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Exciting Update on the Clock Tower Project

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Back in 2017 the council switched off the power to Dufftown’s Iconic Clock Tower and left an unacceptable situation for our community. We wanted to help, and on the 6th March 2018 we secured a maintenance agreement from the Council which allowed us to rewire the power supply to the clock so that it was safe from water ingress and it allowed the DDCA to pay the electricity bill to get the clock going again.

 

Later, in August 2020, we purchased the Clock Tower from Moray Council who had no intention of repairing or looking after the Dufftown Clock Tower. Since then we have acted to safeguard the Clock Tower and its future.

 

Since buying the Clock Tower, we have studied options, consulted with the community and agreed that the best future use of the Clock Tower is a holiday rental accommodation on the upper floors and a mixed use community space on the ground floor. This took quite some work to achieve and wouldn’t have been possible without our valued staff at the time – Viktoria.

 

Today, we wanted to share with you the good news that we have reached a milestone event, having spent over a year toiling with Planners, Architects and funding applications, we have now submitted a request for planning permission to achieve the below plan for the Clock Tower.

 

We trust this is welcome news to you all and we look forward to sharing progress with you again as updates occur.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting to Know You!

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As I approach the end of my first month in post, I would like to say ‘Thank you’ for the welcome to the role and your Community!

My main focus has been getting to know the DDCA, the local area and I am beginning to meet some of the Charities and Groups in Dufftown and District. This week I had an inspiring visit to the Keith and Dufftown Railway, met their team of talented volunteers and heard about their plans over the coming months. I also had a tour of the station and was lucky enough to see inside the carriages and workshop. I had to share a picture of the ‘Dram Tram’ for anyone who hasn’t seen it as it truly is a thing of beauty.

This week, I have also had the pleasure of meeting Julie for Speyside Youth and Mandy from the Community Centre, both gave me a real insight in to their work and plans for the future and I am looking forward to working with them both and hope to make it a long to a Speyside Youth event soon too.

I will continue to make introductions with other groups in the area as well as getting to know the surrounding communities. We hope to have our first Community Forum in April and I will confirm the date over the next week.

As ever, please feel free to contact me on -aileen@dufftowncommunity.co.uk

Appointment of Community Development Officer

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Dufftown and District Community Association (DDCA) are excited to share the news that we have successfully appointed a Community Development Officer to further our charitable work. The role has been vacant for nearly a year as the DDCA secured funding for a further two years.

Strengthening our approach to community development

The board of Trustees are excited to share the news that we have recruited Aileen MacVicar as our Community Development Officer after an extensive recruitment effort. Speaking on behalf of the trustees, Fraser McGill said “Third sector funding has been a challenging environment over the last year and securing funding for the role has taken more time than planned, but we are pleased to have secured funding for two years from our partners. Progress on key projects slowed during this time but we hope to speed up progress and communication of progress on our key projects in 2025.”

The continuation of development of the Dufftown Clock Tower is the leading project for 2025, along with the rental ebike scheme and community larder. In recent years the community has benefited from regular forums which this role has coordinated, establishing them again is key to a coordinated progressive community.

Aileen joins the DDCA as it approaches a key milestone on the Dufftown Clock Tower, planning submission is due in March 2025 to secure the future use as a self-contained rental accommodation in the upper floors and a mixed use community space on the ground floor. This project will require significant effort to fundraise and programme manage the development.

Introducing Aileen…

For the last 14 years I have lived in Rothienorman, just outside Inverurie, with my husband and three growing boys. Our village is small, so I understand the needs and struggles of a smaller community as well as the benefits. We enjoy an active, outdoor lifestyle with our dog, Pippa, and I am a keen cyclist and runner – occasionally I take on challenges and attend events when my children’s social life allows!

I attended University at Robert Gordon’s in Aberdeen, where I studied Retail Management, and was raised in Edinburgh and Fife. My early career was in the Corporate Events and Wedding Industry, which I was a part of for over 11 years. I then took on various roles which allowed more flexibility when raising a young family; these included Sales, Administration, a supportive role in the Wedding Industry, and Childminding.

My first week has been busy! I have spent time in Dufftown and District, gathering my bearings, and learnt about the community priorities and those of the DDCA. I also had the opportunity to meet the other trustees, and I look forward to working with them to further the success of Dufftown and District as a community.

Over the next few weeks, I would like to get to know you all, meet up, hear about other groups and charities in the area and find out how we can all work together to make positive changes for Dufftown and District.

In the meantime, if you have any events that you would like to send through to me so we can post them on the website please do or feel free to say ‘Hello’ my email address is  aileen@dufftowncommunity.co.uk would be lovely to hear from you!

 

Review of the Dorenell fund and development plan

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On December 13th 2023, we held our quarterly Dufftown & District Community Forum at the Royal British Legion here in Dufftown. The focus of this forum was to help shape the future of the EDF Dorenell Windfarm Community Benefit Fund. The fund has been set up to benefit people who live in the areas of Moray served by:

·       Cabrach Community Association
·       Dufftown and District Community Association
·       Glenlivet and Inveravon Community Association
·       Glenrinnes Community Centre
The fund supports community-led charitable activities, with recommendations on grant awards being made by a panel which has members drawn from across the four communities. The fund has now been distributing grants for three years.
Foundation Scotland, the independent charity managing the fund, has commissioned a review of the fund strategy to ensure the fund continues to meet the needs of the local community. The review is being carried out by Bea Jefferson, who has been gathering data from fund awards, an online survey, public drop-ins and talking to fund stakeholders.
At our forum meeting, Bea came along and outlined her findings so far. Some key facts about the fund are shown below.

 

The full fund review findings and recommendations are expected to be delivered in early 2024.

Meet the Dufftown library book club!

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Is your New Year’s resolution to read more? Keen to meet new friends? Come along to the Dufftown library book club!

The Dufftown book club meets on the first Thursday every month at 4pm in the library. 12 books are selected each year by a librarian in the Elgin library. These books are then circulated around the various library book clubs in Moray. I like this system, as it means there’s no pressure on individual book club members to come up with suggestions. The most recent book we read was “Unsheltered” by Barbara Kingsolver. While there where some mixed views in the group, majority of us liked it.

I have been going to the book club for a few months now. It’s been lovely to meet new faces, read new books and share our thoughts. At our last meeting, one book club member said: “I like our book club because it makes me read books outside of my comfort zone that I otherwise would not have chosen myself”. While we do talk about books, our meet-ups are more than just that. It’s a chance to come together, have a cup of tea and socialise across generations and backgrounds. We are lucky to have such a welcoming library in Dufftown! I look forward to seeing more members join our book club in the new year.

Exploring the Glenfiddich trails on an eBike

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The Glenfiddich trail is a hidden gem right on our doorstep of Dufftown and District. Over the weekend, the Dorenell Ranger services took a group of us out on a guided bike ride to introduce some of the beautiful scenery and wildlife the area has to offer.

With our waterproofs on, we set off from the Glenfiddich trailhead car park with the DDCA eBikes. We only had to pedal for a few minutes until we spotted something unusual – a turkey walking around in the grass next to us! Moving further up into the glen, we eventually reached Glenfiddich Lodge. Previously a hunting lodge, it is now empty but still an interesting building to walk around and explore from the outside. We continued on a land rover track beyond the lodge until we decided to set up shelter in the forest to have our lunch.

Food always tastes better when you eat it outside! With some sandwiches and coffee in our bellies, we continued the cycle ride up towards the wind farm tracks. The network of wind farm tracks is vast, offering lots of different routes to take. As golden eagles can be spotted in the area, we kept our eyes peeled but sadly no sightings this time around. We will have to come back for the eagles another time. The way back to the car park was easy – we simply followed one of the tracks out towards the main road and down the hill.

We are lucky to have great trails like these so close to Dufftown and District. I would highly encourage you to go and explore them. Just remember to follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Accessible toilets and more information can be found at the Dorenell Visitor Centre. Remember that you can hire an eBike from us in Dufftown by booking it here on our website.

We hope to organise more events like these with the Dorenell rangers in the future – sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates!

Resilience and energy advice discussed at Dufftown & District community forum

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The Dufftown & District Community Forum is run quarterly with the aim to facilitate information sharing and collaboration in our community. 

The theme of the most recent forum, on August 31st 2023, was around community resilience. 19 participants, including community groups representatives, ward Councillors and residents, attended.

The community groups and organisations represented were:

  • Royal British Legion Dufftown
  • Dufftown & District Community Association
  • Dufftown & Mortlach Development Trust
  • Keith and Dufftown Railway Association
  • Mortlach Memorial Hall
  • REAP
  • Dufftown in Bloom
  • Moray Council

The forum was organised in two parts. The first part of the meeting was dedicated to stakeholder updates and a presentation by REAP. During the second part of the meeting, separate tables were set up with information on affordable housing, household energy advice and emergency planning for participants to engage with. If you’d like to learn more about what was said at the forum, you can read our report.

 

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