Latest News

The year began with a focus on the completion or continuation of earlier projects such as:

· The development and maintenance of the Glenbarr website to host the video clips from the oral history project and wider GCDA membership information;
· The collation of the oral history stories for long term availability within the community;
· Repair work to the Church Hall to ensure it remains wind and watertight for current local community use;
· Research into costs, insurance and legal requirements to enable local volunteers to carry out clearance and other appropriate work in the immediate woodland area;
· The Wilderness Wellness project which gave local school children the opportunity to enjoy creative time in the woodland environment;
· Continuation of local social events- Summer Hoolie, Bonfire and Festive celebrations – and the introduction of monthly Brew and Blether events in the re-opened Glenbarr Café to encourage social inclusion within the community;
· The piloting of a regionwide Household Resilience project within the Glenbarr area to help address cost of living and energy pressures on local households. A trainee was hired to work as a local part time advocate engaging with local householders to ensure they know about and had help to access the range of support available in terms of fuel poverty, income maximization and energy efficiency; and
· Local awareness raising and participation in two other Renewable Energy related projects through the planning and development process and use of the local hall as a site for exhibitions.

Later in the year the Glenbarr Community Development Association updated and consolidated their priorities with community input at both the AGM in April 2023 and the Community Engagement event that took place during August/September 2023. The outcomes from this led to a shared vision for the village which now forms the basis of a strategic approach to future investment and the preparation of a 5 year GCDA Delivery Plan 2024 – 2028.

The catalyst for this stepping up in ambition was the receipt of £575,000 gift aid funding in March 2023. This provided a once in a lifetime opportunity for the local community to become custodians of a small area of woodland and grazing paddock and to consider undertaking development work for a future Community Hub in the village. The former could kick start the environmental regeneration of the local woodland and Barr Glen, in partnership with adjacent landowners, for the benefit of the health and well-being of the local community and natural environment.

The GCDA finally secured ownership of 6 acres of land in January 2024 and will begin the implementation of a 10 year Woodland Management Plan shortly.