Staffin Community Trust - Urras an Taobh Sear
The Staffin Trust is coming to completion on a number of its activities and perhaps this is time to reflect on the future and potential projects that would benefit the community. Meeting once a month, always on the last Tuesday, the Trust has been in operation for about thirteen years. In that time it has carried out a number of projects that have attracted over £800,000 into Staffin. The Trust is a Limited Company and the committee includes members from a range of backgrounds and local organisations, such as the Community Council.
Due to the decline in local population (1991 Census) the Trust was set up to stimulate economic and social activities in the community, improve services and strengthen the people’s sense of place. Projects have mainly focused on historical and environmental themes, recognising the assets of the Staffin area: a strong sense of community identity and a spectacular and unique natural environment, which is of great attraction to geologists, naturalists, and walkers.
The Trust also works with other groups in the community and in 2003 helped bring about development plan for all organisations in the community. This is called the Staffin Framework for Action Plan and includes representatives from a range of local voluntary groups and organisations, such as the Community Council, Community Hall Association and the Columba 1400 centre.
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The Trust has also created a number of paths in the community, been responsible for interpretation projects, tree planting, a local history project, patronymics study (family trees) and a place names survey (including digital mapping).
The Trust was awarded funding (32K) from various sources (LEADER+, the Lottery, Comunn na Gaidhlig, Storlann, SALE and Highland Council) to go ahead with the Staffin Data Atlas, formerly referred to as the 3Dimensional Mapping Project. This project started in March 2004 and was finished in 2006. The remit was to collate information from three earlier projects: the place names and patronymics (family trees) databases, and the local history project. The map is the most comprehensive collection of data collected so far on the community. A copy of the CD-Rom is available free to everyone in the community who wants a copy. Further copies have been made available to the local school, Highland Council Library and Museum Departments as well as all the Gaelic medium schools.
For the last three years the Trust has also been working on the development of Ceumannan, the Staffin Ecomuseum (Museum in the Environment). A feasibility study was carried out and community resource worker was funded by the CED Programme to progress this project in readiness for funding applications. These were successful in securing grants form several agencies: North Highland LEADER+, The Scottish Executive, Heritage Lottery Fund, SNH, HIE Skye & Wester Ross, the Highland Council, Highland 2007, CnaG supported by the Staffin Community Trust. Dugald Ross and Meike Schmidt job-share as project officers.
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Ceumannan (Gaelic; footsteps, paths) will be “a museum without walls” in the Staffin environment. It is here where nature and culture can be explored and are interpreted at the sites where things really happened. It will allow visitors and locals to discover a unique landscape and experience its relationship with the people in the past and present. Ceumannan will be officially open at the beginning of the next season, 2008. It will provide safe access to sites and walks, parking, interpretation, signage and information at three existing facilities, Staffin Community Hall, the Columba 1400 centre and Staffin Museum.
Over the last three years the project developed and upgraded the path network for the museum. Both residents and tourists have already been enjoying these. This has been the initial step in ‘opening up’ the area in an attempt to tell the hidden stories that lie within and beneath our landscape. The final step of the project is to develop interpretation on the sites helping visitors and residents to explore and appreciate our community. The interpretation has been developed, working with the community, landowners and tenants, local agencies, local experts and Universities to research, interpret and make them accessible to the public. It aims to relate the landscape and its evolution to the history of the people ranging from 6500 BC to the present day.
The project has created work on Skye and in the community with two part time project workers and local contractors working on the paths and interpretive media.
Ceumannan has also organised short courses, a learning activities for Staffin Primary School, exhibitons as well as guided walks and evening talks on history and nature.
Visitors to Skye do not always get accurate impressions of island life. They are always eager to hear Gaelic, watch seasonal activities and perhaps even participate. Staffin is in an even stronger position than most communities to portray its culture, being a stronghold of the Gaelic language, rich in geology and archaeology and one of the few crofting areas left. The Talking Landscape, Staffin discovery holiday has built on this strength. The pilot ran very successfully in 2006. This was repeated in 2007 with another five-day course, Sgeulachdan na Tire. This was held through the medium of Gaelic and received grant support from GIF/ BnaG in association with the Highland Council.
A’Lorg ar Lorgan, the Discovery Trails project was an environmental learning activity at Sgoil Staffainn, Staffin Primary School in 2006/07 as part of Highland 2007. The Trust was awarded a grant from Awards for All. About 50 pupils (all P3-7) were accompanied by their teachers, different experts and an artist, Caroline Dear, to explore several walks and sites of historical and natural interest in the Staffin area. These discovery trails were followed up with map making workshops. There were local exhibitions of their art work and photos of the project in July and August 2007.
Ceumannan will be the only so called ecomuseum in Scotland. There is an active European ecomuseum network, which holds regular meetings to share experiences and new ideas. In 2007 the Trust was represented at ‘Mondi Locali - Local Worlds’, the European ecomuseum workshop 2007 in Italy.
In October 2007 we saw the emergence of Sùil an t-Solais – Skye Photography Festival. This pilot project lasted for a week from 1 – 6 October and was part of the Highland 2007. An exciting 5-day programme took place around the north end in Staffin, Kilmuir and Uig. Events included exhibitions, walks, talks, workshops, music, song, poetry and a photo competition.
Part of the discussions at the Trust have recently focused on the future and how we can expand existing respectively develop new projects. There is plenty of scope and with some effort funding is available. The Trust is aware that the growth in tourism comes from ‘outdoor’ pursuits without damaging the environment.
Donald MacDonald, chairman: “We are extremely positive about the outcomes of both the Photography Festival and Ceumannan project. We believe they have opened up the landscape for us all and allowed the community to focus on its key strengths, which are scenery, history and culture. The Trust will continue to develop and find ways of making the area more attractive for all. Our discussions have focused in many ways on how we can further enhance our community infrastructure.”
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