Review of 2023
It seems hard to believe that the Skelmorlie Environment Trust has now reached its first birthday.
A lot has happened in the last 12 months, and we are delighted with the progress, time and enthusiasm the membership has given to the project over the year.
In all weathers, volunteers have turned up to chop, gather and clear the clearing to the North of the Crescent and more recently develop the footpath which now runs from the Bowling Club to the Clearing and the Northern entrance to the Crescent.
On behalf of the Committee, we thank you all!
Special thanks to McKellar Tree Surgeons for their industrial size chipper and the team from Skills Development Scotland who recently volunteered their time to work on the footpath at the bowling club end.
Events
In addition to regular Rhododendron clearing, our hard work has enabled us to hold our first Community gathering at Halloween, which proved more successful than we could have imagined and provided us with valuable insight into what works and what requires more thought when using the clearing for Community social events.
We’ve managed some Green Screen cinema nights, talks from people in the environmental field, guided walks and a couple of litter picks and are looking forward to some new exciting events!
We are holding our next social gathering on the 22nd of December when we celebrate the Winter Solstice and the shortest night of the year in the clearing we have made at Skelmorlie Crescent North – hopefully, we’ll see many of you there.
Upcoming Projects
We’ve also been progressing with other projects in the village, having recently applied to North Ayrshire Council for funding to establish Community Fruit Trees around the School. A decision will be forthcoming before the end of the year. If successful we’ll be undertaking the planting early in the Spring.
We are also in very early discussions with North Ayrshire Council to develop a Locality Place Plan which will hopefully allow the Community more input into the next Local Development Plan scheduled for commencement next year, with publication and adoption mid-2026.
Funding and Support
Over the last 12 months, we’ve been successful in one small funding application which allowed us to bring in a professional tree surgeon to help with chipping some of the bigger rhododendron branches. North Ayrshire Council have also kindly provided us with two benches which we hope to sit within the clearing and along the footpath to the bowling club.
What’s Happening in 2024
Going forward we want to continue with Rhododendron removal at the Northern end of the Crescent and develop the footpath further with perhaps art or interactive installations along the route.
If successful with the Community Fruit Trees funding application, then the focus in the Spring will be the establishment of the fruit trees around the school. There will be professionals to help with this, but volunteers will also be essential. We’ve had very positive feedback so far from the community on this project and look forward to getting help from the Scouts & School too.
Committee Roles
With the success of SET over the last year we are looking to expand the scope of the Management Committee. At present, there are three of us covering the organisation, communications and administration of the Trust. We would like to expand this core group to include a Communications, Events Coordinator and Fundraiser role in addition to project-based support for those who want to offer short-term help.
At the AGM the existing Committee will stand down, as per the Constitution, and at the AGM we’ll elect a new Committee for the forthcoming year.
If you wish to be considered for any of the roles, please notify myself or the other members of the Committee before the AGM.
As a reminder, the Committee roles were looking to fill are now as follows:
- Chairperson
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Events Coordinator
- Communications
- Fundraising
- Project Management (roles for the scope of single projects to suit bite-sized involvement)
Once again thank you for all your help over the last 12 months and here’s to an even more successful 2023.
Nick Hobson, Chairperson
