March`s Happenings/Diary

 March 26 Diary

On the 2nd of March, we had three mechanical and electrical engineers at the hub conducting an in-depth study of our facilities. They analysed our current capabilities to produce mechanical and electrical drawings and prepared a report aligning with our sustainability development goals. This was a comprehensive feasibility and practicability engineering study of our utilities, focusing on our sustainability development goals at The Hub and our decarbonization program. The goal was to ensure our future-proofing plans were in line with internationally agreed sustainability standards. It was a productive and informative knowledge-sharing experience for our sustainability team and these qualified engineers. We also met with the Strategic Property Review Department regarding the Enablement Fund.

On the 3rd of March, we had a meeting with the district council's participatory budgeting officer about our Soup Night event. Being a Thursday, the hub was fully booked, and some groups had to be relocated to rooms that are not typically used. The management team had no rest that day.

On the 4th of March, we participated in a webinar focused on navigating ethical project delivery. This was a fascinating session concerning our energy transition, specifically regarding the procurement of equipment and installers for our solar panels. New legislation coming into effect later this year, as well as current requirements for funding applications, will impact our procurement across all aspects of our management and retrofit upgrades. We also had a planning meeting with Ian Guthrie from the NHS about how we are addressing social isolation and loneliness, where we generated some great ideas for further development.

On Thursday, the 5th of March, the management team attended the Share and Repair gathering in Stirling. Networking took place, leading to new friendships and reunions with old friends. A lot of valuable knowledge was shared. Additionally, due to the upcoming elections, there was a community energy hustings in Edinburgh that our energy transition lead could not attend. However, he submitted a question to the political parties for the upcoming election and ensured that acquaintances would be present to report back on the outcomes and hold the parties accountable to their promises.

On the 9th of March, Scotland experienced the disastrous fire at Central Station in Glasgow caused by lithium batteries. This incident affected transportation, including the travel of two main members of our management committee who were en route to Polmont. While it may seem like an isolated incident, it undoubtedly made an impact on our community. Insurance companies will likely reassess their policies to minimise the risks of fires like this occurring in small to medium enterprises across the country. The small shop that caught fire did so due to inadequate fire and safety equipment for lithium batteries, causing significant disruptions not only to train services but also affecting emergency services. What began as a small incident escalated into a major event in Scotland's largest city. We will learn from this as we move toward electric vehicles and battery storage for our initiatives before new legislation is implemented. also that day, our volunteer Emma attended the webinar for the Forth Flood Forum,

 10th of March: We had a Zoom meeting for the Energy Learning Network. Unfortunately, we received a disappointing response from Scottish Water regarding our application for support with changes to our water-saving sustainable urban drainage system. Their level of assistance has been less than helpful.

11th of March The gardening group participated in FEL's leadership training day at the hub. A photographer attended the event and took numerous photos. It was a long and busy day for our team, but lunch was fantastic, and we made new friends. We learned quite a bit and had the opportunity to network.

12th of March: Our sustainability champion attended yet another webinar on participatory budgeting. We also had a meeting with Ian Guthrie from Strathcarron Community Services, who provided us with a fantastic building communities wooden box and tiles set. He expressed his enthusiasm for helping us organize a music event.

Friday the 13th Contrary to superstition, it turned out to be a wonderful day filled with a very successful event. Claire organised the Stronger Communities Gathering, funded by the council, to celebrate our community ownership. It was a free lunch event that brought our community together to acknowledge our achievements. Claire did an amazing job organizing the event, which was one of our most successful and well-attended yet. Everyone who attended loved it, and we received excellent feedback. Claire felt that all the hard work we had put in over the past two years was finally recognized and appreciated. We have built a caring community that we hope will stay connected for generations to come. Thank you to everyone who attended and believed in us during our previous and current challenging times.

Saturday 14th of March: We attended the Permaculture Scotland gathering in Stirling while Yoga Scotland used the main hall, and the Caravan and Camping Club occupied the other end of the hub. 

15th of March: We held our second Tea Talk and Tech event. The gardening group met, and February's newsletter was completed and sent out.

17th of March: Kenny was invited to speak at Social Enterprise Scotland's Community Spaces Network session about how we address social isolation at our hub. We also attended the Funders Fair at Grangemouth Stadium, and later, Kenny had an online business meeting for Business Innovation Forth20 Fund.

19th of March: We met with an international gardening group called Fauna and Flora, which is an ongoing collaboration. Later that evening, we hosted the Night of Flight Free Adventures event, which was held both online and in person. We were disappointed only two people attended at the hub, it featured inspiring speakers discussing their adventures. We’re working on rebuilding the social cinema aspect of our activities but have found it challenging to secure support. The band practiced that evening in the main hall after Highland dancing, they wanted a sound check, and they had many questions about their upcoming first gig at our soup event.

20th of March: We had a lengthy and informative meeting with a representative from Scotland's Hydro Nation Group about the application process for funding our water-saving initiatives. Kenny took the Carbo bike to get ingredients for the soup.

21st of March: We hosted Soup Night. There are several write-ups about this on other blogs, as well as an hour-long webinar featured on the International Transition Network's resource page, titled "Practising Transition."

24th of March: We attended a community energy peer group meeting and received a disappointing response regarding our application for environmental education funding. This was particularly disheartening as we had invested a lot of work into preparing that application. Additionally, we faced another rejection from the Scottish Edge, marking the third time our funding application to them has been denied.

26th of March: Our sustainability champion attended an environmental leadership meeting with the network funders at the Hidden Garden in Glasgow, which provided excellent networking opportunities. We also held a lengthy meeting with an electrician to get quotes for installing hand dryers and to review the electrical work done during the changing room conversions. This work caused us a significant amount of stress and complications for our admin team. Our owl project received a substantial donation of books, and we planted more sunflower seeds. On the last day of March, we had a lengthy meeting with some quantity surveyors and confirmed that we are now a partner organisation with a group called Fourth20. We sent out invitations for an emergency briefing that day and attended a webinar about divesting pension funds from war and pollution. 

Overall, March was an extremely busy and successful month for the hub, with recognition at local, national, and international levels. The future looks brighter for our hub every day.