Author: Leona

Like so many other communities,  families here have been hit by the current cost of living crisis,  and we want  to make sure that every pupil  who attends Dunvegan Primary has access to breakfast each morning. Lots of our children are bussed and taxied into school from quite a distance, and some of them feel it is too early in the morning to eat breakfast before leaving the house, so our breakfast club is a huge asset for them.  Part of the fund helps to pay for our school trips during the school year, including the Primary 7 residential trip to Raasay where they have stay over for 3 nights and take part in an action packed break.  During discussions with pupil voice groups, it was discovered that some children liked to be outside even during wet play times, but would like to have a secure ‘hang out space’, so we have decided to put in an outdoor shelter in our forest area. This is currently on hold at the moment, due to the inclement weather and until our joiner is free to undertake the project. The outdoor shelter will provide a space where children can play ‘outside’ even in the wet and windy weather.  It will also be a space that can be used by teachers and staff as an outdoor classroom, and become a fundamental part of our Forest Schools ethos.  Studies have proven that children who eat a healthy breakfast their concentration, behavior, attendance, punctuality and achievement at school all improve.  By having breakfast at school this can massively reduce the stress of the morning routine for families and children.  It also offers pupils an opportunity to relax and socialise with peers before starting their school day.  The Primary 7 residential trip is immensely important for pupils.  As we live in such small communities, our schools do not have huge class sizes, and transition up to Portree High School can often be a daunting time when you come from a small school.  This trip gives pupils the chance to meet up with children from across the island that they will then be in classes with when in high school. DCT have given Dunvegan Primary £5000.00 as a yearly grant.    

There are 4 fully trained first responders for the Scottish Ambulance Service covering North West Skye. They offer their  time and skills as volunteers, covering the huge geographical area of Sligachan to Edinbane . They  live in Colbost, Dunvegan and Struan and travel to whatever emergency they are called to within that polygon. They can deliver life saving help but in order to do so they are obligated to undertake training each month. For the last year they have been borrowing training kit from another group but this is not a viable option longer term and need to fund their own resources.  Being able to purchase a Training Annie Maniken, a training AED unit and consumables will allow the dedicated team of volunteers to continue their monthly training sessions at a convenient time and place using the most up to date equipment that is solely for their use and not being borrowed from another group. DCT granted £1000.00 to this project.   

Dunvegan Community Trust is now offering educational support to folk pursuing further education.  Given the current economic state and the cost of living crisis, we feel that this funding is an essential asset to students.  We have had 3 applicants for the educational grant this year, with DCT issuing £2750.00.   All of our applicants are at different stages in their further education, and the amounts that have been awarded demonstrate this.  Moving to a large city from a rural location can be a significant change for someone, and if having some extra finances available to them to help with this transition, then this is exactly what this fund is set up for.  Especially for a first year student, costs can be higher with having to pay for a laptop, books and student accommodation, so we hope that with the funding they receive from DCT they will be able to support themselves while living away from home and studying for their qualification.  

The old and drafty windows and main front door of Dunvegan Community Hall were replaced after many years of use. The old windows and doors were in such disrepair, some of them not even closing properly, these new additions will help to keep the hall warmer and be a more inviting place for people to use.  This in turn will  cut down on the heating bills making it more environmentally friendly.  These new windows and doors will be a huge community asset, meaning that the hall will get used more as it is a nicer place to be.  DCT granted £4000.00 to this project.   

DCT were happy to grant £267.00 to The Dunvegan Hall Committee to purchase some new Christmas decorations for use in the hall.  The hall is used by a varied number of groups who would all benefit from a little extra Christmas cheer.  These decorations will be able to be used for years to come to decorate the hall and bring joy to the community.  

This was a collaborative project between Dunvegan Community Council and Dunvegan Community Trust.  The project was to buy 4 new life saving defibrillators to be sited in Dunvegan and the surrounding areas, Harlosh & Roag.  Given the huge area that the Dunvegan Community Council covers, there were only ever 2 defibrillators in the village, this has now been greatly extended.   The defibrillators will not only be of huge benefit to the local residents but to the vast number of visitors that come to the area through the year.     We were delighted to allocate £8000.00 to this brilliant initiative.  With the extra defibrillators in the area,  this will help in the event of someone having cardiac arrest and there not being emergency services available at that time.   The locations of all these assets will be added to a national map of defibrillators so residents and visitors alike can access their locations if necessary Defibrillators (lucky2bhere.org) .