Grand Opening - 18th August 2007
Boat of Garten’s new community hall opened its doors for the first time on Saturday 18th August. Angus Gordon, former Highland Councillor, officially opened the new facility and welcome residents and guests into the new building at 2.30pm. Thereafter there was a short programme of entertainment after which everyone had the opportunity to look around at their leisure.
Local hall user groups showcased their activities and projects during the afternoon. This was a chance for those who live in the village but are not directly involved with any groups to “have a go” at bowling and badminton and to find out what the Community Council, the SWRI, Osprey Village Enterprises and the two Community Companies do - and join up if they wished .
In the evening the ceilidh band “Gled tae be Glaiket” called and demonstrated the dances at the licensed family ceilidh and, of course, there was the obligatory raffle with great prizes to raise more funds for equipment.
The new hall, with car parking and a new play park for the children, has comfortable, attractive and flexible facilities for all social and recreational activities. There are opportunities for evening classes, adult education, training and learning and it is fully accessible throughout for all abilities. A number of rooms of various sizes are available making it easy for different groups to meet on the same night.
A wide range of new groups are already in the planning stages or are already using the Hall including a creche/child day care group, young people‘s group, a lunch club, Pilates and yoga. Arts & music groups will also be encouraged to use the new building which has facilities for art exhibitions as well as art classes. A community art project, supported by H2007, has already started and will involve a variety of media, culminating in a permanent art installation for the Hall.
Project manager Lorraine MacPherson said “For the people of the Boat, this was the day where all their hopes and dreams finally became reality. We hope that this hall will be as successful as the old hall has been in the past and will be a model of what a small community in the Highlands can achieve”.
The Community of Boat of Garten really pulled together and contributed over £100,000 to the main project. Although some £40,000 of this was accumulated by prudent village hall committees over many years, the majority was raised since 2002 by a steering group, now a company limited by guarantee.
The Chairman, Iain Murray, said “It’s hard to believe that we’ve finally reached this stage. The new hall represents five years hard slog for a dedicated team of workers, but it has also been a real community effort. The generosity of so many people, with both time and financial support, has been amazing. I’d like to thank everyone who has helped to produce what should be a great asset for the Village.”