"Community Consultation is a two-way process"

Update February/March 2010

An Cridhe: we’re almost there…

The entire financial plan: funding, costs and sustainable revenue generation is constantly being reviewed. Below are some details of changes made since the finance plan was presented in Nov 2009.
Funding:
The great news is that SNH decided to reconsider the An Cridhe grant application and are now funding the project! We are left with a shortfall of £5,365 which we expect to be able to cover with a last push on community fundraising.
Revenue Funding:
In the current economic climate, recent discussions with the council indicate that a funded service point is unlikely for An Cridhe. We have made adjustments to percentages of funding allocated and reviewed staffing levels required.
Capital Costs:

Different funding bodies are happy to accept different types of land valuation and will apply their funding accordingly.
Part of the difference between the two types of land valuations will need to be funded by monies from sources that are not restricted in any way, such as trusts, foundations and community fundraising.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise recently commissioned a valuation from the District Valuer which returned a value of £160,000.
Of our two major funders, one (the Lottery) is bound by the valuation from the District Valuer, but has agreed to be flexible and will increase the percentage funding for other costs such that their overall contribution remains the same.
The second major funder has advised us to get an up to date independent commercial valuation. This has come in at £260,000.
The second major funder accepts this valuation and will use it to calculate their eligible costs which they have approved at the substantial rate of 40%.
The overall effect of the above is that there is no loss in funding contribution from any party, nor is there a need for additional funding.

The next Lottery Committee meeting (due in April) is to be updated with the above changes, plus the community consultation results of Nov 2009. Following this, we expect to be able to move onto the next stage of the project in May.

If you would like a more detailed update on the changes to the financial plan or any other information about the project, please contact Development Coll.

Recycoll

Glass Imploder Project is now fully funded, and the machine has been ordered. Recycoll and Development Coll have attracted funding from the Climate Challenge Fund and Awards for All. Recycoll is contributing £1000 towards the project. We hope that the machine and suitable glass bins will be in situ by the end of April.

Coll Kids Club

Youth Group – Received £395 from the Health Initiative Fund – this has been used for buying new equipment for the Kids Football Club, and for specific training for physical activities. Very successful beach activities morning held during half term.

Please note: this update is being sent to every household. The norm in future will be for it to be posted on notice boards.

Jan 2010: Community confirms overwhelming support for An Cridhe

Background
In April 2009 the Lottery made a grant award of £852,329 to Development Coll for the An Cridhe project. Based on opinions expressed in the Development Plan, (ratified by the community back in 2006) Development Coll had included some proceeds from the sale of the existing hall in the overall funding package for An Cridhe.

In August 2009 the Coll Community Council ran a vote based on the electoral roll regarding the sale of the village hall. The community voted 47 to 44 against selling the hall. This was not a vote about An Cridhe, simply a vote on the sale of the hall. In September 2009, the Lottery approached Development Coll with a proposal to hold a further round of community consultation in order to “gain a better understanding of the community’s views.”

The Consultation and Results
On the 5th and 6th of November 2009 this consultation was carried out. A summary of the report is available in the News section, along with the accompanying statement from the Lottery. The results demonstrate a high level of support for An Cridhe. 76.1% of respondents stated that they were either supportive or very supportive of the project and 80.7% of respondents stated that they expect to use An Cridhe.

Impact of the community decision to not sell the hall
The impact is twofold. In terms of funding, there had been £60,000 included in the original funding package. Excluding this amount, and assuming that applications pending proceed as planned (see funding update in the News Section for details), there is a current shortfall of £44,000. Development Coll is confident that we will be able to close this gap.
The second impact is that the community will soon have two community buildings. The community needs to be clear to funders and all those interested in An Cridhe that these buildings will not be in competition with each other. Development Coll is in discussion with the Community Council to obtain a letter stating the intention to apply for change of use for the Village hall, once An Cridhe is up and running.

Next Steps for Development Coll include:

>	Work on the proposal the Lottery have requested to demonstrate how the An Cridhe project will achieve both the proposed funding package and ongoing viability (this relates to the existing hall not being in competition with An Cridhe).
>	Work on closing the funding gap of £44,000

Timescales
The Lottery proposal will be submitted in early February 2010. We would expect to be able to start the project in Feb/March 2010. Spades in ground is expected to commence late summer 2010.


	40% there! We hope to be announcing another fundraising success very soon!

3rd Nov '09 Public Meeting

Documents relating to November's public meeting are available:

>	To download from this website (Click on the document titles below to open or save)

	Strategic overview from our professional team (these comments were made by the panel on the night but do not appear within the power point notes)

	The entire power point presentation (pdf format)

	In relation to bunkhouse category, the letter from director of the Hebridean Centre

	In relation to finance category, the statement from head teacher of Arinagour Primary School

	Minutes from the meeting (draft)


	Follow up workshops on finance were held at the Island Cafe on Tuesday 10th November (10am-12 noon) and Wednesday 11th November (7.30pm-9.30pm). No members of the public attended either.

The Project

Documents you can Download:
	Timeline (updated 9 June '09) (*pdf, 150kb)
	Business Plan (pdf, <1MB)
	Appendices to Business Plan (pdf, 1MB)
	Financial Summary (pdf, 170kb)
* pdf documents open in Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded here:

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