A new Director has been co-opted on to the group – local woman Yvonne Stewart, who is also Chair of South Kessock Residents Association.
Merkinch Greenspace will hold their AGM on Wednesday 13th January at 6.00pm in Merkinch Community Centre.
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Improvements continue to be carried out in the Nature Reserve with the creation of a “Welcome Point” at the turning circle – shrubs have been removed and trees tidied up which opens out the entrance to the Reserve, making it more welcoming for visitors.
Other developments include:
• A contract has been awarded to a local contractor who will be working in the Reserve one day a month doing general repair and maintenance.
• Work has started on the LNR website, which should go live within the next few weeks.
• Highland Council is working on designs for the proposed brown tourist signage for the Reserve – this will make a big difference to the promotion of the site.
• 2 additional motorbike barriers have been ordered which will be located on the seawall path at the Boardwalk.
• The Management Group is drawing up plans for a Warden/Development Officer post for the Reserve.
• Funding applications have been completed for a Youth Ranger Scheme for the Reserve.
Another 4 benches have been installed in the Reserve, poetry by local resident Alex MacLeod has been etched on the benches.
The Reserve has been shortlisted for the Highland Council Quality Awards Partnership Working category, which is great news! 2 members of the Management Group attended a judging panel on 11th November to do a presentation and the winner will be announced at a dinner in the Town House on 17th November.
The Management Group is looking at the idea of installing totem poles at the entrance to the Reserve, as part of the Scotland Totem Pole Project.
Anne Sutherland, Merkinch Partnership Officer, recently received a very nice e-mail from a lady living in Bedford who had visited the Reserve and found it “a little gem of an area” and really enjoyed seeing all the birdlife there.
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The Merkinch Sports Awards Night took place on Wednesday 11th November in the Merkinch Community Centre,with over 100 people in attendance. The event kicked off in style with one of the worlds premier football freestylers,Daniel Cutting,delivering a fantastic display of football skills.
Peter Corbett presented the event which this year spotlighted Football, Karate and Mountain biking. Top moments from each sport were screened before the award winners came down to receive their trophy and the audience were then treated to some of the winners best moments captured on video.
Check out the Merkinch Sports Bebo for video and pictures from the event.
First up was Merkinch Karate Club with awards in four categories.
Best Female Fighter: Chloe Connell
Best Male Fighter: Josh Winning
Best Female Kata: Shannon Stewart
Best Male Kata: Martin Norton
The next category was Merkinch Football Academy
Soccer Sevens Player of the Season: Daniel Hoban
Soccer Sevens Best Attitude: Conner Macphee
Street League Player of the Season: Liam Shewan
Street League Best Attitude: Mikey Wemyss
Youth League Player of the Season: Chris Dickson
Youth League Best Attitude: Steven Bain
Leisure League Player of the Season: Paul Stewart
Leisure League Best Attitude: Tonji Reid
The final featured sport was the Merkinch Mountain Bike Club
Best Mountain Bike Rider: Bart Rakowski
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Arts In Merkinch have been working over the last couple of months making plans to turn the old motorcyle shed on Grant Street into an arts venue. Some building work was carried out to solve a large leak and now that the shed is dry and safe again we can begin to change the interior to house storage, and a large flexible area which will work as gallery space, workshop space, event space and even somewhere for groups to meet or have meetings.
We intend to launch 'The Bike Shed' at the end of January 2010 and the monthly programme will include the adult art class and women's ceramic classes that we already run. We will also add in a photography course, exhibitions and Saturday sessions for children and young people. On the last Saturday of every month Eden Court will be holding a drama and craft session for children and their parents.
We are planning on developing music, radio and film workshops and events alongside one off taster workshops which could lead to establishing groups. We could even allow local artists to work in the space when it's empty! The possibilities are endless so watch this space for news of the launch and all the activities that will be taking place.
Arts In Merkinch is led by volunteers and The Bike Shed will need even more volunteers to help man exhibitions or open up for workshops and classes. Anyone interested in helping out should contact Annie Marrs, 07834 608390 or e-mail at annie@merkinch.com.
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The Operation Respect Merkinch steering group held a meeting on 3rd November, where members heard an update from Street Pastors Co-ordinator Mark Hadfield. The Pastors are getting a good response from the local community and the volunteers are enjoying being out and about in Merkinch. Mark is looking to recruit more volunteers and the Partnership Officer will be helping him with the issue of sourcing additional funding.
The meeting also heard an update from local Beat Officer Doug Murray who stated that calls to the Police were down and that the streets in Merkinch were generally quieter.
Neil Thomson from mp33 gave details of the Fusion Project being run by Highland Council. The project is aimed at 12-17 year olds and will take place in Merkinch Community Centre once a month; activities on offer include arts and crafts, music and martial arts. For more information contact Centre Co-ordinator Wilma West on 01463 239563.
The next meeting of the steering group will take place on 19th January.
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Merkinch Partnership held a meeting on 2nd November, where members heard an update from the Project Officer and reports on the sports and arts programmes.
A priority for the Partnership at this time is to ensure that Highland Council continues to fund local projects currently being funded by Fairer Scotland. Members feel that these projects have been very successful and have made a real difference to the community.
Members also discussed the future remit of the Partnership, looking at various issues:
• sharing good ideas and practices with other communities
• The Partnership has played an important role in bringing projects forward
• The Partnership acts as a steering group for the Project Officer, arts and sports programmes.
• As part of the Project Officer post, the Partnership could apply for a small discretionary budget which could then be allocated to local projects or groups.
• It’s important to look at accessing other sources of funding
• Future meetings will take place every 2 months
The next Partnership meeting will take place in Merkinch Community Centre on 18th January.
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