TIUMPANHEAD COMMUNITY
ASOCIATION
SCOTTISH CHARITY SCO35666
ANNUAL REPORT 2006 / 2007
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Introduction
The past year has been a very busy one for the Association, whilst the community centre was largely completed in the previous year the committee had still a number of minor issues to resolve before a final completion certificate could be obtained from the building standards authority. The continuing popularity of the centre ensured that significant effort had to be allocated to managing lets as well as to raising the substantial funds necessary to keep the centre open and to maintain the fabric of the building. The past year has also seen a number of community events, both profit and non-profit making, being organised by the Association and all things considered it can be said that the last year must rank as one of the most successful in the Association’s history.
Centre Usage
In terms of one-off events the centre continues to be very popular with members of the community, it has been used for a wedding anniversary party, a fundraising ceilidh by ‘Cnoc Dubh Residents Association’ and a fundraising concert by ‘Eaglais na H-aoidhe’. It is also in regular use as a venue for birthday parties and meetings of grazing committees and other local organisations. It is a matter of regret that the letting agreement with the Training section of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar was not renewed when it came to an end in December 2006 but it has to be said that the income from the agreement during the first year of the centres operation was extremely beneficial and helped to build the solid financial footing that the Association currently enjoys.
The centre is regularly used by a number of groups and organisations such as;
· The ‘Young at Heart’ Club which is an activities club for the over 60’s that meets in the centre on alternate Thursday afternoons.
· ‘Rionnagan’ a Gaelic medium Youth club meets regularly in the centre on Friday evenings.
· ‘Tiumpanhead Youth Club’ were successfully re-launched in September of 2006 and they now run both a junior and a senior youth club every Saturday evening during School term.
· A regular Line dancing class has been established in the last year and is held every Thursday evening during the school term
· ‘Point to Life’ a youth fellowship group meet regularly at the centre on Sunday evenings during the school term.
· ‘Point Power’, a community based company who are pursuing the establishment of a community owned Wind Farm, use the centre as their base and for monthly meetings
· ‘Rudach Voice’ a youth council which meets at the centre on the last Wednesday evening of the month during school term.
· ‘The Church of Scotland’ currently have a regular booking of the centre on the last Friday of the month
In addition to the above the community centre has hosted a number of events this year.
- The Point Agricultural Show was, as in previous years, a
resounding success in 2007’
- ‘Feis An Rudha’ newly established in 2006 ran a very successful
Feis in the centre during the week of 6th – 10th August and this event is
now clearly established as an annual fixture at the centre
Association
Activities
- Whilst the centre was largely
completed in 2006 there were a number of outstanding issues to be resolved
before final completion and during the early part of 2007 these issues
were addressed and the final completion certificate for the centre was
issued on
- There has also been a considerable amount of effort spent on managing hall lets and maintaining a regular flow of rental income also the main hall and the kitchen areas, which were beginning to show the effects of heavy usage, were repainted during 2007
- The community garden was largely replanted with assistance from the Point Agricultural show Committee.
- Various fundraising events have been organised by the Association during the past year with varying degrees of success and support from the community. The three most successful events were a ‘Curry Night’ in November ’06, a very Successful Burn’s Supper in January and for the second year running a very successful Community Barbeque in June on the last day of the school term. All three events foster community involvement with the added bonus of being extremely good vehicles for raising funds and it is hoped that all three will now be established as regular events on the Community Association calendar.
- During the past year the association re-established the very popular children’s Halloween party last October.
- The Association hosted an extremely successful dinner for our senior citizens (over 65’s) in February of this year. For various reasons this event was held later than was originally intended and it is hoped that in future years it will be held in January as a ‘Festive Dinner’.
The Future
The popularity of the centre continues and whilst this is extremely encouraging it does place significant pressure on its management and on the time that committee volunteers have to give in order to ensure that this high level of activity is maintained. It is now proving fairly difficult to maintain the hall in as clean and tidy a condition as is desirable and whilst the onus for cleaning after use lies squarely with the hall user, inevitably the system will occasionally fail and some users will be disappointed with the condition of the hall when they take it over. It is unreasonable to expect committee members to bear the full weight of cleaning the hall between uses and it is suggested that the next committee should consider hiring cleaners to ensure that the hall is thoroughly cleaned periodically and also whether the existing sanction of charging negligent users for the cost of cleaning up after them should be enforced. Whatever solution the next committee come up with it is an increasingly serious problem that must be addressed if the popularity of the centre is to be maintained.
Refreshing of the décor has already begun with both the main hall and the kitchen areas receiving fresh coats of paint this year and whilefunds are available it is hoped that this work will continue on a rolling basis with all areas of the centre been maintained at a constantly fresh standard.
The association have launched a website (www.tiumpan.org.uk) which is still very much in the process of being developed and it is hoped that during the coming year it will be developed into a simple but informative site that will be available to inform the wider community of the activities at the centre.
Note of Thanks
The Community Association would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the continuing success of the centre since it was re-opened and we look forward to the continuation of that support into the future for the benefit of the whole of our community.
Norman Mackenzie
Chairperson
Tiumpanhead Community Association
c/o 14a Portnaguran Point,
Isle of Lewis
HS2 0HD
Telephone 01851870534