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The surge in grassroots activity since the start of the pandemic has seen the completion of many projects across our community. Here is a recap of what has taken place through 2020 and 2021 so far, with a look ahead for what more is planned.

 

If anyone would like to get involved in any community work, you will find relevant contact details in each section.

 

These local groups have received funding from a number of sources and thanks go to the following:

 

National Lottery Awards for All

Scottish Government's Supporting Communities Fund

Chatterbox (Lochwinnoch's community news magazine)

Linthills Ltd

Lochwinnoch Community Council

The Corra charitable Foundation

The Cobb Charity

The Longstone Trust

Renfrewshire Council's Local Village Partnership Fund

Renfrewshire Council's Green Spaces Fund

 

Here's an update about each of the Lochwinnoch Groups

 

 

Lochwinnoch Food Committee / LEAP

 

At the end of 2020, Lochwinnoch Food Committee joined forces with LEAP (Local Energy Action Plan) to establish a more permanent home for their varied activities. A breakdown of projects post, present and future follows:

 

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Community Larder

 

Our Community Larder has continued to support many people across our village since the start of the pandemic, through delivery of food parcels. This has happened entirely through volunteer effort with food provision through

 * Fairshare, courtesy of Renfrewshire Council,

*  Community donations, and

*  fresh produce donated by LochwinnochCDT and our hard                working Community Garden Group.

*  We have kindly been given use of the Masonic Hall for many months now, which we are very grateful for.

 

Going forward we are exploring ideas of a drop-in pantry model for free food provision, at a new location, which would be a universal project, open to all. This would potentially go alongside a Community Fridge. Watch this space for more information.

 

Email: lochwinnochfoodcommittee@gmail.com

Tel: 07883837284

Find us on Facebook: @lochwinnochfoodcommittee

Donation Drop Off: 52 Main Street

 

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Diggin' it - Lochwinnoch

 

If you haven’t heard of Diggin’ It, head on over to 

www.facebook.com/groups/lochwinnochseedswap 

 

For more information about this group, and how we can support you to grow vegetables by providing advice, seeds, compost plus other materials and equipment, including growing containers. It is a friendly group where you can connect with others, at all experience levels, in sharing knowledge, ideas and resources.

 

During 2021 so far, we have encouraged more than 120 households to grow their own vegetables from their own homes, many for the first time. We want to encourage and support local food growing as much as possible and help to make the village as resilient and sustainable as we can. Therefore, we offer much of what is required free of charge, but we can also offer you trade price on many materials for larger quantities. This year we distributed tonnes of compost and soil through our supplier agreements locally and also via Renfrewshire Council who donated 7 tonnes of compost to the project.

 

It isn’t just about food - we know that growing and gardening really helps to improve mental health and wellbeing. We hosted an event as part of the Community Feel Good Week in partnership with the Yearnestane project this year, which went really well. Now we look forward to hosting our first ever vegetable prize show in September.

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For information about the yearnstane project go to  www.eadha.co.uk/projects/351_yearnstane_project

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We have many more ideas planned and have funding to set up a Seed Library. In preparation for this we will be hosting some training on seed saving. Keep an eye out for this as it will probably take place in October.

 

We would also like to hear from any local people with a bit of land to spare which you wouldn’t mind being used to grow vegetable crops. In order to supply our Library with organic seeds, we might need space to grow sacrificial crops which can be left to seed, rather than harvested. We can provide what is required in terms of materials, equipment, and labour. If you would like to be involved as a volunteer or if you have some suitable space we can use for this, please let us know.

 

If you would like to see out instructional veg growing videos, you can find them here: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiTI0O81b9Iv2x8Jqmdbxx2IyDUaAdUPU

 

Email: digginitlochwinnoch@gmail.com

Tel: 07883 837 284

www.facebook.com/groups/lochwinnochseedswap

 

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Community Feel Good Festival

 

Our debut Community Feel Good Week was a huge success and we were so lucky with the weather! We are grateful to all the groups who took part and added something to the programme. We hope you managed to see some of the activities or try some of the yummy food. Highlights can be seen on the Facebook groups at www.facebook.com/groups/communityfeelgoodweek.

 

Going forward, we would like this to become an ongoing schedule of events and plan to host smaller ones throughout the year, with the main week-long programme each Summer. We are actively looking to put together a committee for this going forward so get in touch if you would like to be involved.

 

Emails: lochwinnochfoodcommittee@gmail.com

Tel: 07883 837 284

www.facebook.com/groups/communityfeelgoodweek

 

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Lochwinnoch Cares

 

This volunteer-run group continues working with those in isolation, who are shielding or who are dealing with mobility or transport issues. It has provided a lifeline for the Service Users who would have otherwise gone without essential items, medicine or food. In addition it has tackled loneliness with phone calls to those living on their own. The volunteers have been delivering weekly food parcels put together by the Community Larder around the village, upholding utmost discretion and confidentiality at all times. LC will continue to deliver parcels to those who are unable to attend drop-ins when new premises are established.

 

If you would like to join the team and volunteer we would be delighted to hear from you. Likewise, if you need help or have a concern about anyone please get in touch; We help households for a variety of reasons on both an ad-hoc and more ongoing basis. Any contact will be handled with total discretion.

 

We would like to thank all the volunteers who have supported the community via Lochwinnoch Cares and the Community Larder. We are grateful for your time, energy and patience and it simply would not be possible to operate these activities without you. 

 

Email: lochwinnochcares22@gmail.com

Find us on Facebook: @lochwinnochcares

(Please ensure not to post any personal information about yourself or anyone else on the facebook site.)

 

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Lochwinnoch Emergency Fund

 

In response to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, Lochwinnoch Food Committee was awarded money for an Emergency Fund. This provided real-time and tangible financial support to those who needed it, and could not access it through other provision. This was set up as a fund of last resort and paid out in excess of £4000 over the year. This money benefitted a range of households and the project was delivered entirely by volunteers, upholding complete confidentiality at all times.