News

Argyll and Bute community groups can now bid for up to £250,000 matched-funding to help buy or take over community assets, currently at risk of being lost. Groups looking to save their local pubs, theatres, shops or sports grounds from closure can apply to the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund for Scotland. Councillor Alastair Redman, Policy Lead Business, Regeneration and Commercial Services: “We have fantastic active communities here in Argyll and Bute who work tirelessly to provide for their area.

Issued by Argyll and Bute Council, Argyll and the Isles Tourism Cooperative and BID4OBAN   ScotRail’s new Highland Explorer, active travel carriage has been added to the West Highland Line to Oban making it easier for visitors to store bikes and hiking equipment and leave the car at home.   The Highland Explorer is the first five of ScotRail’s Class 153’s to be fitted out and the first of its type in the UK.  

Argyll and Bute Council will today launch a campaign to encourage dog owners to #maketheirpupproud and pick up after their dog. The four week social media campaign features dogs saying how they feel when their owners make the effort to clean up, or let them down by not bothering. Council staff and members of the public have shared photos and ideas for the campaign.

Parents in Argyll and Bute are being invited to find out whether or not they are eligible for a school clothing grant and free school meals for their child. Since 2015, all pupils in P1, 2 and 3 have been entitled to a free school meal, however, from August this year children in P4 will also be eligible. This will be extended to P5 pupils in January and P6 and P7 pupils from August 2022, as part the Scottish Government’s commitment to roll out free school meals to all primary pupils.

Issued oh behalf of the GRAB Trust Businesses large and small can get behind a new campaign to ensure locals, visitors and tourists treat beautiful Argyll and Bute with care this summer. The campaign designed by The GRAB Trust and Argyll and Bute Council, with support from Keep Scotland Beautiful, will provide information, advice and guidance to help minimise the effect of staycation tourism on littering. 

If you struggle to remember when to put your bins out, you can now call on Alexa to tell you. This is an additional feature, for those people who already use Alexa at home, and supports our online bin calendar look-up and downloadable calendar. It is part of the council’s ongoing commitment to delivering new and useful digital services. This 'skill' as it is called by Amazon, allows you to ask your smart device when your council bins will next be collected.  We will be adding other council-related information to the service over the next year.

More pupils at Rothesay Joint Campus would like to walk, scoot or cycle to school than currently do and a new project is looking at ways to help them achieve that – but we need your help too. Rothesay’s New School Run is an exciting and ambitious new design project to define what changes are needed, post-pandemic, to allow young people in Rothesay to get to school differently.

Employers in Argyll and Bute are being reminded that a work permit is required for all young people aged between 14 and 16 who work part-time while still at school. Argyll and Bute Council is committed to the protection of children in employment, and has a number of byelaws which state the rules and regulations governing the employment of children – one of which is a valid work permit. The work permit is free of charge and must be signed by the head teacher from the young person’s school, as well as a parental guardian and employer.

From amateur swimming clubs to Climate friendly action groups, outdoor activities to community gardens and woodlands – these are just some of community projects set to benefit from the Council’s Supporting Communities Fund. The Fund is available to a range of groups including voluntary, charities and social enterprises. This year the council received 93 applications. A list of all the awards can be found on the Council website at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/council-and-government/third-sector-grants

Are you considering becoming a childminder but anxious about the impact it could have on your own children? Think again.Rachael Handy from Kilcreggan has been childminding for 18 years and believes that her job has not only benefitted her, but also her two children. “I honestly believe both my children have learned many valuable social and emotional developmental skills during my career due to the adjustments that must be made while having other children in the house,” she said.