Hi everybody,
Hope you all are keeping well. In our community we have had no reports of any of our residents with Coronavirus and all have been keeping the required 2 meters distance.
Community Food Bank
With a £3000 loan and assistance from Pinwherry and Pinmore Community Council, £2,500 funding from SAC (subject to satisfactory recipes) and £12,095 from the DTDS through the Scottish Government funding, we have been able to establish a food bank, which is available to all our residents. Also with help of volunteers we are able to bring deliveries of fresh meat, vegetables, and milk to the community once a week. This will continue until the end of this pandemic. We have used some of this funding to purchase a gas refrigerator to keep fresh butter, milk and vegetables in.
Orders for fresh meat can be ordered through Anne Berry on email: berryscottie@yahoo.com by midday on a Tuesday for delivery or collection on Wednesday afternoon.
Orders for fresh vegetables and milk an be ordered through Morag Campbell on email: campbell0qe@btinternet.com by midday Tuesday for delivery or collection on a Friday afternoon.
The food bank is open on a Wednesday and Friday afternoon at 4pm or by prior arrangement.
The PPCDT and Community Council are here to assist for those in need of any financial assistance/ general help/ someone to talk to. Please contact in confidence: John Yellowlees (01465 841134)
At the end of this lock down and isolation the Community Council and the PPCDT intend to hold a free community event, details to follow later.
Pinwherry School
PPCDT Trustees and Amy, our Community Project Officer, have been in discussions with South Ayrshire Council Community Asset Transfer (CAT) Team, who have advised that we should apply for the asset transfer for the building in its current condition, however we are also eligible to apply for the Advancing Community Assets Fund. This is a new funding stream from the Council for communities applying through the CAT process and is for the capital costs to complete essential repairs on the building to ensure it is wind and watertight when it is transferred from the Council to the community.
Therefore we have obtained a quote from a local building company for removing all the wall and ceiling plaster, treating with a fungicide, replacing all external doors, removing any dry/wet rot floor boards, renewing external security lights in both buildings and removing old boiler house and railings. We also obtained a quote from a local roofer for removing damaged chimneys, repairing all flashings and capping, replacing all gutters with 6” gutters and down pipes.
These costings have been initially been accepted by South Ayrshire Council’s technical team as essential repairs and we have been authorised to include them in the Community Asset Transfer Stage 2 application and Advancing Community Assets Fund application submissions.
To supplement both applications above, Amy has completed the revised Business Plan and has written and submitted our Community Asset Transfer Stage 2 application form, in addition to the Business Plan, the contractor costings and the Advancing Community Assets Fund application. However, as the Council is currently closed for any committee meetings our application will be delayed and we are not sure at this stage when the application will go through the validation process and be made “live”.
Amy is currently working on our stage 2 application to the Scottish Land Fund for 85% of the purchase costs of the school site, but it cannot be submitted until SAC agree to the Asset Transfer. This must happen by the end of August 2020, to meet the Scottish Land Fund deadline. Amy is also working on future funding applications for redevelopment costs, which again we have to await the SAC Asset Transfer going through.
Pinwherry Community Field
The new disabled picnic tables and new community information boards have arrived, and we hope to be able to install these as soon as any lockdown is lifted.
We are still awaiting Scottish Water to agree to a connection to the water main and supply to the toilets.
Thanks to Bob and Jack for keeping the field cut and tidy.
Peter Walker.
