Spring has now started to arrive down by the sea!
Facilities upgrade – Update
The great news is that we eventually got our Building Warrant approved in early March.
The not so good news is that this means we have had to take the decision to delay the start of building works until the autumn; after a year of COVID lockdown and closure we couldn’t risk having building work going on when there is even a remote possibility of us being able to open up and provide activities and fun on the water. (See below).
In some ways this is a great disappointment, but in other ways, it enables us to deal with some features of the Building Warrant approval, and to fold that in to the designs and tenders that we have on the table. This will take a little bit of work over the spring and summer but it means that we will be in a good position to hit the ground running in the autumn and have our building work carried out during our (completely) closed season. We’ll continue to keep you updated over the coming months on our progress!
Recruiting
Although the Centre itself has been closed due to the pandemic, the activities behind the scenes has been much more hectic!
Longcraig supported a Virtual Recruitment Event online at the beginning of March, and a very good number of people tuned in to see what volunteering at Longcraig was about. We’ve now followed up with all of these new faces/names, and have meetings scheduled with them over the next few weeks so we can start to integrate them into the ASU.
It’s not too late, if you missed any of the events earlier – to come and see yourself what might be involved. It doesn’t even have to involve being in or on the water – we have loads of opportunities for people who don’t like the water, to help with the running of both land activities and the running of a busy bustling activity centre.
Please get in touch if you would like a quick chat through what’s available – send an e-mail to getinvolved@longcraig.info to get started. You would then join in with the other new folks during this year to take the various steps needed to get involved in a more practical sense.
We’d like to thank the Scouting Support Officer for the Region – Mike Treanor – for his invaluable help in getting the event together and helping to make it all work. Thanks Mike!
RE-OPENING in 2021
As you will all be aware, Scouting is still very much in Lockdown as you read this, and although there are a number of theories about when Scouting will be able to return to some normality, we at Longcraig have exactly the same questions and uncertainties!
We are however considerably more hopeful that we will be back to offering some activities on the water this year, hopefully while the sun shines! The timings are still unclear, so we’ve not yet opened our Bookings Forms, and the scope of any activities we are able to offer may be a bit different from what we have come to expect in the recent 50 years or so.
But we are hopeful of signs of recovery, and will of course continue to update everyone through this regular newsletter and on our Longcraig website as soon as it becomes clearer what we are permitted to do – this is what we hope to see again one day soon!
IN THE MEANTIME
It is possible to hire some of our equipment that we have at Longcraig for your own Group for local activities, or even for family use by people who have the appropriate skills and expertise. If this is something you are interested in, please use our contact e-mail at getinvolved@longcraig.info to make enquiries.
Ian Harrower
Longcraig ASU