Cakes, chocolate and community consultation
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After a long dark winter, Laggan Forest Trust decided it was time to spring forward with an Easter Spring tea on Sunday, with Laggan Village Hall bedecked with bright floral bunting, and lots of delicious goodies on offer!
Life certainly is sweet since Olive Tree Chocolate of Elgin came along with lots of tempting treats. The wicked chocolate fountain proved extremely tempting for dipping delicious fruit and marshmallows, which The Co-operative kindly donated in support of this fund-raiser.
A mouth-watering spread was laid on by hard-working volunteers, which was enjoyed along with tea and coffee by over 80 residents and visitors.
Wildlife Charity Swap or Adopt came along to man a stall with children from Gergask Primary School. Children could bring along an old cuddly toy to swap or could buy a new toy complete with adoption certificate. 50% of takings go to the participating school.
The event certainly raised smiles as well as funds with lots of children having fun decorating Easter eggs while mums and dads won fantastic raffle prizes, including a bottle of malt kindly donated by Dalwhinnie Distillery and a hamper including a bottle of champagne.
The Spring Tea followed on from two other events run by the Trust in the past week.
On Wednesday 28th March, Laggan Forest Trust held a meeting to update the local community and consult with them for views on future developments.
LFT has received funding through The Scottish Government’s Enterprise Growth Scheme to set up three community ventures; a wood-fuel business, a path-building business and a camp-site as well as supporting the improvement of broadband provision in the Laggan area. These developments will run alongside the main Laggan Forest Development Project as part of the overall vision.
The open day was held for all the community to receive an update on the Development Project with three presentations throughout the day by Robin Jackson, Development Manager, and architects Lindsay Benson and Grant Robertson.
Robin Jackson commented “The day was very useful and reflected our desire to work in partnership with all members of the community, welcoming their input. As indicated at the event, this is the beginning of a process, not the end, and we look forward to working together for the overall benefit of Laggan.”
Information was displayed on the four elements of the Enterprise Growth Fund projects, mentioned above, and members of the Forest Centre design team, including Architects Benson Robertson and Armour Construction Consultants, were there to seek community input on the proposed designs.
It was a productive meeting with an encouraging number of residents in attendance. A number of comments were made on the various options for the design of the centre, and some concerns were raised.
Laggan Broadband Community Interest Company and Laggan Marketing Group were present to provide an update on how all are making progress for the benefit of Laggan.