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Rotary news
25th ANNIVERSARY MEMBERSHIP INITIATIVE
It’s always a good time to join Rotary but right now is an even better time for individuals or companies give Rotary a try: • Less time commitment as we are now meeting fortnightly on ZOOM and the old attendance rules have been waived Fees cut (including waiving of national fees this year for new members) Opportunities to serve the community more important than ever! Fun, friendship, meet new people Stimulating speakers and discussion Gryffe Valley Rotary was formed 25 years ago and has nearly 40 members in the local area. We have raised over £260,000 for local and international charitable causes and are seeking to ensure the contribution made to our local community is sustained by increasing and diversifying our membership. See the leaflet on our website (just Google Gryffe Valley Rotary) for more information on our projects and activities and our Facebook page Gryffe Valley Rotary for details of our next speaker. Stimulating speakers – Worthwhile projects – Interesting People – Fun - Friendship Please click the Membership Enquiry button on our Website if you are interested or email us at gryffevalleyrotary@gmail.com .Please e-mail gryffevalleyrotary @gmail. com if you are interested in finding out more.
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THURSDAY 24TH DEc Christmas Eve Jingle
Where? At your door at 6pm!
Let’s end 2020 with a bit of magic, hope and togetherness by heading outside at 6pm on Christmas Eve and ringing a bell to spread Christmas spirit! On Christmas Eve at 6pm everyone will come outside onto their doorsteps and ring a bell for 2 minutes to spread Christmas spirit and to help Santa fly his sleigh. After this awful year it would be an amazing memory for the kids and communities. End 2020 with a bit of Magic, hope and togetherness! #christmasevejingle2020 UNTIL THU 31 DEcEMBER The Night Before Christmas
ONLINE: https://childrensclassicconcerts. co.uk/
A joint Christmas gift from Children’s Classic Concerts and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra that’s packed with festive family favourites. It’s snow joke, popular presenter and percussionist, Owen Gunnell, has only gone and slept through the first 12 days of December. He’s made his list and checked it twice, but now the countdown to get ready is well and truly on. Cue a mad rush to fit in all the festivities – seasonal singalongs, letter writing to Santa (easy peasy on his Typewriter) and a virtual trip to Lapland to see he delivers the Orchestra’s Christmas wishes…we’ll be Walking in the Air if he manages it! Featuring the iconic poem, The Night Before Christmas arranged for orchestra and narrator and special appearances from the RSNO Junior Chorus. • Stream for FREE (voluntary donations welcome)! • Find the film on both the CCC and RSNO Facebook pages, on YouTube (link to follow) or the STV Player! • Available to view for the rest of the year – why not make it the soundtrack to your Christmas? • A concert for all ages. • Sponsored by La Bonne Auberge and supported by Creative Scotland. UNTIL THU 31 DEcEMBER Santa’s Reindeer Hunt
RSPB, Largs Rd, Lochwinnoch 10am to 4pm
Santa’s reindeer have come to visit RSPB Lochwinnoch and are spending their time out on the reserve near the Aird meadow trail... how many can you spot? To help you identify them you can purchase your special reindeer identification sheet with images of all the reindeer that are hiding along the trail. This is a self-led activity; there is no need to book. Please bring your own pen or pencil. £1.50 per child plus normal trail fees for non-members. https://ww2. rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/
UNTIL THU 31 DEcEMBER The Magical Beacon Stone
ONLINE: https://www.beaconartscentre.co.uk/festiveshows/the-magical-beacon-stone/
A Christmas Rollercoaster of Fun and Adventure Just because you can’t be with us, doesn’t mean we can’t be with you! Get ready Inverclyde, for The Magical Beacon Stone... Book to watch online from Friday 18 December and enjoy FREE unlimited viewing until 31 December! Introducing our brandnew festive film for 2020, The Magical Beacon Stone, for everyone in Inverclyde and beyond to enjoy this Christmas! The film features goodies, baddies and magical mayhem, what more could you want? Join Jenny McCormack and Auntie Bella on their epic adventure to save Christmas - facing tests and trials aplenty, with help on hand from some new (and slightly odd) friends along the way! Kim Allan stars alongside Beacon panto favourites Jane McCarry, Mark Cox, Jimmy Chisholm and Lee Samuel in this cracker of a comedy quest! A Beacon Arts Centre production in partnership with Inverclyde Council. A Soundsmove film. UNTIL SUN 3 JANUARY Sleeping Beauty
ONLINE: https://www.universe.com/events/sleepingbeauty-panto-tickets-VR126N
Audiences aged 3 – 103 will be captivated by the tale of a beautiful Princess who pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls into a deep sleep. Starring Benidorm’s favourite and I’m A Celebrity’s CRISSY ROCK as Fairy Nuff alongside the beautiful REBECCA LAKE as Princess Aurora, CHRIS PYM as Prince Harry, ROBERT SQUIRE as Nanny Nora Knickerdrawer, CHARLIE GRIFFITHS as the evil Carabosse, NICK WYMER as King Stefan and the hilarious ANDREW CURPHEY as Chester The Jester Sleeping Beauty is the perfect online festive treat. With dazzling costumes, spectacular scenery and amazing special effects Sleeping Beauty really is the pantomime you’ve been dreaming of – so book your tickets now for this amazing Christmas treat! To watch this Pantomime the viewing period opens at 10am GMT on 14th December and closes 11pm on 3rd of January. Your code will be valid for 4 days from your first viewing within this period. Also on sale is an electronic full colour Pantomime programme that will be sent before the event opens. You will be helping many actors as well who are unable to perform in a Pantomime this year. The organisers are supporting 2 charities, the Equity Benevolent Fund and the Actors Benevolent Fund and all donations will be split equally between these 2 charities.
Rapunzel: A Hairy Tale Adventure
23 December to 4 January
ONLINE: https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/ rapunzel
“You all know the story of Rapunzel, right? That lassie with the long hair who’s been trapped in her lockdown tower for what feels like forever. The lassie who’s sitting there like a loon waiting for some Prince will come along and save her. Well, think again. Cos I bet nobody mentioned the hairdresser who made it her life’s mission to track Rapunzel down? Or Rapunzel’s twin brother who’s terrified he’s going to have to take the throne if his sister isn’t found? And they certainly didn’t mention that six foot all singing, all dancing rose in the garden whose psychic visions are going to save the day? Because you see to truly know a story, you must know all the deets. And let me tell you chookies, the story you know of Rapunzel is incomplete. But finally, at long last, you get to hear from all the characters, all six sides, all six chapters. And despite what you might have thought, they don’t all end in happily ever after. Rapunzel is a celebration of theatricality, music and storytelling. A chance to hear from every character in this well-known hairy tale, untangled and rebraided for this day and age. A chance to sit with the family and finally piece together the story of one lassie and her journey from isolation to taking her rightful place at the…. Hey come on, I’m not going to give away the ending now, am I?” Paige Ootabook, Narrator A very special online festive show filmed in the beautiful surrounds of Stirling Castle, created by a Christmas cracker writing team, featuring sparkling showtunes from Novasound and directed by Scottish Panto King Johnny McKnight. Also available will be a free, fun, festive activity pack for families to enjoy over the holiday period. Running time: 70 mins Recommended age guide: 6+
e: info@advertizer.co.ukThe Fruits of | www.advertizer.co.uk | December 2020 / January 2021 Lochwinnoch’s Grassroots
Covid, Climate and the Sustainability Movement in Our Area.
In Inverclyde and Renfrewshire villages community reactions to the pandemic were swift. Covid19 response units were set up. Villages were divided into zones and volunteers dispatched to help elderly and shielding residents with shopping and prescriptions. Some places went even went further. Lochwinnoch - a village already well-connected to one another through their impressive arts festival - was one of them. Several grassroots projects sprang to life: The Community Larder headed by local writer and actor, Alan Bisset, Lochwinnoch Cares, the distribution arm headed by Caral Cartwright and Diggin it – a project teaching people how to grow their own food, by local resident Tori Bell. They even set up an emergency fund – a fund of last resort - providing help to those struggling to make ends meet. These projects came together under umbrella of the The Lochwinnoch Food Committee. The team joined forces with other established groups such as the Lochwinnoch Community Gardens – who also supplied the Community Larder with fresh produce, the Local Development Trust and the Community Council. They shared ideas and supported each other with funding applications, eventually becoming a community consortium which managed to secure funding and push forward these progressive projects. Awards for funds came from the Scottish Government through Linstone Housing Association and from the National Lottery Awards For All scheme. Tori Bell explains, “This was a really positive outcome. These new connections that were forged when everyone’s world was getting a lot smaller.” Her own project, Diggin’ It, has gone from strength to strength. During Lockdown it facilitated around 200 individuals from across more than 80 households in the community to grow their own vegetables from home. It provided support and materials for many first-time growers to learn new skills and enjoy an outdoor pursuit.
by Rona Simpson
Their resolution to pool materials, tools, seeds and seedlings with other groups, and across the community from household to household, promoted community engagement and allowed for a more environmentally conscious way of working. Tori continues, “There’s been a sort of revolution across the whole country of people wanting to get into their gardens - or growboxes - and grow their own food. I really hope that this will be a legacy that continues from 2020.” In a way the crisis has been a reminder of the fragility of the human race. We need to think about the way that we live and now we have been forced to live more locally, we know our neighbours now, and there are benefits to living in a more self-sustained way, for the planet and for our local community.” The energy shown by grassroots movements such as those that sprung up in Lochwinnoch provided answers to the immediate problems of the Covid-19 crisis, however they might also provide the seeds of change we need to move towards a more sustainable and fairer future for all.
MoN 28-THU 31 DEcEMBER Edinburgh’s Hogmanay 2020
ONLINE: https://www.edinburghshogmanay. com/
As Christmas draws closer and ‘bubble’ celebrations with friends and family start to feel a reality, the next occasion to plan for is New Year. This is a welcome chance to wave off 2020 and hope for an altogether better 2021. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is renowned internationally as one of the leading new year celebrations in the world and this year’s Hogmanay will continue to cement this reputation. With no live events planned this year, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay will, for the first time in its history, move to an entirely online celebration with a series of spectacular ‘moments’ to be watched from home. Produced by Underbelly on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, the free online series of shows promise never seen before, visually-spectacular moments every evening. The stay-at-home event series will be FREE to watch and streamed via www.edinburghshogmanay. com so Hogmanay fans all over the world can tune in from the comfort and safety of their homes. Edinburgh’s Hogmanay has wowed, surprised and delighted hundreds of thousands of people over the years and 2020 promises to continue that tradition, with a series of awe-inspiring moments using multisensory creativity and pioneering technology crafted, hosted and narrated by a powerhouse of incredible Scottish talent. The line-up includes internationally renowned actor and famed Doctor Who, David Tennant, award winning poet and Scottish Makar (Scotland’s Poet Laureate), Jackie Kay, Celtic fusion band, Niteworks and Scottish actors Lorne MacFayden and Siobhan Redmond. Further details at https://www.edinburghshogmanay.com/ SUN 3 - SUN 31 JANUARY Snowman Hunt
RSPB, Largs Rd, Lochwinnoch
Frosty the Snowman and his friends are hiding on the woodland trail ... how many can you find? Visit the reserve this January and collect your very own snowman identification sheet. Can you find them all? This is a selfled activity; there is no need to book. Please bring your own pen or pencil. https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reservesand-events/events-dates-and-inspiration FRI 29 - SUN 31 JANUARY RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch
ONLINE: www.rspb.org/birdwatch
Why not take part in the world’s largest piece of citizen science in the world by spending an hour of your choosing recording the birds that you see? You can even download a handy guide and recording sheet by visiting www.rspb.org/birdwatch More events to be found at https://www. whatsonrenfrewshire.co.uk/events/allevents/
Kcc Raffle
Kilmacolm Community Council would like to thank all who supported our Christmas Hamper Raffle. The past couple of years we have funded a Defibrillator in the village, raising enough money to pay for the annual servicing for the next few years. This year we decided to split any fund 3 ways between the Kilmacolm Scouts, Guides and the Inverclyde foodbank/toybank. Thanks to the generosity of the people of Kilmacolm the final total to be distributed was £720. The draw master was Councillor David Wilson ably assisted by Isla Parkinson (age 4) under the watchful eyes of Kilmacolm Community Council Chair; Mike Jefferis; The Vice Chair: Morven Armour and Helen Cook. We would also like to thank Alda and Johanna Clark of The Cross Cafe for their time and effort each year creating the hampers, this year we had four beautiful hampers along with some other prizes. All winners have been contacted.
