What we want to do - 

Phase 1 involves replacing the hall disabled access and the provision of a generator to enhance community resilience. 

Phase 2 re-configuring the toilet block and the provision of hot water in the ladies toilets.

Phase 3 - installing a decking, and two patio doors to enhance provision for events. Also creation of more storage. 

Why our project is needed. 

The hall is used by the local primary school for provision of sports facilities and other activities. The Parent Council arranges parties and other communal events - such as an annual car wash and wreath-making at Christmas. The hall provides many family events, shows, films and talks - to keep the local community informed and entertained. A seperate gym club runs on a wednesday. The multi-sport court provides for sporting activities such as hockey and tennis, and the playing field is used for football and field sports. 

Many tourists use the hall's facilities especially for events such as "Gala day", and tourism is an important industry in Scotland. The hall was instrumental in the creation of Tayvallich Initiative which aims to provide low-cost housing in the village for essential workers and implements "rural burdens" which help ensure community survival longer-term. The annual Kayak Symposium run by local firm "Argyll Kayaks", brings dozens to the village for a weekend, centered around the hall, which benefits the whole community including the community shop and the Inn. 

"Resilience Planning" is a recent aim of the Community Hall. A few months back there was a power outage for 4 days - many were caught out by it. Apart from losing heating and cooking, many have private water supplies (pumped) and so had no water either. The hall did its best as a "resilience hub" but had no electric itself - simply brewing hot drinks on a gas stove - it could not offer shelter/heating/lighting/hot food. Resilience planning involves a back-up generator to better serve the community in such future events. 

The hall provides many services to the local community. Yoga on a monday and thursday; table tennis on a monday; bowls on a thursday; "Pickle ball" on a tuesday; "stretch and tone" on a tuesday; Fencing on a wednesday; Lunch Club every month - providing for the retired members of our community. The hall also hosts First Aid classes which benefit the local community and beyond. 

The hall is also a popular venue for weddings (and funerals). There are regular Coffee Mornings in aid of a range of charities - Beatson cancer charity; the Lochgilphead Snowdrop Centre; and the Taynish run in aid of McMillan cancer care. The annual flower show is also a popular event. In addition, the hall hosts events such as Films and Talks - often being full to capacity. Friday and saturday evenings often see the hall host Bands and Ceilidhs which attract visitors from further afield. It encourages and supports local artists and musicians. 

The project will bring about many positive changes.

It is essential that the hall can continue to act as a community hub. Phase 1 - the generator - will ensure it can run as a resilience hub too. Phase 1 also includes better disabled access which is essential. Provision of better toilet facilities is also essential (Phase 2), given the hall's popularity. Phase 3 will increase the capacity of the hall - even more community activities will be encouraged and supported. 

The hall is a vital community resource and needs to be supported and protected. The success of the community hall helps kindle social cohesion - it is a vital part of village life.

The project will start in July 2025 and take 6 months to complete.  

Our primary aim is to build a safe social/recreational workshop and creative workspace for retired men & women to undertake creative projects for the village and local district. This should assist in improving the appearance of Strachur and surrounding area for the benefit of the local community and visitors e.g. by reconstituting picnic areas that have fallen into disrepair, also by maintaining benches; fences etc. such as those in our community Heron Park and installing sculpture/art works where agreed as appropriate. Similar maintenance and creative projects would be made available to the district  with the involvement of people domiciled within a 10 mile radius. Existing craft and trade skills that 'Shed' members possess would be used to do this, hopefully enabling members to learn new skills as well. Other local organizations  would also benefit e.g. the local Youth/Drama Group where members could assist in the manufacture of costumes and scenery for the regular annual productions at reduced cost.

Like many small rural villages Strachur has an increasing population of retirees. We hope that involvement in local projects - through teamwork - would help in reducing feelings of isolation for the 'older' members of our community by providing mental and physical stimulation, thus showing the 'younger' members of our community that we still have something to contribute to village life whilst improving recreational facilities for all. This approach should enable the facility to be sustained for many years as people become aware of the projects we are involved in. The provision of workshop facilities should also benefit the village Memorial Hall by providing support for maintenance and supplementing the facilities available in the centre of the village. To this end we want to work with the local Development Corporation; the Village Hall Committee and the Organisations that use the limited facilities available at present.

Inveraray Pier has been in a cycle of neglectful private ownership for over 20 years, and closed to the community, visitors and marine traffic for 10 years. In July 2023 Inspire Inveraray secured funding to purchase the pier on behalf of the community and has since successfully restored and opened the stone part of the pier to the public, however the timber pier remains closed and is in desperate need of restoration. 

The objective of the project is the restoration and opening of the existing timber peir. The heritage of the timber pier is at the heart of the community, and was identified as a priority in a recent community consultation. The timber pier is in extremely poor condition and ,without restoration, the risk of loss of a valuable local asset is inevitable.

Restoration works will commence as soon as funding has been achieved, ideally starting in October 2025.

The community ownership of the pier has given a sense of pride and achievement to local people who are now keen to help and get involved to get the timber part of the pier restored. This is the opportunity for the local community to manage a valuable local asset and to complete the full restoration of the pier including the timber part. Reopening the pier has connected local communities and is building confidence in the achievability and benefits of community asset ownership.

The pier is the gateway to Inveraray and for the past 10 years had been an eye sore in the town. Restoring the timber part of the pier will help increase the number of visitors to the town by boat, creating an opportunity to generate an income that can be reinvested into community projects.

The pier will be a flat and open accessible space encouraging activities such as water sports, community events and gatherings amongst the local community. Fully restoring the timber part will allow more vessels to moor in Inveraray, serving as a safe transfer platform for cargo and passengers.

Once fully restored, Heritage boards will be commissioned for placement on the pier to provide historical background for local people and visitors visiting Inveraray and its treasured pier.

IDI has set aside an initial 25 acres of Cornabus Community Forest to deliver housing, a Community Orchard, Garden and allotments for the community. 

In 2021 we carried out extensive consultation on the proposed development site within the now community owned Cornabus Forest. Formerly a commercial Sitka Spruce plantation, the whole site will eventually be replanted with native broadleaf to replicate the Atlantic Rainforest once prevalent on Islay, delivering significant biodiversity benefits but also on the community wish list from the consultation was housing for young people, allotments, an orchard and forest trails and a garden areas. 

The project will endeavour to add social and environmental value to the site and also create a space for community members and groups to enjoy. In 2020 Islay lost it's well-known community garden at Islay House, due to the property being sold on the open market. This was a much loved and used community space. Although the site at Cornabus is not a walled garden, extensive research on other forest garden initiatives was carried out in 2022 - including visits to Royal Botanical Society managed forests and formal garden spaces, such as Benmore and Puck's Glen. The intention is to take some elements of the old community garden site and duplicate them and the new, with lots of additional features.

The project is highly ambitious, and the first stage of funding has been secured from Inspiring Scotland for development of the tree nursery site where we will grow the replacement trees.  Secondary funding has come from Carbon Neutral Islands, specifically to create some of the infrastructure and assist with a circular economy approach to fuel wood supply on the island at affordable rates. 

This is a lifetime legacy project that will create a destination for outdoor enjoyment but also offer a range of solutions to the socio-economic challenges that the island faces with a strong focus on becoming Carbon Neutral. Islay is in a housing crisis and the addition of 10 affordable houses will help address some of those issues. To ease pressure on the Grid, the project also comes with it’s own district heating system using the remaining Sitka Spruce on site as a fuel source, a wind turbine and solar panels.  

The finished project will deliver a host of positive benefits including but not limited to:

• Employment
• Affordable Housing
• Circular Economy approach/local fuel
• Community garden
• Allotments
• Carbon capture in new tree planting
• Significant destination space for locals and visitors alike.

The project will link into Argyll College, Islay High School, Youth Initiative and employability. Partners and funders will be Scottish Government – Rural and Islands Housing Fund, Argyll and Bute Council and National Lottery. Community group usage will be open to all groups on the island and will link into national networks such as Community Woodlands Association, Scottish Islands Federation and Community Tree Nursery Network.

1. Tarbert Harbour Authority has a bold and strategic ambition to build a Launch and Recovery Sportscraft / Watersports Slipway together with a Community and Watersports Activity Hub.  Whilst the Activity Hub and Slipway are linked as a strategic development; for the purposes of funding, build and project managment, they are being treated as distinct projects with individual costs, individual project timescales and individual benefits and outcome profiles. Phase 1  will see the development of a Watercraft Launch & Recovery Slipway, Kayak Pontoon and Boat Laydown Area - £1.5M   Phase 2 will see the building of a Community Water Sports and Activity Hub - £1.4M.

2. The Project utilises a vacant and semi-derelict harbourside development plot to address: A significant health and social gap in terms of water sports, gym and soft play areas and associated learning and development activities.   An identified need for orgnanised, safe, educational and affordable access to the above facilities together with a learning area, meeting and events space.  Community Facilities are vital for the well-being of rural villages and a community hub/gym combined with a water sports facility can be a game-changer for diverse groups of people.  The integration of these amenities not only promotes physical health but also fosters social interaction together with economic growth.

3. The development of the Community Water Sports Slipway and Activity Hub will provide wide ranging benefits.  Adults and children in Tarbert and Loch Fyne's local communities will have accessible opportunites to improve their health, wellbeing, social confidence, learning and skill sets.  Local families will benefit from access to safe soft play and early years development stimulus.  Young people in education along Loch Fyne will have the opportunity to acquire new experiences, skills and qualifications that will support their social development and provide a platform for demonstrating their capabilities in diverse ways. Visitors to Tarbert and the surrounding area, whether for work or leisure purposes, will be able to relax and participate in safe gym exercise, supervised water-based activities, training and development in sailing and boating to established National Standards.  Additional employment opportunities will be directly and indirectly created by this development.  The development will be a major step forward in realising the next stage in the village's regeneration and development.  Regular exercise is known to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, leading to healthier, more product individuals.  A well equipped gym provides access to fitness resources, encouraging users to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  The gym will cater for a wide range of fitness levels and interests, from beginners to advanced.  The Activity Hub will also be used as a training/meeting place for sports clubs/organisations, community groups, school groups, RYA training, activity leaders, famiies and friends.  

4. It is proposed, once all Phase 1 funding is in place, to commence the development of the Launch/Retrieval Watercraft slipway this financial year with a completion date of mid 2026,  Phase 2 will follow, when funding allows, and when the final funding matrix is clearer.

Partnerships: We plan to collaborate with:

1. Argyll & Bute community Council to align with local interests.

2. Schools and educational institutions to promote learning opportunities.

3. Local businesses, including bike hire providers and tourism boards, to enhance visitor engagement.