FACT Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2024
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the
unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024.
FACT AGM – 2023
FACT will be holding its Annual General meeting on Monday 18th December, 2023 at 6.30pm
Members and supporters are invited to join us for the meeting in Forres Town Hall.
The following documents relating to the AGM are available as follows:
Volunteer Receptionist
We are currently looking for Receptionists who can welcome visitors to the Forres Town Hall. This position plays a vital role in the customer service of our team, and in providing as much access as possible to the Town Hall across the week. The receptionists will greet and direct visitors as well as answering and responding to phone calls. Additionally the role can provide administrative support if that interests you.
The role is based in the Hallkeepers Office in Forres Town Hall and you will need to have good verbal communication skills, a friendly and welcoming demeanour, and the ability to multi-task at times.
The role can be undertaken in a morning or early afternoon. How much you can support us, is up to you. Just a few volunteering hours a week goes a long way to helping our team do our best for the people of Forres and the surrounding area.
For more information, please contact us or
Forres Online – Digital Support Volunteer
We are looking for people to become Digital Champions who can provide IT support especially the elderly. You don’t need to be an IT expert, but you do need to be patient, understanding and a great communicator.
You’ll offer friendly and patient support to learners, so that they build their confidence, know how to find further help, and stay safe online.The role involves attendance at our support sessions and outreach visits. Helping people who are new to technology and perhaps assisting them remotely by telephone and other means. If you have experience of some coaching, mentoring, tutoring or teaching before that’s great. The role is based in Forres Town Hall. There is free digital champions training available to volunteers. The role can be morning and afternoons and you will need to be able to cover at least one of our sessions in our Forres Online timetable.
For more information, please contact us or
Volunteer Befriender
Our mission to promote the well being of people in and around Forres, is helped by volunteers joining us as “Befrienders”. They help make life more enjoyable and fulfilling by reducing social isolation. You might befriend people through our telephone befriending service, through face to face work, or by supporting local events and activities.
We are looking for volunteers with a friendly, outgoing personality, an empathy for others, and who want to make a difference. Befriending calls are typically made in the morning or early afternoon, although events and activities can run at different times during the day.
How much you can support us, is up to you. Just a few volunteering hours a week goes a long way to helping our team do our best for the people of Forres and the surrounding area.
For more information, please contact us or
Covid 19 Update – 12 May 2022
All Scottish Government Covid 19 restrictions that applied to public venues have been reassessed as advisory, rather than a legal requirement.
Therefore, there will no longer be a requirement to complete a ‘Track and Trace’ form, wear masks or use hand sanitiser.
Whilst the restrictions have been reassessed to advisory please continue to be kind to people and respect their space. Hand sanitiser stations will still be available in the Town Hall.
Thank you to everyone for following the rules in the past, let’s hope brighter times are ahead
Queens Jubilee Celebration Weekend – 2nd to 5th June 2022
Forres is hosting a four-day event to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
A number of community groups from across the town are working together to create a programme of events kicking off on Thursday, June 2.
The celebrations will include live music, a picnic in the park, music from the Forres & District Pipe Band, a performance of the official Queen’s Jubilee song and the return of the Toun Mercat.
Forres Community Council, Forres In Bloom and the Forres Community Activities Association are taking a lead on the organisation of the event.
Kathleen Robertson, chair of the Forres Community Council said: “We are very excited to be working as a community to stage a very special event spanning four days to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Once again, Forres is proving what a great community spirit it has, and we are well on our way to creating a fabulous occasion that the whole town will be able to enjoy.”
The event will kick off on the evening of Thursday, June 2 with the Tolbooth being lit up to stand as a ‘beacon,’ and will become part of a network of more than 1,500 beacons being lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, and UK overseas territories.
At 9.35pm, Pipers from the Forres & District Pipe Band will play ‘Diu Regnare’ – a unique tune especially written for the Platinum Jubilee. Imogen Symon, will play cornet piece ‘Majesty’ at 9.40pm which will officially announce the lighting of the Tolbooth at 9.45pm to the song ‘A Life Lived With Grace,’ by the Forres Youth Choir which is being performed at beacon lighting ceremonies up and down the country.
On Friday, the Toun Mercat will take place organised by the Forres Community Activities Association and on Sunday, people are being invited to a Picnic in the Park event at Grant Park where there will be a fancy-dress competition, tree planting, fun runs, live music and more.
Rachel Philp, a volunteer with the FCAA said: “It’s so great to be bringing events back to Forres and for such a great reason. The Toun Mercat last took place in 2018 and usually takes place every three years as part of Scottish Week but 2021 was cancelled due to Covid 19, so this Mercat is being specially pulled together to help the town celebrate the Jubilee. We are now taking applications from people who want to take stalls and get involved and all they need to do is get in touch.”
Kathleen added: “There really is something for everyone to enjoy, from special church services and bell ringing to the picnic in the park with lots of family activities. We want people to come along and enjoy themselves and if anyone has other ideas of how they can get involved in any part of what we are creating, we urge them to get in touch. This is an event by the community for the community.”
Businesses in Forres are being encouraged to get involved in the town’s Jubilee celebrations by dressing their properties or windows with a ‘royal’ theme.
The Forres Area Business Association is making the appeal to businesses as the town gears up to host a number events to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Claire Doughty, a director with FABA said: “The whole community is working together to bring something really special to Forres and the key organisers of the events have asked us to rally the businesses and get them involved. From Thursday, June 2 through to June 5 there will several events taking place, predominantly in the town centre, so we hope that we can get the town looking festive.”
Claire added: “It’s great to see so much going on and we are pleased many businesses are staging their own events too. Forres is great at putting on a show and it looks like the Queen’s Jubilee will be celebrated in style.”
To book a stall at the Toun Mercat follow this link:
FACT Summer and Autumn Activities Guide 2022
Download your full Summer and Autumn Activity Guide here.
Spirit of the Community Consultation – April/May 2022
FORRES SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY CONSULTATION APRIL 2022
The Forres Area Community Trust (FACT) & other local organisations have come together to ask for views to help identify & understand the priorities of the Community under four themes.
Themes: Local Environment, Transport/Traffic Access, Leisure & Tourism, Facilities & Services
Each theme will be used to format questions for you to respond to in the survey. This information will be collated with other research gathered to help us develop a community plan for the Forres Academy catchment area. You will not be asked for your name and address (only postcode) and your answers will not be separately identifiable. To access the survey click the button or use the link below.
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WDZSBH7
Please note that the survey is open until 31 May 2022
Spirit of Community 2 Event – 27 April 2022
Spirit of Community Event 2- Forres Town Hall – 27 April 2022 – 6.30pm – 9.30pm
A chance to to come along , share your experience and work together to make the Forres Area a better place to live, work and visit.
It’s free to register, follow the link below:
About this event
The pandemic has deeply affected our community over the last two years, but we came together to support and help each other. Since the last Spirit of Community event in 2014 we have seen many changes and lots of Forres area based organisations have made a difference to where we live. The aim of the event is to bring together community representatives to discuss what we have in common and identify what our priorities are for the next 5 to 10 years building on what we already know and can do.
6.30 p.m.⠀⠀Tea, coffee and networking
7.00 p.m.⠀⠀Welcome, hosting and introductions by Seymour Monro
7.10 p.m.⠀⠀ Short presentation about what progress we have made over the last 8 years and how that informs our plans for the future.
7.30 p.m.⠀⠀Discussion groups (30 minutes per session) on the following themes:
⠀⠀⠀⠀1. The Local Environment
⠀⠀⠀⠀2. Transport, Traffic and Access
⠀⠀⠀⠀3. Leisure and Tourism
⠀⠀⠀⠀4. Facilities and Services
8.05 p.m.⠀⠀Rotate to second theme group
8.35 p.m.⠀⠀Summary of each group and feedback – facilitators can feedback on the top 3 items for each table
9.15 p.m.⠀⠀Close and networking