Lochaber Hydrotherapy Celebrates
A 17th century trust has put a Lochaber health project back on track with an out of the blue promise of a £70,000 donation. The breakthrough means the Lochaber Hydrotherapy charity can now re-apply for National Lottery funding towards the cost of the £500,000 scheme after thrice being knocked back. Supporters are also confident that Highland Health Board will finally throw their weight behind the project, as required for lottery cash, after earlier rebuffs. Four years of fundraising has brought in £161,000 towards the proposed hydrotherapy pool, for which planning consent exists for a site at Belford Road, Fort William. But its first application for lottery cash was rejected in June 1999, and again months later, because it was claimed the organisation had not demonstrated a need for the facility. A third setback came early last year when a change in criteria meant the charity would have to raise considerably more money to be eligible for funding. But, with the pool's cost having increased for the initial £338,000 to the latest £500,000 estimate and rising by the month, the future of the whole project looked in jeopardy. But the charity was told by the London based Henry Smith Charity that it had agreed to pledge £70,000 towards the cost, subject to backers raising the balance and putting revenue funding in place. Henry Smith, born in London's Wandsworth in 1545, was a successful salter by trade who also purchased a number of estates in England. Before his death in 1628, he set up a number of charitable trusts for the relief of the poor, leaving their trustees £2,000. That formed the basic endowment of a charity which was transferred to the Wellcome Trust in 1998.
Gairloch Radio
The Tw Loch Radio group, based in Gairloch, has reached a milestone along the path to its goal of bringing a local radio to the communities of Gairloch and Loch Ewe. Months of hard work by volunteers in the community group came together recently with a formal application to the Radio Authority for a broadcasting licence, supported by publication of independent market research into the views of the population. The Radio Authority confirmed that the local group's bid was the only one received by the deadline, and that a decision on awarding the licence should be reached around the end of the year. The new station will be the country's smallest licensed broadcasting station, serving a core population of just over 2,000 adults, and will be staffed by volunteers from the community it serves. It also hopes to serve Staffin on Skye, which shares many historical connections with the Gairloch area, and is co-operating with the recently licensed Skye based Cuillin FM station on plans to share programmes, particularly in Gaelic or about the cultural heritage of the area, and bringing together the communities.
Capercaillie Aid
An anonymous bird lover has bequeathed £250,000 to help save one of Britain's rarest birds. Other members of the RSPB chipped in a similar amount in donations for the protection of the capercaillie. The £500,000 in the legacy and donations to RSPB Scotland helped raise almost £2 million to buy 2,066 acres of pine wood in the Highlands which will be managed as a capercaillie sanctuary. The purchase of Revack Forest Estate in Strathspey extends RSPB Scotland's internationally renowned Abernethy Forest Reserve near Aviemore. There are now fewer than 1000 capercaillie in the UK, all of which are found in Scotland. The total cost of purchase and start up management for Revack Forest will come to nearly £2 million.
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Morvern Chapel
A derelict Lochaber chapel, where a woman who became Australia's first saint once worshipped, could be given a new lease of life. Highland councillors are investigating a £190,000 project to restore the remote St Columba's Roman Catholic Church at Drimnin on the Morvern Peninsula. It could see it turned into a visitor or interpretative facility as part of a drive to promote Morvern's heritage, or used as a field study or outdoor centre. The proposals have emerged from a £2,000 feasibility study into the condition and potential of the building, carried out by Ayr based architects ARP Lorimer. The practice was involved in the restoration of St Edward's Chapel, Canna, and is also acting as agents for Ayrshire millionaire Lex Brown, who wants, controversially, to reroof Castle Tioram. Sir Charles Gordon of Drimnin demolished the 16th century Maclean of Drimnin Castle to make way for the church, built for £520 and one of the first Roman Catholic churches on the West Coast. Mother Mary MacKillop, whose parents emigrated from Lochaber to Australia where she was born, worshipped there when she returned to Scotland in 1873 after founding convents and schools. In the mid 90s she was beatified by the Pope at a ceremony in Sydney and was later made the country's first saint. Although difficult to reach, the chapel has been included on the itinerary of Australian pilgrims who want to follow in the Blessed Mary's footsteps.
Under the Hammer
An Easter Ross woman accepted a ^5 bid for her husband so she could take part in a Cuban cycle challenge. Carole Herd put husband, Mike, up for auction at a charity dinner in the Grand Hall at Tulloch Castle, Dingwall. It was part of her efforts to raise the £2,300 needed to take part in the sponsored challenge cycle ride round Cuba this month to raise funds for the National Deaf Children's Society. Mr Herd went for £65 and will now take two people to a wildlife reserve for a day, instructing them on making a video film. Mr Herd is well qualified, having recently won a major award in China for being the first and only person to film man eating tigers in Bangladesh. The auction, which also offered a three day cookery course with Lady Claire Macdonald, a day at a health spa and fishing trips raised £1,700 with over £120 coming from a raffle. A highly delighted Mrs Herd has now exceeded her target by £700. "There were four bids for Mike which I think was quite good."
Back to Lochaber
After Fort William's success in hosting the 2002 Mountain Bike World Cup, the International Cycle Union (UCI) announced a triple world cup will return to Fort William this year. Featuring the first downhill and 4x world cups in the UK, the 2002 world cup brought spectacular mountain biking to the slopes of the Nevis Range ski area and a £500,000 boost for the local economy. A new track was built in Fort William for the 4x which involves male and female events where four cyclists compete against each other down a 30 second track with jumps and obstacles. In this years world cups, to begin in May, they will be joined by the cross country, an Olympic discipline that requires two and a half hours of endurance through the Leanachan Forest that surrounds the Nevis Range. Mike Jardine of the organisers, Rare Management, based in Edinburgh, said: "Everyone involved in putting on the event is excited about a bigger and better world cup this year. "The introduction of cross country will create new levels of interest and bring mountain biking together for a great festival in the Highlands."
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