A packed week at Arisaig Community Trust – from wrestling with legal documents and grant claims, to watching Bill’s Shed come ever closer to completion. Read on for the latest on what’s keeping the board busy, what’s coming up in the newsletter, and why the village’s long-term resilience depends on more people getting involved.
Catch these updates (almost) every week on our Facebook page or drop us a line at info@arisaigcommunitytrust.org.uk – we’re always happy to hear from people who want to get involved with helping the Trust.
ACT Diary: 19th April 2026
It’s been a challenging week and not just because I’ve had to pile on 10 layers before venturing outside, but so much going on at ACT. Been working hard on grant claims (gasp), talking to people about the business development role, looking at marketing with Sarah, working with Zoe and Becky on finance and grappling with our Articles of Association.
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of reading Articles of Association or Memorandum of Understanding, then you will know they are a superb antidote to insomnia. What is it with legal jargon? With its’ whereby, forthwith, hereinafter, in pursuance of … what are you talking about?!
So a simple sentence like ‘I think I’ll go for a walk’ is translated into ‘Upon careful consideration of my present physical and existential circumstances, and without prejudice to any future intentions or alternative courses of action, I hereby declare my tentative yet earnest inclination to engage in a perambulatory excursion of indeterminate duration, commonly and colloquially referred to as “going for a walk,” subject to favorable atmospheric conditions and the continued cooperation of my own legs but not to the exclusion of any other activity’
That’s all clear then!
Kidding aside, ACT’s Articles of Association were last updated in 2013 and we’ve been told by the Charity regulator (OSCR), amongst others, that we need to update them. I do hope that the Newsletter going out next week is well received and everyone understands the need to update. Reading the existing ones and coming up with a new set that meet the needs of OSCR has felt a bit like wrestling with clothes in a tumble drier whilst trying to escape.
Steve has also been wrestling with lots of jobs on Bills Shed. He and Chris are making fantastic progress now that the 1st fit plumbing and electrics are done. Kate and Andrew have been helping with interior design, oooh can’t wait to see it, it’s going to be lovely!
On a weekly basis, Zoe, Becky and I meet up to stare at numbers (always wishing they were larger) as we look at what ACT can afford to repair and maintain. It is challenging because things like that tiny slope off the Rhue Road into the Land, Sea and Islands car park – you know the bit that’s disintegrating? It’s going to cost over ten grand to get it repaired. Ouch! I am afraid to ask for a quote for the car park. I wonder if there is a Youtube video about how to tarmac roads.
That’s what Arisaig is up against. With so many services trimmed to the bone we, like other Highland communities, are on our own. Țhat’s a lot of fundraising and being clever with making money from the assets we own. The rationale behind the Business Development Manager funding is to help communities become more sustainable and resilient. It really is a collective effort and I do hope we can see more engagement in some upcoming projects. Nothing could exemplify this more than the work Sheila and Val (thanks!) at the community council, are doing – pulling together a village resilience plan. I hope we never have to use that document, but if we do, we will be very glad to have had it.
The newsletter will give more information about an £18K Nature Restoration grant we received. I’m so excited about that project too. Hoping that, with your help, we can have a beautiful, pollinator-friendly planting around the playing field, playpark and orchard and make the whole space even friendlier, more accessible and welcoming.
That brings me to the closing mantra… please volunteer!
If you haven’t done so yet, join the Volunteers WhatsApp Group, drop us an email, or if you prefer the old-skool approach – have a chat with one of the Directors. Zoe can add your name to the list; just email info@arisaigcommunitytrust.org.uk.
If you have made it this far, you’ll understand why I’m away to hang out the washing. I’m done with tumble driers.
Cheers,
Anne