Summer 2008 Newsletter

Welcome to the Summer (though admittedly we haven't seen much of it yet!) e-newsletter!

Whitmuir Farm Visit
Join us for a visit to the first winners of the 'Future Farmer Award' on Saturday, 13th September!
Pete Richie and Heather Anderson have transformed what was a small, single-enterprise sheep farm into a diverse mixed farm with organic pigs, cattle, sheep and poultry and a wide range of vegetables (outdoors and in polytunnels). They have set up an on farm butchery and sell farm produce direct to local people through their farm shop and a home delivery service. The farm now employs nine people and has 130 'farm supporters' who pay for produce by direct debit.

SUP members and supporters are invited to Whitmuir Farm to meet Pete and Heather, to see what they have achieved so far, and hear about their plans for the future.

There is no fee for this visit, but we hope you will visit the farm shop! We do need to know about numbers however, so if you would like to come please email floramcdowall@sup.org.uk , including your name and contact telephone number. The visit is likely to run from 1.00pm - 3.00pm, we will email you confirmation of the arrangements closer to the time.

VOTE - Whitmuir Farm has been nominated for the UKTV Local Food Hero Awards 2008. If you think that they are doing good work you might like to take a moment to vote for them. To do this, log onto www.uktvfood.co.uk , register with the website, click on Local Food Hero (left hand menu), type Whitmuir Organics in the search box, click on full details, VOTE!

Whitmuir Farm is in Lamancha, on the A701, four miles south of the Leadburn Inn and two miles north of West Linton.
To find out more about the farm visit www.whitmuirorganics.co.uk

Southern Uplands Project Update
Click here to read about our current work.

New Board Members...
SUP is pleased to welcome new Directors to the Board. Mairi Telford Jammeh and Chris Balance join as Individuals, Joan Mitchell and Phil Leigh, represent Scottish Natural Heritage and the Crichton Carbon Centre respectively. Colin Campbell Golding has been co-opted on to the Board. Profiles will be added to the SUP website within the next few weeks. Michael Williams retires after serving on the Board since 2002. Standing down are John Moorhouse and Charlie Smith-Maxwell.

Eco Schools Update
The Eco Schools programme, now an international programme, promotes environmental awareness in a way that links to the curriculum. Many of the cross-cutting themes of a Curriculum for Excellence, those of Citizenship, Sustainable Development Education, Health and Well-being, Creativity and Enterprise can all be tackled through Eco Schools. The programme also helps our young people to become Successful Learners, Confident Individuals, Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors, the 4 purposes of a Curriculum for Excellence. Co-ordinator Fiona Jeffrey reports on progress in the Borders... click here.

Rural Direct to help communities access funding
If your community wants to refurbish your village hall, develop new local services or come up with a long-term plan for community development, then a new service run by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Crofters Commission can help you make the most of the funding programmes that are out there. To read more, click here.

Big Barn
If you are trying to track down local food take a look at www.bigbarn.co.uk The site aims to map local producers, though is still fairly light on icons across the Southern Uplands. If you know a producer who might like to be on the map mention Big Barn to them. Details of terms and conditions are on the site.

New funding for rural communities
There are 2 new funding streams for rural communities in Dumfries and Galloway. This bulletin provides a brief outline of these and further information can be obtained from the web sources or from other sources listed below. If you want your community to benefit from these resources so that you can help develop it, or improve it in some way, click here.

Put Scottish food fortnight in your diary!
It's Scottish Food Fortnight from 6th - 21st September. Scottish Food Fortnight (SFF) is a celebration of all Scottish food and drink, promoting the benefits of fresh, seasonal produce for Scottish people. It was launched in 2003 and has continued to grow and gain support from chefs, cross-party MSPs and a diverse variety of producers and retailers, hotels and restaurants, colleges and schools. We are lucky enough to have the world-renowned cook and writer Lady Claire Macdonald as Patron and supporter of SFF again. The organisers are keen to get everyone involved, so why not subscribe to their events newsletter, or if you are a producer, hotel, restraint, food retailer or school host an event? To register an interest email Amelia-farquhar@scottishcountrysidealliance.org or visit the website www.scottishfoodfortnight.co.uk

New director for Scottish Sustainable Developement Forum
Project Manager Pip Tabor has recently been invited to become a Director of the SSDF. The Scottish Sustainable Development Forum (SSDF) is the focus for thinking and action on sustainable development across Scotland, and exists to facilitate debate, encourage participation, raise awareness and understanding, promote good practice and recommend action in the pursuit of a more sustainable Scotland. The Forum meets twice a year to share experiences and set priorities for action. The Forum produces a bulletin packed with information on consultations, events and case studies. Click here.

Walkers in the West?
WOTAWALK is a charity walk along sections of the Southern Upland Way in aid of Wateraid and MS Research taking place on the weekend of the 13th/14th September. Click here for more information.

Biodiversity Toolkit
If you want to put across clear messages about biodiversity on behalf of your organisation or business you might like to look at the SNH biodiversity toolkit. The web based information is suitable whether the audience is young people, decision-makers or the general public, its easy to use and free! http://www.snh.org.uk/biodiversitycommstoolkit/index.html

Interesting reading:

• Dumfries and Galloway Single Outcome Agreement 2008~11
• Fair Shares Fair Choices leaflet - contraction and convergence principles to tackle climate change
• The 'Spring 2008 Newsletter for the Dumfries and Galloway Catchment Management Initiative' (CMI) is now available on SEPA's website:- http://www.sepa.org.uk/catchments/newsletter.htm.