The Centre’s function room provided the setting on a glorious evening with stunning views across the loch to Beinn Damh.

The bar was open so a glass of something refreshing was available to keep up the spirits of those not doing so well or for the victors to celebrate.

The Chinese play the game for high stakes but our players were provided with 30p each for the evening with strict instructions to return all the coins at the end! No one got rich but Mary doubled her money.

Another new activity for the Centre. If anyone else out there has something they would like to introduce to a wider audience then let us know.

After Santa departed on his travels up the west coast, we all tucked into a magnificent spread of cold meats, salads, and huge quantities of salmon, followed by a delicious choice of sweets and cheeses – all washed down with mulled wine and other beverages from the bar.

The children were then occupied playing a number of traditional games, whilst the adults digested their food, before the DJ fired up the ceilidh music for an evening of dancing. This was an excellent opportunity for the youngsters to hone their skills in a truly family oriented environment.

All in all, an excellent evening. Our thanks go out to everyone who played a part, large or small, in making the evening so successful.

The current exhibition in the gallery  ’Reflections and Connections’  is so named because as well as displaying the works of the above artists, and more from this area,. it also introduces other artists. whose works were conceived and often executed here, but who are not necessarily based in this locale.

These works include – Mosaics by Ingela Davis;  Harris Tweed accessories and jewellery by Beth Stockl;  Fine silver jewellery by Bruce Blaxter;  Wildlife Photography by Eoghain Maclean;  Pen and Ink drawings by Iain Rogers; Stone and Wood sculpture by Pip Turner; Watercolours, prints and cards by Kirsten Jones,  and Acrylic paintings by the late John Dixon

A big vote of thanks should also go to the Torridon Arts and Culture Group; to all who donated baking and raffle prizes; and to Donald, Alistair and young Angus whose Gaelic welcome to all, ” Bha e uabhasach math”!

Adrian Slocombe: who produced the architectural design concept for the centre. Adrian lives locally and has had some of his work featured on Grand Designs. He was also responsible for obtaining planning permission.

Douglas Stuart Chartered Architect, Inverness: carried out detail design work, obtained building warrant, and acted as lead consultant in providing contract administration throughout the build process.

McLeod and Aitken, Inverness: quantity surveyors, obtained tenders and carried out cost control procedures.

AF Cruden Associates, Inverness: structural engineers

A review of studies for the charity concluded that being active during treatment had a number of beneficial effects: boosting energy levels and reducing the impact of side effects such as anxiety, weight gain and depression.

And there has been plenty of other research showing the benefits of exercise in the fight against cancer.

So if anyone needed another reason to get out and start exercising this is it! Get yourselves down to the Centre’s fitness suite and get started on that programme of regular moderate exercise right now – 150 minutes a week is recommended.

For more information, see:
Exercise should be ‘standard part of cancer care’

The website was developed by Richard Cross in conjunction with local webmaster Pete Meredith. The site uses the popular WordPress engine and is proving very practical to update and maintain. This means that a select group of contributors will be able to keep it up to date and post news articles on a regular basis.

We have been very pleased with our choice of web developer. Richard is very easy to work with and very professional in his approach to the project. His experience of website development meant that we were able to work out the structure of the site from an early point in the development and then proceed smoothly to the finished product. Thank you Richard!

Richard’s associate Helen Wyllie worked on the graphics for the project. Her input informed not only the graphic design of the website, but also we now have logos for letterheads and our soon to be erected Centre signage.

The new Community Centre is now open and it is hard to believe that the project has taken nearly seven years to complete.

The Centre is open six days a week and we are fortunate to have a summer placement student Kay Kolendo, who is doing an MA in St Andrews, to manage the centre on a day to day basis until we welcome our new manager Wilma Beaton on Sept 1st.

Kay has been busy producing marketing materials and giving a warm welcome to people who visit the centre. She has got the venture off the ground for us and we are very grateful to have her helping us for two months.

Avril Turner has done an amazing job of the exhibition and gallery space where she is selling works of art from all over the Highlands.