FACT Newsletter, August 2022
FACT at the town hall remains a hive of activity. See this month’s newsletter below for our latest news.
News
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
REAP – Rural Environmental Action Project – Workshop – 29 Mar 22
REAP (Rural Environmental Action Project) are running an energy advice workshop on 29 March 22 in the Forres Town Hall – come along and join their workshop to get help and learn, from start to finish, how to deal with your fuel debt and to keep it off. For more details please click the link:
Eventbrite
https://reapdealingwithfueldebtworkshop.eventbrite.co.uk
REAP Facebook Event
Forres Online Activities – 14 – 18 March 2022 – Postponed
Please note: all Forres Online Activities this week 14 -18 March are cancelled due to a number of positive Covid tests. Please accept our apologies. We will publish more details in this newsfeed to confirm if activities will resume next week 21 March.
Town Hall Coffee Mornings
Every Saturday between 10am and 12 midday a coffee morning is held in the Forres Town Hall. Each week a local Forres charity or organisation run the coffee mornings to raise money for their good causes.
A small entry fee is payable at the door which includes your tea, coffee and a snack. There is usually a raffle to take part in plus other stalls depending on the organisers.
The next few coffee mornings will be held by:
Forres Golf Club – 12 March 2022
St John’s Church – 19 March 2022
Forres Soccer Sevens – 26 March 2022
Come along and enjoy the fun!
Carbon Neutral Forres – Free Workshops
What will a carbon neutral Forres look like?
It’s not too late to join the free workshops discussing the vision of a carbon neutral Forres. This Monday, 28 February is in the North Room, Forres Town Hall, access via the side door close to the Tullock Park Car Park. On Monday the workshop will focus on a story-telling session with Margot Henderson. Margot will be supporting us to develop our visions into something more tangible and learn useful story-telling skills to help us communicate them better.
Here is some feedback from last Monday’s session:
One thing you appreciated about this morning:
– the opportunity to think about Forres and beyond and how to create futures that improve quality of life for people and the environment.
– friendly facilitation; calm and flexible guidance
– humour of group
– excellent lunch
– I really appreciated the process of opening up a vision of a better future.
– the visualisation exercise was incredible!
For your chance to get involved, why not sign up for an event? The workshop on the 28 February is being held in the Forres Town Hall the remaining two workshops will be held in the Transition Town Cafe. Please note that you do not have to come to all 5 of the events.
To book follow the link…
Carbon Neutral Moray – Workshops
FACT and Forres Town Hall are hosting 2 of a series of 5 workshops facilitated by tsiMoray and in collaboration with Transition Town Forres, exploring the vision of a carbon neutral Moray. To register and to find out more details see below or click here.
Be part of the conversation! What might life in a zero-carbon Moray look like & what are our priorities for a just, sustainable transition?
About this event:
Scotland is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2045. But reducing emissions isn’t all about giving things up. It could mean having better insulated homes and lower heating bills; investing in green new jobs; and eating more locally-grown produce, benefitting both our health and our soils.
To explore these opportunities further, as well as what community-led development we should prioritise to ensure a just and sustainable renewal for Moray, Transition Town Forres invites you to take part in a 5-part series of workshops, co-hosted by FACT and facilitated by tsiMORAY.
All sessions are free of charge and are offered through tsiMORAY as part of two projects funded by the Scottish Government.
As a thank you for your time, we will provide an optional lunch (13:00-14:00), freshly cooked from locally grown produce, after each session. All are welcome, but places are limited. Please book here and let us know of any dietary restrictions in advance.
Be part of the conversation! What might life in a zero-carbon Moray look like & what are our priorities for a just, sustainable transition?
About this event
Scotland is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2045. But reducing emissions isn’t all about giving things up. It could mean having better insulated homes and lower heating bills; investing in green new jobs; and eating more locally-grown produce, benefitting both our health and our soils.
To explore these opportunities further, as well as what community-led development we should prioritise to ensure a just and sustainable renewal for Moray, Transition Town Forres invites you to take part in a 5-part series of workshops, co-hosted by FACT and facilitated by tsiMORAY.
All sessions are free of charge and are offered through tsiMORAY as part of two projects funded by the Scottish Government.
As a thank you for your time, we will provide an optional lunch (13:00-14:00), freshly cooked from locally grown produce, after each session. All are welcome, but places are limited. Please book here and let us know of any dietary restrictions in advance.
Session 1: Climate Café – Talking about Climate
Venue: Transition Town Forres, 1 Bogton Road, IV36 1PH
Monday 14 February (NOTE: originally scheduled for 7 Feb but postponed due to unforeseen circumstances)
Learn tools and techniques for bringing conversations about climate change into your daily life, with other members of your community. What blocks us from talking about climate change? What common ground do we share? And how can we build a consensus about how to tackle the challenges we face?
Session 2: Visioning Carbon-Neutral Futures for Moray
Venue: Forres Town Hall, High Street, IV36 1PB
Monday 21 February
(Note: Venue change to FACT)
What if Moray were carbon-neutral? What would our lives look like? What would it mean for the way we get to work, shop, heat our homes, and spend our leisure time? Through ‘What If?’ exercises we will start to explore the futures we would like to build together.
Session 3: Telling A New Story
Venue: Forres Town Hall, High Street, IV36 1PB
Monday 28 February
Building on the idea-gathering work from the previous week, we will work with a local storyteller to produce our own stories of what life might look like in a carbon-neutral Moray. Stories are powerful and telling them is a way to bring together lots of ideas in a relatable way.
Session 4: Next Steps: Setting Community Priorities, Part 1
Venue: Transition Town Forres, 1 Bogton Road, IV36 1PH
Monday 7 March (Note venue change)
Using a set of images, we will work in small groups to identify the assets we have in Moray and where we should target resources to ensure a fair and sustainable transition for all.
Session 5: Setting Community Priorities, Part 2
Venue: Transition Town Forres, 1 Bogton Road, IV36 1PH
Monday 14 March
Following on from Part 1, we will discuss where we think investment in community-led development should be prioritised.