Month: February 2018

The event on Monday night, hosted by the Moy sub-committee, was to enable residents from Moy, Ruthven, Lynebeg and Dalmagarry to come along and meet the committee and discuss ideas on what to do with the Moy Community Benefit Fund.

Around 30 people from the area gathered in the hall over tea and biscuits. Marian Hendry, Chair of the Moy sub-committee, welcomed everyone and Richard Cooling, Chair of Strathdearn Community Developments, gave a background to the Moy superfast ‘fibre to the premises’ broadband scheme: an example of a project that invested some of the wind farm money in upgrading local services. Javier Amores from Eneco, site manager of the Moy Wind Farm, and Robert Thorburn, Openreach digital partnership director for Scotland, talked about their experience of working with the community on the scheme. Several residents talked about the difference from their almost non-existent broadband service to being able to video call relatives down south now that they can choose from speeds of up to 300 mbps.

The evening continued with the chance to discuss both current and new projects for the community. Lots of good ideas were generated, some that can be implemented right away and others to look at in the long term. There were several categories considered: Health, Vulnerable and the Elderly, Children and Young People, Carbon Reduction, Environmental, Educational and Skills Development, Self-help Groups, Sustainability, Community Regeneration and Community Buildings. However, any idea counts, big or small and the committee would like to remind everyone that their ideas matter, so keep them coming!

A ‘Taste of Game’ evening was held in the Strathdearn hall on Saturday to raise awareness that the Tomatin Community Shop will be stocking a wide range of this delicious, locally produced food, as from 25th February.The night was a huge success. Jenny McCallum, of the Tomatin Moorland Group, described the evening for us:

The Taste of Game night exceeded all expectations. We had over 30 people from the area and the room was packed with a real buzz and included a few of the local estate staff. There were quite a few questionnaires returned to gauge interest of what people would like to see in the shop and everyone in the room was really positive about game being supplied there. They also wanted to see stocks of the Crossbill gin and the Connage cheese, so it all went down a storm. There was an appetite for another cookery event and also requests for hare and venison liver.

Cara Richardson, the chef, came across really well and when she compared a chicken breast to pheasant there was no comparison. She showed everyone how to cook a venison fillet in minutes and how to wrap it tight in cling film and freeze, to then serve up as a carpaccio. Not many people had eaten raw venison before and the plate was cleared. The goujons of pheasant and grouse were also a super easy and a great introduction to grouse. Some had never tried it before and were definitely converted.

The Tomatin Moorland Group are very grateful to Cara and Elaine Hepburn for their help on the evening and to Mhairi MacSween and Lee-Ann Cornwall for their assistance with the event.

SCD would also like to thank everyone for turning out on the night. If you couldn’t manage along please remember to fill out your questionnaire, which was delivered with your newsletter, or pop in and speak to staff at the shop to help plan future supplies.