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Funding award

SEAchange are delighted to receive £96,727 from the Rural & Island Communities Ideas into Action fund, a Scottish Government programme aimed at supporting “community groups to design and deliver innovative solutions to local challenges in rural communities across Scotland”.

This funding has been awarded to enable SEAchange to plant 18,000 trees, to produce a final plan for the refurbishment of Slains Kirk, and to get help with project management.

The woodland will improve local biodiversity as well as offsetting carbon emissions. This funding award will also enable SEAchange to fence the land which the Scottish Land Fund awarded a grant to buy for the creation of community woodland.

The funding will make it possible for SEAchange to have the expert advice needed to go on to the next stage in renovating the Slains Kirk building. The refurbishment of the former Kirk as a café will provide a new resource and focal point for the community, whilst sharing information on ways by which community members and visitors can reduce their carbon impact.

The intention is also to showcase local art and heritage, both assets of this area which has strong historical connections and a network of talented artists and musicians.

Thank you!

It was great to see so many at SEAchange’s open day on May 21st – thank you to all of you who came and gave us your comments, concerns and suggestions.
Community Enterprise are still working on their report which will we hope bring all of these into a constructive way forward.

Meanwhile here is a link to the film which Fiona Bell has made about the open day  – very many thanks to Fiona for all the work she has put into making the film:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpcvu_AcrtY

If you have had any more thoughts since the open day, do email <seachange41@btinternet.com> with your suggestions.

First trees planted!!!

On Saturday 5th June 2021 we celebrated planting the first trees with the p7s from Slains School and many others, young and not so young, all working together and enjoying beautiful sunshine in the Kirkland field. Click here for a link to Fiona Bell’s 3 minute video of the day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikFnuM55pFo

If you would like more info email:

seachange41@btinternet.com

Ownership news!

As of 31st March, SEAchange now owns the land for creating a community woodland, as well as the kirk building with a small piece of land alongside the graveyard. We’re very grateful to the Scottish Land Fund for their grant award which has made this possible.

We’re excited to be starting out on this new venture, which we believe will enrich our community in many different ways and we would like to thank all the community for input, feedback or support in helping to achieve this milestone. 

Cheers from the trustees!

More trees planted 5th March 2022

On Saturday 5th March there was a SEAchange open Day to plant more trees in the Kirk Wood as we have received 420 trees from the Woodland Trust, and also trees from Slains School.

More than 50 people had fun planting them as you can see in this 2 minute film by Fiona Bell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAuWvP2wyTw


seachange41@btinternet.com

SEAchange Meetings

SEAchange meetings are continuing online during this time when we can no longer gather in person.  You can follow what is happening here on the website, or on our Facebook page.

You are welcome to join us for discussion and planning future action, sharing progress, and listening to invited speakers. 

Fill in the website form, or email us on <seachange41@btinternet.com> if you would like to be involved.

A Vital Step for SEAchange

SEAchange has been awarded a grant from The Scottish Land Fund,

which enables the purchase of the old Slains Kirk building for community use, together with land on which to plant trees to begin to offset our community carbon footprint.

This funding will be a big step forward in realising a community project which began to take shape in 2018. There has been a lot of community input, with many people sharing ideas, needs, concerns and visions of what could be achieved.

The project highlights taking individual and community action to mitigate the climate emergency by working towards becoming a carbon neutral community. A need was also expressed for somewhere that people could meet each other on an informal drop-in basis.

In Nov-Dec 2019 an independent community ballot was held. Of 187 votes cast 74% supported the centre and café in the kirk building and 75% also supported the woodland area which will provide additional recreational opportunities as well as sequestering carbon emissions.

With this grant award SEAchange will be able to take the first steps in implementing these community aspirations.

Professor Pete Smith, FRS, FRSE, FNA, FEurASc, FRSB, Professor of Soils & Global Change, University of Aberdeen, and also a trustee of SEAchange, said:

“We are delighted with this award from the Scottish Land Fund. It will allow us to develop the old Kirk for use as a low carbon community café and the land for creating community woodland. There is still a lot of work to do, but this award marks the first vital step on our journey to become a carbon neutral community.”

You can read a summary of a talk on the climate crisis by Professor Pete Smith via this link.

SEAchange would like to express our warmest thanks to the Scottish Land Fund for this award, and also to the Formartine Area Committee, The Architectural Heritage Fund, and Just Enterprise for their help in researching and developing the project.

A Brief Outline

What we want to do and why

Our vision is to become net carbon neutral as a community by 2045 at the latest, and to try to achieve net zero emissions as soon as possible. We aim to do this through changes in the ways we travel, the ways we heat our homes, the ways we consume energy, the food we eat and how we live.

As we learn more about climate change facts, we’re sharing what we learn.

We are very grateful to the Scottish Land Fund for awarding us funding which has enabled us to purchase land on which to plant a community woodland to help offset our carbon usage, and also the Slains Kirk building, in which we hope to create a café that people will enjoy coming to. People in our community have expressed the need for somewhere to meet each other informally, as some feel lonely and isolated, particularly in the winter months.

We still need funding to renovate the building as our project centre, with investment in energy efficiency and in sources of renewable energy.

At the same time our café will celebrate the historic Slains Kirk building, and will feature stories from the community’s past, reaching across centuries, and valuing the roots which have made the community what it is today.
It will provide a venue to encourage art and musical talent – and to appreciate the craftsmanship of the building itself.

All ages in our community have already been involved in different aspects of the SEAchange project.

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