Funding boost given a warm welcome by Development Trust

Date: Friday 15 November

Two projects run by Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust (BRDT) have been given a boost thanks to the Perth and Kinross Warm Welcome Fund. 

 

The popular Wednesday Lunch Club and the Biodiversity Blair project have been awarded a total of £1535 from the fund, which aims to provide warm spaces and support for people this winter. 

The Wednesday Lunch Club is run by volunteers who host monthly in-person get-togethers over homemade soup and cake with residents of Harriet Court, Cluny Court, Darroch Gate and Ericht Court in Blairgowrie. It is part of the Trust’s BaRI Food Project, which is made up of a number of initiatives aimed at reaching people through food, reducing food waste and food costs, and encouraging growing more food locally. 

The lunch club enables residents to get together in a warm, communal space and enjoy a nutritional lunch, spend time chatting and take part in a fun quiz. Volunteers can also point residents to relevant advice and support services if required.

 

The funding will contribute towards the ongoing running costs of the lunch club, and will also allow flyers highlighting support services and advertising home-cooked meals to be produced and distributed. 

 

The volunteer-led Biodiversity Blair project works towards increasing the biodiversity of different areas in the town, enhancing the local environment and being more nature friendly in a way that fits with local preferences. Work undertaken by those involved with the initiative so far has seen Blairgowrie and Rattray designated as Scotland’s first ‘biodiversity town’. 

The funding will allow BRDT, through the BaRI Food Project, to provide hot drinks and food to families who attend the free monthly nature-based craft workshops being run by Biodiversity Blair over the winter as part of efforts to encourage people to enjoy the natural environment. 

 

The workshops will take place from 10am to 11.30am on 24 November and 15 December this year and 19 January, 9 February and 16 March next year at the BaRI Building in Blairgowrie. They are suitable for youngsters aged two to 10 years old and will involve a range of different activities such as nature painting using foraged items and learning about wildlife behaviour.  

 

In addition to the hot drinks and food, representatives from BRDT’s home energy advice team, the HEAT Project, will be on hand to offer information to families on how to save money and energy over the colder months. 

 

Lesley McDonald, operations officer at BRDT, thanked the Warm Welcome Fund for its support. 

 

She said: “We’re extremely grateful to the Warm Welcome Fund for this generous donation at what we know is still a very difficult period for many families and older people. 

 

“Rising food and energy costs are still having an impact in communities up and down the country and we continue to work towards helping to alleviate some of that pressure and make a positive difference where we can.

 

“One way we do this is through our Wednesday Lunch Club, which is very popular with residents, and this funding will go a long towards covering the running costs of that. 

 

“We’re also really pleased that, thanks to this award, we can add another dimension to our nature walks over the winter months, providing hot food and drinks and practical advice to local families.”

 

For more information on BRDT and its various projects, see www.brdt.org.uk

 

To book a space on the nature-based craft workshops, please email info@biodiversityblair.scot

 

For further information or media enquiries, please contact Clare McMicking on telephone 07514 343 042 or email media@brdt.org.uk 

 

 

 

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