News

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:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spirit-of-community-2-coming-together-tickets-316641311687?utm-campaign=social%2Cemail&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-source=strongmail&utm-term=listing%20Sent%20from%20Mail%20for%20Windows

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

https://fb.me/e/1ef3KfBdr

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…

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/whats-your-vision-for-a-carbon-neutral-moray-a-5-part-series-tickets-265013571727?aff=erelpanelorg

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.

FACT Coffee Mornings – 12th and 26th February 2022

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This is a call out to all our supporters.  FACT are holding two coffee mornings in February: a popup coffee morning on Saturday 12 February and the main FACT coffee morning on Saturday 26 February,10am to 12 midday, rescheduled from January.
Please come along and enjoy a cuppa and a snack, £2 entry payable at the door, all snacks and drinks included.   It’s a great chance to meet other members and volunteers of FACT.
If you are able to donate any additional items to our raffle, bottle or home bake stalls we would really appreciate it.   Items can be dropped off at the Town Hall Reception on weekdays between 10 and 12 midday.
All proceeds will go towards supporting activities for our community.
For more details call 01309 674388 or email [email protected]

Many thanks and see you all there.

Covid19 Update – 13 Jan 2022

Happy New Year to you all. The Town Hall is open for business: the Main Reception is open from 10 to 12 Monday to Friday. You can also call us on 01309 674388.

We are running a full programme of activities all in accordance with the current Covid guidelines on social distancing, Track and Trace and there is regular cleaning taking place for your peace of mind. Please see the events section of this website for more details or give us a ring if you have any queries or questions.

If an event is cancelled or postponed we will aim to notify you as soon as possible. We apologise in advance if this causes problems, however, due to the rapid nature of the virus sometimes changes cannot be helped. Your understanding is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks and we look forward to seeing you in our Town Hall.

Festive Season Opening Hours – Forres Town Hall

Forres Town Hall will be closed from Wednesday 22 December 2021 from 12.30pm to Wednesday 5 January 2022 at 10am.  

We plan to open from 10 – 12 Monday to Friday in the New Year unless there are changes to the current Covid19 restrictions.  If our opening hours are affected we will let you all know via our website forresarea.org or Facebook.

Warmest wishes from everyone at FACT for a happy, safe Christmas and New Year.