Uist & Barra Community Hall Ceilidh

Community halls across Uist and Barra will start co-operating on challenges like energy costs, insurance and charity status after a one-day workshop which brought volunteers together.

The community halls ceilidh organised by Torcuil Crichton MP recently brought together the committee members who run the village halls across the islands.

The gathering the Cnoc Soilleir centre in Daliburgh heard how older buildings and higher compliance requirements for social events were obstacles that many organisations had in common.

Halls are still at the heart of our communities and bringing those dedicated volunteers together helped find ways of co-operating to solve many of the funding and support challenges they face.

We had some great guest speakers from Uist Council of Voluntary Organisations, Community Led Local Action, and Community Energy Scotland. These speakers covered discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of halls, funding opportunities and energy support.

The day was also a celebration of the vital role community halls play, for young and old, and I’d like to thank everyone who participated and who keep our community halls running.