and physically, and our

aim is to help them to deal with this in

a healthy and positive way, by

helping them understand what has

happened and to find coping

strategies that work for them.

Our support is tailored for each child

and can be offered on a one-to-one

or group basis. We do not operate a

waiting list and children are seen very

soon after referral. Support is not time

limited and continues for as long as it

is required. Children can be seen in

school, at home, or within a local

community setting. We provide

support to children and young peo-

ple up to age 18 across the whole of

Aberdeenshire as well as Aberdeen

city.

Someone who has benefitted from

our service have told us:

“I didn’t think I would ever be able to

talk openly to anyone about my grief.

It just seemed far too difficult and felt

easier to hide it. I did feel quite

nervous when I first started getting

support from Sunrise and I wasn’t sure

that it was for me. Now I look

forward to meeting up with my

support worker and talking about my

mum and dad. She doesn’t push me

to say or do anything, she’s just there

to listen when I do want to talk. I’ve

made some really lovely craft things

to keep, in memory of my parents.

The Grief Journal has been by far the

best thing to help me speak about

my grief and my feelings. I will

always miss my mum and dad, but I

am learning to cope with things

better now and I can see a future for

myself”.

For further information or to receive

support, please contact:

Sandra Baxter, Area Manager –

Aberdeenshire. Tel: 07539 186 669.

Email: shire@sunrisepartnership.org

Sunrise Partnership

11

BDP works with so many wonderfully

inspiring groups who are running

public facilities, creating new

opportunities in the area and building

resilient communities.

These groups are run by volunteers

who have worked tirelessly to

complete funding applications,

source information, learn new skills,

attend meetings and project

manage - all in their spare time.

Volunteers really are a credit to

themselves and the communities they

work in and we’d be lost without

them. Volunteers do these selfless

acts of kindness to make their

communities a better place for

everyone to live in. They don’t

necessarily have the time but they

have the heart and drive to do it and

they realise that if they don’t step up

these invaluable facilities and

opportunities could be lost for future

generations.

Unfortunately though volunteers are

in short supply and many volunteers

who attend our forums sign in to the

meetings representing more than 2

groups.

This year BDP are looking to recruit

new volunteers to help deliver events

in Aden and projects in Buchan.

Volunteering is one of the most

rewarding things you can do and

often leads to new friendships,

gaining confidence, achieving new

skills and developing existing ones to

name but a few benefits.

Many of the volunteers we work with

are

retired and come with a wealth of

knowledge, experience, ideas and

skills however we are keen to

encourage younger members of the

community to get on board, share

the workload, offer additional skills

and enthusiasm and have their

voices heard.

Find our more by calling BDP on 01771

613584.

Volunteers Always Wanted

12

The FCC Scottish Action Fund

provides grants of between £2,000

and £40,000 to not-for-profi t

organisations for the following types

of projects eligible under Scottish

Landfill Communities Fund (SLCF).

Land Reclamation (Object A)

The reclamation, remediation,

restoration or other operation on land

to facilitate economic, social or

environmental use.

Community Recycling (Object B)

Community based recycling, re-use

and waste prevention projects.

Public Amenities and Parks (Object

C)

To provide, maintain or improve a

public park or other public amenity.

Biodiversity (Object D)

The conservation or promotion of

biological diversity through the

provision, conservation, restoration or

enhancement of a natural habitat or

the maintenance or recovery of a

species in its natural habitat.

Historic Buildings (Object E)

The maintenance, repai r or

restoration of a building, other

structure or a site of archaeological

interest which is a place of religious

worship, or a site of historic or

architectural or archaeological

interest and is open to the public.

All grants require applicants to secure

a contributing third party (CTP)

payment. This is a very specific

payment required to be paid to the

landfill operator and should not be

confused with match funding.

Who can you apply to? - The Register

of Approved Bodies lists all the

organisations authorised to distribute

SLCF funds to projects that meet

funding criteria. Projects can apply to

any of the currently Approved Bodies

regardless of location and can apply

to any number of Approved Bodies,

but can only accept funding for a

project or particular phase of a

project from one Approved Body.

Different Approved Bodies can fund

separate phases of the same project.

www.sepa.org.uk/media/219234/

register-of-approved-bodies.pdf

Case Study – Buchanhaven Junior

Football Club Spectator Railings

Buchanhaven Junior Football club

replaced their 30-year-old steel

spectator barriers and gates for new

galvanised ones.

FCC Scottish Action Fund

13

In order to play in the Junior football

league, there had to be appropriate

pitch perimeter protection. The

existing steel barrier, erected in 1996,

was in very poor repair due to salt air

corrosion. Despite numerous attempts

to repair it over the years, it was in a

state of total disrepair and was

collapsing at points. The barriers were

becoming a safety issue so the

committee started a fundraising

campaign.

They approached local companies

and organisations for donations, and

were successful in getting grant

Awards from the Shell Small Grant

Scheme and Scottish football

Partnership. The group raised £7100 in

total, but the majority of the funding

for the project came from an

application to WREN who operate

the FCC Scottish Fund.

G raeme Mack i e , Cha i r o f

Buchanhaven Football Junior Football

club said “We cannot thank all the

organisations, funders and supporters

enough for making this possible. Also

we’d like to thank WREN and the

FCC Communities Foundation, as

without their grant award replacing

the barriers and gates in time for this

season would simply not have been

possible. This was important to us the

club is a vital part of community life in

Buchanhaven and more widely the

Peterhead area.”

FCC Communities Foundation Grant

Manager, Sophie Cade, says:

“ We are delighted to have

supported Buchanhaven Hearts JFC

in making safe the pitchside

perimeter spectator railings, we know

that clubs like this play an important

FCC Scottish Action Fund

14

Fundraising for the development and

ongoing management of your

community asset will be a key part of

your early planning. If you haven’t

done it before it can seem like a

daunting process.

Community Ownership Support

Service (COSS) has put together a

fantastic guide which aims to help

you establish a funding package

which encourages the inclusion and

involvement of your community and

develops a sense of local ownership.

These are challenging fundraising

times and included in the guide are

suggestions for alternative methods of

raising funds beyond the more

traditional grants and loans. The guide

takes you step by step through the dif-

ferent methods of raising funds from

alternative sources, explains the ad-

vantages and disadvantages of each

method, provides links to other

sources of more detailed advice and

information.

The guide entitled ‘Beyond the Usual

Suspects’ provides inspiration to help

you generate income which you can

use without the restrictions placed on

funds from grant giving bodies and

government.

BDP is delighted to welcome

Felix Spittal, an advisor with COSS,

along to our winter forum to give a

presentation on the work that COSS

does and what the organisation can

offer communities in the way of sup-

port.

A copy of Felix’s presention will be

available from BDP after the event.

For more information about the

‘Beyond the Usual Suspects’ guide visit

-

www.dtascommunityownership.org.uk

Beyond The Usual Suspects

15

Mintlaw Men’s Shed

Aberdeenshire Third Sector

Strategy Group

The Third Sector Strategy Group aims to

increase the involvement, influence and

contribution of the third sector in making

Aberdeenshire a better place to live.

It aims to act as a gateway between

the Third Sector and the Local Authority,

ensuring that the Third Sector become

involved in discussion at the start of the

development of policies that affect the

Third Sector and Communities, rather

than merely being the consultee at the

end of the process.

Currently, the group is a partnership

between Aberdeenshire Council, the

Third Sector Interface (Aberdeenshire

V o l u n t a r y A c t i o n ) a n d t h e

Aberdeenshire Rural Partnership

Federation which has representation

from all six Rural Partnerships.

The group recently produced its

Strategy Document for the next three

years. For a copy or to find out more

information about Aberdeenshire’s Third

Sector Strategy Group please contact

Jacky Niven at jniven@kdp.scot.

Although we are still waiting for planning

permission to allow us access to our

premises in Aden, we have been busy

with other things.

We have done some more work in

Mintlaw Academy’s Therapeutic

Garden and enjoyed a group visit to

Aberchirder Men’s Shed which this year

was the winner of the Scottish Men’s

Shed of the Year Award. We had a

great tour of their facilities, asked lots of

questions and came away with many

ideas for ourselves. We have also been

invited to the Men’s Sheds at Ellon and

Peterhead.

Following our AGM in August, we now

have a full team of office bearers and

board members. Our monthly

meetings have continued at the

Buchan Indoor Bowling Club, and we

are very grateful to the management

there for the use of their facilities in the

meantime.

Men from Mintlaw and the surrounding

area are very welcome to come along

on the second Thursday of the month at

10.30am to enjoy some chat, tea and

fellowship together.

Contact Sandy Thom (Chair) 01771

622912 if you are interested in coming

along.

Maud

Held every fortnight

9.30 am - 12.30pm

Old Mart Resource Centre, Deer Road, Maud

Contact 01771 613962 for dates

MACBI

Last Monday of the month

1pm -3pm Free

Contact The Hub on 01771 624593

New Pitsligo Fortnightly on Tuesdays

1pm - 3pm

The Community Hub

New Pitsligo & St Johns School

Further information from

jacqui.gray3@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

New Deer Public Hall

Performances

We have a regular

programme of theatre

shows/films during the

year .

Please visit and like our

Facebook page for

regular updates

@NewDeerPublicHall

Tickets for shows/films are

available from the

Pharmacy 01771 644217

and

Food For Thought 01771

644366

or by booking online at

www.neatshows.org.uk

Conversation Cafes

Buchan Development Partnership Maud Area Office, Nethermuir Road, Maud, Aberdeenshire, AB42 4ND

01771 613584

www.bdp.scot info@bdp.scot

facebook.com/Buchandevelopmentpartnership

Buchan Development Partnership is a Company Limited by Guarantee and is a recognised Scottish Charity.

Company No 240119 Scottish Charity No SCO34008

BDP held their AGM and Autumn Forum at

Stuartfield Hall on 18 September. The meeting

was well attended and many people said how

much fun it was. Many thanks to Resource

Efficient Scotland for their informative and

Interactive talk.

The evening saw Friends of Mintlaw Academy

Rock Challenge receive a Shell Small Grant to

help them make a storage container fit for

keeping costumes, props and scenery in.

Tammy Skinner of Shell UK Ltd made the award

to Julie and Don Allan and Debbie Willox of the

group.