Official Opening of new Longcraig facilities upgrades

19 Oct 2024

Malcolm Leckie

Longcraig Lead

Longcraig Scout Centre: A New Era of Facilities and Sustainability

The Longcraig Scout Centre has entered a new chapter with the grand opening of its upgraded facilities on August 28th, 2024. This monumental project has set a new standard for the Centre, providing modern, accessible, and sustainable amenities that will serve generations of Scouts, leaders, and the wider community.

The event saw a fantastic turnout, with many key supporters, including Regional Trustees, ASU members, and representatives from various teams involved in the project. Special recognition goes to James Bowie, the factor from Dalmeny Estate, whose continued support and the positive relationship we have with Lady Rosebery allows the Region to provide young people with Skills for Life in a truly unique and breathtaking location. Hector Black, the architect behind the new designs from Covell Matthews, and the dedicated building team, firstly from Edinburgh Construction, then subsequently including Alan Smith and Michael Robertson from RW Bell and Sean Brown from Sean Brown Plumbing and Heating Ltd , who all made this vision a reality.

In the opening speech of the evening, John Cannon, Regional Chair, welcomed everyone to the official opening of the Centre and on behalf of the Trustees thanked the many people who were involved in the project. John also said, “together with the new amenity hub at Bonaly this project at Longcraig has been a significant financial investment from the Region and demonstrates the importance we place on our Centres in offering fantastic outdoor experiences for our young people now and into the future.”

Transforming Our Facilities

The new facilities are a game changer, not only for Longcraig, but the thousands of Young People who will enjoy the benefits for years to come. We have replaced outdated infrastructure with state-of-the-art amenities that cater to the needs of all our visitors. Key improvements include:

· Modern, Accessible Toilets and Changing Rooms: Designed to be warm, dry, and fully accessible, these new spaces are a significant upgrade from our previous offerings. The changing rooms feature flexible layouts, making them adaptable for individuals or groups, ensuring comfort for everyone who uses them.

· Enhanced Showers and Hot Water Supply: A major highlight of the upgrade is the improved shower facilities. Hot water is now available throughout the Centre, ensuring that even on the coldest days, our visitors can enjoy warm, reliable showers after a day of activity on the water.

· Sustainability-Focused Heating Systems: As part of our commitment to sustainability, the new facilities have been equipped with renewable energy-

powered heating systems. These systems not only help to optimise our energy consumption but also ensure that all areas of the Centre remain warm and comfortable, especially during the colder months.

· Accessible Layout and Design: Ensuring that all individuals, regardless of ability, can access the facilities was a priority. The design focuses on inclusivity and easy-to-navigate spaces to accommodate everyone.

These upgrades mean that Longcraig Scout Centre is now more equipped to support large groups, diverse events, and even year-round programs than ever before, ensuring our facilities are accessible, modern, and enjoyable for all users.

The Team Behind the Project

Such a large-scale transformation wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of many individuals. Malcolm Leckie, the Centre Manager, and one of the project’s key leads, expressed deep gratitude to everyone involved, from Scouting volunteers to the professional teams who worked tirelessly on the design, build, and installation phases.

One of the standout contributors, among many, was Ian Harrower, whose determination and leadership helped to steer the project from concept to completion. His efforts behind the scenes—securing funding, organising teams, and overcoming the inevitable challenges, particularly during the COVID pandemic—have been vital. Ian’s quiet but steadfast leadership ensured that the project stayed on track, bringing this bold vision to life.

In the true Scouting spirit of co-operation, the Region’s fundraising team led by Janet Taylor included Peter Casebow, representing Bonaly, and Ian Harrower representing Longcraig, coordinated the fundraising efforts for the Bonaly Amenities Hub and the Facilities Upgrade at Longcraig, enabled the combined resources that helped secure the necessary funding for both projects. As a result, Sport Scotland were instrumental in making this project a reality with their generous financial support. Without their backing, along with the Region’s financial contributions, this endeavour would not have been possible.

Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainability

Sustainability has been a core focus of the project, ensuring that the Centre not only serves current generations but also helps protect the environment for future Scouts. The new facilities have incorporated several key renewable energy elements, reducing the Centre’s overall carbon footprint. Some of these include:

· Solar Power Generation: We have installed solar panels that now provide renewable energy to power much of the Centre’s operations. This has drastically

reduced our reliance on external energy sources and substantially lowered our overall electricity purchase costs.

· Eco-Friendly Heating Systems: By incorporating heat pumps and other energy-efficient solutions, we have optimised the heating provision in key areas of the Centre. This ensures warmth and comfort while keeping energy usage minimal.

· Water Conservation Initiatives: With the upgraded hot water supply, the Centre now uses water more efficiently, with measures in place to reduce waste and encourage conservation.

Those in attendance got to witness firsthand how these new sustainability initiatives are reshaping the Centre, setting it on a path toward Net Zero energy consumption. Not only do these updates help reduce our environmental impact, but they also improve the comfort and well-being of all who visit Longcraig.

80 Years of combined length of service Award

The opening event was topped off with Lead Volunteer for South East Scotland, Martin Elliot presenting not one, but two 40 years Length of Service Awards to two members of the Longcraig Active Support team Fraser and Fiona Simon. What a wonderful way to end the evening celebrations. Everyone at South East Scotland Scouts are so grateful for their tremendous support and dedication, not only to the centre but for their contribution to young people throughout the region.

Ready for the Future

With these remarkable upgrades in place, the Longcraig Scout Centre is ready to continue its mission of providing fun, training, and adventure for young people in the 21st century. The formal opening declaration of the new facilities was led by Ian Harrower, who had been closely involved from the earliest stages through to the completion of the project. His leadership, along with the efforts of so many dedicated individuals, has ensured that Longcraig is ready for the next chapter.

These new facilities, with their modern conveniences and eco-friendly innovations, represent a bright future for the Centre. We eagerly anticipate welcoming hundreds more Scouts and visitors in the coming years, knowing that Longcraig is better equipped than ever to offer them an unforgettable experience.

None of this would have been possible without The Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). We cannot Thank them enough.

We invite you to come and see these wonderful improvements firsthand. We look forward to continuing this exciting journey with all of you at Longcraig Scout Centre

Thank you to our project partners

Longcraig update – September 2024

14 Sep 2024

Malcolm Leckie

Longcraig Lead

First it was PORPOISES – now DOLPHINS even WHALES

Having reported in June about porpoises which were sighted near to Longcraig, there has been an abundance of marine life over the summer.

A dolphin (now known as Donny the Dolphin) has been sighted numerous times around the bridges, and for Scouts from 1^st Craigalmond in Kirkliston, they enjoyed some 45 minutes with Donny the Dolphin playing around their sailing boat and around our safety boat, in the waters between Longcraig Pier and the Forth Bridge one Friday evening in August. Clearly keen to find some new young friends! It is believed there are possibly several of them swimming around the Firth of Forth, sightings have been reported from Cellardyke in Fife to Portobello near Edinburgh, and various locations around the bridges area.

There are also reports of sightings of a small whale (unknown variety) in the upper Firth of Forth at the end of August.

An image of a bottlenose dolphin
Photo courtesy of iNaturalist

2024 Summer Months – July, August, even into September……

Well, they said these are the summer months!

And this year, there were sunny summer days – just now and again; there were dull and dreary days, just now and then; but noticeably especially in August, there were days on end with strong winds and gales. Quite unseasonal, but very disappointing for some Groups who had made bookings for activities at Longcraig which had to be cancelled as it was too windy.

Why does ‘too windy’ mean we have to cancel some bookings? It’s all about Risk Assessments and therefore one of the things we have to do prior to every activity session on the water. ‘Too windy’ can mean different things for different age groups – what might be super good fun for competent sailors or paddlers can often be ‘just too scary’ for some of our younger sections, or for people who are not accustomed to being in boats, or perhaps in choppy water. And, sometimes, it depends a bit on what the tide is doing. Obviously, tide come in and tides go out (twice every day) but the effects of the tidal flows combined with wind strength and direction can sometimes mean that an activity has to be cancelled, where at other times similar conditions could have a different outcome. We try hard to predict a little bit in advance what the conditions are going to be for people, so we can advise on cancellations before people journey to Longcraig. We don’t cancel activities lightly, but we do take very careful consideration of the various risks that wind, tides, weather conditions, and even the experience of the participants create, and a consensus decision is reached to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all concerned – that’s Young People, Leaders, our own Instructors, even our boats and equipment – they can get damaged too if it’s too windy!

If your activity booking has had to be cancelled, we will always work with you to try and reschedule or find another suitable date!

Journey to Net Zero – COMPLETED

What is Net Zero?

The term net zero means achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it. This balance – or net zero – will happen when the amount of carbon we add to the atmosphere is no more than the amount removed. (source: Energy Saving Trust)

Latest update:

The final phase of our Net Zero journey was the installation of replacement heating in our two training rooms, using Infra red heaters which can be programmed, or controlled on the sport with remote controls. This is what they look like:

Training Opportunities

We are trying to make arrangements to run a Paddleboard training /Assessment Day some time soon! The Assessor has not yet managed to come up with a date for this training course, but for anyone interested in finding out more, please get in touch and give us your details so we can let you know as arrangements firm up: getinvolved @longcraig.info

Safety Boat Training Course (leads to RYA Safety Boat Certificate) 5^th and 6^th October – 2 days course. Pre-requisite for this course is Powerboat level 2 and a reasonable amount of logged hours driving powerboats in varying conditions.

Powerboat Level 2 Course (one weekend) 2^nd and 3^rd November

This can be a follow up to a Powerboat 1 Course or it can be done directly. It is a necessary pre-qualification for anyone seeking to do the Safety Boat course (see above)

VHF Marine Radio Course (one day) Saturday 9^th November.

This one day course leads to the RYA Short Range VHF Certificate, which is a requirement to operate a Maine Band radio used for communications at sea. These can be used for anything from large yachts, to dinghies, kayaks, even paddleboards and are now seen as just as important a safety measure as buoyancy aids or helmets. The course will be run entirely indoors. It’s also encouraged for anyone working with boats, whether at Longcraig or elsewhere.

For information on, or to register an interest in, any of these courses please contact us at getinvolved@longcraig.info

Volunteering?

As the demand for our activities grows and we constantly seek to expand what we are able to offer, we need more volunteers to help us implement our plans. We now have a super-duper warm up to date activity centre to welcome volunteers into!

Ther are two distinct types of volunteers that we can effectively make use of:

TYPE 1:

These volunteers are the people who make the centre operate. We have spaces for:

Skilled water activity people who could lead activities on the water;

Semi-skilled people who have some skills but we can help develop those to a level where they can lead activities;

People with some skills to lead our shore-based activities (for bad weather days or to expand the operations of the centre)

Volunteers who can help in a number of ways ‘behind the scenes’ – with e.g. finance, marketing, recruitment, maintenance, boat or building repairs

Please simply contact us at getinvolved@longcraig.info with your details.

We’ve set aside the following dates where we will hold an introduction session to welcome any potential new volunteers and explain further what wed o and how you can get involved:

Wednesday 4^th September 7pm

Monday 7^th October 7pm

We’ll take care of the rest!

Do you have any parents in your Group who might be interested in this? Please do let them know!!

TYPE 2 Volunteering:

We can also offer a different type of volunteering, which is to provide an opportunity for groups of adults, scouts or explorers to come along during the ‘closed’ season and give us the benefit of your volunteering – this could be just for one event, or it could be – say – once a month for a period of time. This can count to a number of outcomes, such as DofE volunteering, various scout badges and awards, or simply to lend a hand for a few hours. Things you might get involved in could be checking of buoyancy aids, fixing boats, painting, and decorating some parts of the centre which were not impacted by the recent building improvements, beach protection work, or behind the scenes stuff like preparing our land activity kits.

If you’re interested, please get in touch to make arrangements or discuss further.

Longcraig update – June 2024

24 Jun 2024

Malcolm Leckie

Longcraig Lead

Porpoises

After an absence of some 15 years or more, we had several sightings of porpoises near Longcraig over the first weekend in June. The first sighting was made by a very observant Gide Leader who was visiting along with a group of Brownies and guides, A short time after, one porpoise leapt straight out of the water, and a small school of them (at least two, possibly more) were sighted playing in the waves between our pier and Inchgarvie Island. It was a very gentle breeze and a calm sea, so they were easily spotted.

The following day, there were once again several limited sightings of them, although the sea was much more unsettled, and it was quite windy. It’s great to see these sea creatures back again – their presence is a good indication that the water in the Firth of Forth is fairly clean, so that’s always a good thing!

NOT at Longcraig, but this is what they would look like.
Photo courtesy of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation

We’ve reported the sightings to the Whale & Dolphin Trust so we should now appear as a dot on their sightings map of the waters around Scotland.

2024 Summer Months – July, August, even into September……

There are still plenty of opportunities to get some activity bookings at Longcraig in the summer months – especially for small or medium size groups. Check our bookings calendar on the website for up to the minute availability, or email us if you have some specific questions – bookings@longcraig.info.

We can offer taster sessions, badge training or assessments, or complete training courses for sailing certificates or paddling certificates.

Especially during the summer holiday months, Longcraig can sometimes be a good venue for a BBQ or a day out by the seaside, with all the things that entails. Check us out or get in touch to find out how we may be able to help you plan your event.

DID YOU KNOW? You can hire a lot of our equipment during the summer for your own activities (provided there is someone competent in charge) – such as kayaks, paddleboards, Topper and Pico dinghies and such like. We can even do just buoyancy aids or wetsuits if that’s what you need! Get in touch and see how we can help.

Journey to Net Zero

What is Net Zero?

Latest update

The final phase of our Journey to Net Zero is starting to fall into place. We had to apply to the electricity network provider (Scottish Power) for permission to install solar panels before we could even start! This permission was granted at the end of May, so our contractor is now preparing to gather the material together and arrange for installation. We are planning that this will be in early July – we have a relatively quiet spell then after a busy June, so they can get on with the work unhindered.

So, by some point a little later in July, our project should be complete!

We’ll provide a full report in the next Newsletter, showing this final phase, and also some details of the benefits what have been gained form this activity.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Leaders Day

Saturday 20th July

Calling all adult leaders and Members –

Did you ever wish you could get out on the water to do some activities but there wasn’t space?

Or – you didn’t really want to when your Young People were around??

Or – you’ve never really had or taken the opportunity?

Come down to longcraig and have a go at any of our activities – kayaking, paddleboarding, dinghy sailing (single, crewed or longboat), powerboats, even rafting.

We’ll have our whole kit available throughout the day (open form 11am through to 5pm to take best advantage of the tides) so you can get out on the water for a short try, a longer float about, or a good proper activity session for as long as we can all manage.

We’ll have the BBQ running throughout the day for some sustenance, and of course there’ll be tea, coffee and light refreshments available too.

Formal Opening/Dedication of the Facilities Upgrade and Net Zero

Wednesday 28th August

Training Opportunities

Paddleboard training /Assessment Day

We are planning to run a Paddleboard training /Assessment Day sometime during the summer. The date has not been fixed yet with the Assessors, but for anyone interested in finding out more, please get in touch and give us your details so we can let you know as arrangements firm up: getinvolved@longcraig.info

Safety Boat Training Course

Safety Boat Training Course (leads to RYA Safety Boat Certificate) 5^th and 6^th October – 2 days course. Pre-requisite for this course is Powerboat level 2 and a reasonable number of logged hours driving powerboats in varying conditions.

Powerboat Level 2 Course

Powerboat Level 2 Course (one weekend) planned for later in the year (October/November timescale)

This can be a follow up to a Powerboat 1 Course or it can be done directly. It is a necessary pre-qualification for anyone seeking to do the Safety Boat course (see above)

For information on, or to register an interest in, any of these courses please contact us at getinvolved@longcraig.info

Volunteering?

As the demand for our activities grows and we constantly seek to expand what we can offer, we need more volunteers to help us implement our plans.

Ther are two distinct types of volunteers that we can effectively make use of:

Type 1

These volunteers are the people who make the centre operate. We have spaces for:

Skilled water activity people who could lead activities on the water.
Semi-skilled people who have some skills, but we can help develop those to a level where they can lead activities.
People with some skills to lead our shore-based activities (for bad weather days or to expand the operations of the centre)
Volunteers who can help in a number of ways ‘behind the scenes’ – with e.g. finance, marketing, recruitment, maintenance, boat or building repairs.

Please simply contact us at getinvolved@longcraig.info with your details.

We’ve set aside the following dates where we will hold an introduction session to welcome any potential new volunteers and explain further what wed o and how you can get involved:

Saturday 6^th July 11am

Monday 19^th August 7pm

We’ll take care of the rest!

Do you have any parents in your Group who might be interested in this? Please do let them know!!

Type 2

This can count to a number of outcomes, such as DofE volunteering, various scout badges and awards, or simply to lend a hand for a few hours. Things you might get involved in could be checking of buoyancy aids, fixing boats, painting, and decorating some parts of the centre which were not impacted by the recent building improvements, beach protection work, or behind the scenes stuff like preparing our land activity kits.

If you’re interested, please get in touch to make arrangements or discuss further.

Whatever you have planned, have a great summer!

Contact us

South East Scotland Scouts
71 Bonaly Road
Edinburgh
EH13 0PB
Contact The Region
Contact Our Scout Centres

Official Opening of new Longcraig facilities upgrades

Malcolm Leckie

Transforming Our Facilities

Longcraig update – September 2024

Malcolm Leckie

Longcraig update – June 2024

Malcolm Leckie

Porpoises

2024 Summer Months – July, August, even into September……

Journey to Net Zero

What is Net Zero?

Latest update

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Leaders Day

Saturday 20th July

Formal Opening/Dedication of the Facilities Upgrade and Net Zero

Wednesday 28th August

Training Opportunities

Paddleboard training /Assessment Day

Safety Boat Training Course

Powerboat Level 2 Course

Volunteering?

Type 1

Type 2

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