National Rural Mental Health Forum – Reflections from Fi Thomson, Development Worker

By OTBApril 7, 2021April 7, 2021 Living well, Rural Wisdom Scotland

Jim Hulme is the convener of this lively and well attended forum underpinned by Support in Mind Scotland. It includes charities from all over Scotland. Those of us who live in the remoter parts of Scotland, either on the mainland or the islands, have the benefits of majestic views, space and a gentler pace of…

Rural Wisdom Evaluation – What we are hearing from Scotland?

By OTBJanuary 15, 2021January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Contributing to age-friendly communities, Eaglesham and Waterfoot, Evaluation, Highland Perthshire, North Angus, Rural Wisdom Scotland, Scottish Borders

As part of the evaluation in Scotland, we have gathered people’s experiences and impacts from local areas. These are some of the things we have been hearing around the impacts for people

Fuel Poverty and Cold Homes in Moray

By OTBDecember 16, 2020January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Housing & fuel poverty, Rural Wisdom Scotland

Our Rural Wisdom project works alongside Burghead and Cummingston, two small villages on the Moray Coast. They are off the gas grid and people have been telling us that they are struggling to heat their houses due to rising prices and lack of fuel choice.

Care Homes and Communities – our recent experience and what has helped

By OTBJuly 30, 2020January 20, 2021 Contributing to age-friendly communities, Living well, Rural Wisdom Scotland

The role of care homes has been so important over the past few months, and many communities have realised that they can help people who live there and staff who work in care homes. These are some of the things that we have been hearing about – both where the community helps the care home…

Our Journey so far in the Scottish Borders.

By OTBJuly 29, 2020January 20, 2021 Contributing to age-friendly communities, Living well, Rural Wisdom Scotland, Scottish Borders

Rural Wisdom is working to make rural communities work well for people as we get older and for other people who live there. We started working in the Scottish Borders in late 2018, and this video celebrates some of what we have achieved so far. For more information about our work in…

North Moray Coast’s Response to COVID-19

By OTBJune 10, 2020January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Living well, Rural Wisdom Scotland

The North Moray Coast communities have come together and responded quickly and effectively to the Covid-19 pandemic. The first actions were taken by Burghead and Cummingston Community Council. They called for volunteers, with Chris Tuke as a focal point. The response was great with many more volunteers than tasks to do tasks like shopping for…

Rural Wisdom: How older people in rural communities are responding to the pandemic

By OTBMay 7, 2020January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Eaglesham and Waterfoot, Highland Perthshire, Holywell, Leeswood and Pontblyddyn, Living well, Milford Haven, National policies, North Angus, Rural Wisdom Scotland, Rural Wisdom Wales, Scottish Borders, The Dale Peninsula

Rural Wisdom is a joint project between Outside the Box, Volunteering Matters Cymru and the National Development Team for inclusion. It is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. It began in 2017 now operates in nine different communities across Scotland and Wales. We work with older people in rural communities to support community action…

Rural Housing Conference 2020 at Birnam Arts and Conference Centre

By OTBMarch 12, 2020January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Highland Perthshire, Housing & fuel poverty, Older people having a voice & leading change, Rural Wisdom Scotland, Shared learning

by Fi Thomson, Rural Wisdom Community Worker, Moray Housing in Rural Scotland is a complex problem. Key issues such as land ownership, demographics and depopulation, holiday houses and tourism, rural enterprise and affordability were all discussed at this conference in the lovely surroundings in Birnam. The attendees included journalist and broadcaster, Lesley Riddoch whose talk was aptly named ‘Not Doomed…

Change is coming… Scottish Rural Action Conference

By Ruth WrightMarch 11, 2020January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Older people having a voice & leading change, Rural Wisdom Scotland, Shared learning

By: Joan Megson, Community Activist Change is coming. How should Scotland’s rural communities, businesses, organisations and people respond? I went to the Scottish Rural Action Conference to find out more. The location of the conference, the Lanark World Heritage Centre set the tone of what we were to focus on well. The questions posed were;…

Exploring alternative energy and fuel poverty in Moray

By OTBMarch 3, 2020January 20, 2021 Burghead, Hopeman and Cummingston, Housing & fuel poverty, National policies, Rural Wisdom Scotland

by Fi Thomson, community worker in Moray One of the first community meetings I went to was a get together to discuss Burghead, Cummingston and Hopeman becoming less reliant on oil and electricity and maybe even producing their own energy. There was interest in renewable and energy and the idea of a development trust to implement it, but it…