Its Spring, the days are getting longer, the sap is rising, the buds are forming, the birds are in song and the Community Centre is ready to get going after the long grey wet winter.
Day after day it is noticeable more people are out and about whether locals or visitors, which is all good for the local hospitality sector.
The Community Centre diary looks very busy for the spring/summer season with weddings, events, gigs, cinema and classes and we all believe it will be a very busy year.
So, let’s have a brief update and See What’s On over the next few months.
What’s on?
Current activities & classes Craft workshop, Whist, Pilates, Yoga, Badminton, Women’s Institute and Country Dancing.
Should anyone wish to join any of the above activities or classes then please contact Wilma at reception and she will provide you with the details.
Craft Markets
Craft Markets will be commencing on the 14th April and will be held every two weeks on a Thursday in the Main Hall – so keep an eye on the Centre website calendar for subsequent dates.
Movie Nights
Movie nights/matinee showings will continue to be held once a month over the spring and summer period. The bar will be open for drinks and socialising before the films starts.
Upcoming movies
April 16th
Matinee - Onward
Evening – House of Gucci
May 14th
Spring and Summer Movie dates for your diary – 14th May, 11th June, 16th July, 20th August and 17th September.
Live Music & Speakers
23rd April – Our Local guest speaker Caroline Hamilton will give a talk on the challenges of being part of the only all-women team to ski all the way to both the North and South Poles – book your tickets here as it has got to be worth listening to! All proceeds to Torridon Mountain Rescue
Bands to look forward to
3rd June – Queens jubilee weekend - Bahookie Rock Ceilidh – tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at the following tickets link.
12th August - Beluga Lagoon – This is a rearranged concert that was initially postponed due to Covid. This event is virtually a sell out already having carried over the tickets from the postponed event, however the remaining tickets will go on sale at 9am on the 7th April at www.belugalagoon.com so set your alarm!
Events
Celtman – celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion they are holding two events over subsequent weekends. The normal Extreme Event, which is sold out with 261 competitors entering, will take place on Saturday 18th June 2022.
The second event ‘Solo Point Five’ will take place of the following Saturday 25th June and is approximately half the distance of the Extreme Triathlon, taking in a swim round Shieldaig Island, a cycle ride over the Bealach Na Ba and the Applecross peninsular before finally running around the back of Liathach ending up eventually at the Torridon Community Centre.
It will be two very busy weekends and as usual we would welcome volunteers to assist with preparing/serving meals or directing traffic in around the car park. Anyone interested then please contact Wilma.
We are looking at other events for the summer so keep an eye on the website and Facebook pages for what’s on and generally keeping up to date with what’s going on.
Summer Opening & Post Office
From week beginning the 4th April 2022 the Community Centre will be open Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri 10am to 4pm, Saturday closed and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
The Fitness room is now open from 6am until 10pm daily.
Wee Whistle Stop Café is open Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs 9am – 5.30pm, Fri 9am – 8pm, Saturday closed and Sunday 10am – 4pm.
Your local Post Office outreach service is available at reception every Tuesday 11am to 1pm where you can carry out the usual post office type transactions including depositing/withdrawing cash from your bank account using your debit card. Effectively Torridon has an ATM for 2 hours a week! Please support this valuable service as much as possible.
Community Centre Hire Charges and Membership
The last time the hire charges were reviewed was way back in 2010 and since that date the Community Centre has absorbed inflation, increased taxes/electricity costs but we feel we must now increase these to bring our charges into line with other Highland Community Centres of similar size and facilities. Our increased Hire charges from the 1st April 2022 will now be as follows:
Main hall only - £20/hour
Main Hall kitchen only- £10/hr
Main Hall and Kitchen - £30/hr
AV room - £16/hr
Small upstairs office -£10/hr
Members of the TDCA will be entitled to a 60% discount on the above charges commencing 1st April 2022, the members rates from April 2023 will be reviewed early next year.
All fund-raising events for Charities etc will have the use of the Hall/Kitchen free of charge
Fitness Suite rates remain unchanged
TDCA Membership rates remain unchanged so if you are not already a member, please consider joining for only £3 a year. A very quick and easy application form is available from Wilma via manager@lochtorridoncentre.co.uk or to pick up at the desk. For those already members, the annual fee will be due for renewal from the 1st April 2022. You can pay either via bank transfer: Sort Code 80-91-26 / Account No: 00900785 or please pop into Reception if paying cash.
Works at the Community Centre
You will probably have noticed over the winter that we have replaced a number of windows and doors in the Main Hall and Kitchen which are over 20 years old, did not function properly and could not be repaired. The remaining doors and windows in this part of the Community Centre will be replaced over the next couple of years.
You may or not know that we were successful in securing a grant for the installation of 4no EV charging points at the Centre and these works will be completed hopefully by the end of April 2022. The works start on the 24th March when SSE install a new substation to feed the Centre along with a number of other upgrades in the area. The remaining works, and final power upgrade will take place in April.
We look forward to seeing you at the Community Centre over the next few months and at some of the great events scheduled for 2022.
On behalf of the Directors & Centre Team
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