Issue 64 February 2018

Post date: 03-Feb-2018 23:42:07

SALINE PRIMARY SCHOOL

P2/3 will be sharing their learning about castles during our assembly on Friday 9 Feb at 9.35am.

We are hosting two days of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) events in each class over 12-13 February. We always welcome visitors to school if they have experience of, or are currently involved in, any line of work connected to these areas to share their experiences. Please let the school office know if this is something you would like to be involved in.

Saline Parent Council meeting will be on Tuesday 20 Feb at 6.00pm.

World Book Day is Thursday 1 March – storytellers welcome!

Science Week is 12-16 March – any scientists out there that could captivate our children?

Parents’ Evening: 3.30-5.30pm, Tuesday 20 and 5-7pm Wednesday 21 March.

We would welcome interest from the community in the above events – please notify our school office on 602430 if you can help out in any way; thank you.

Saline Primary School is also on a recruitment drive to encourage new pupils to our school. If you are aware of anyone moving to Saline or Steelend in the next few months, or considering returning to Saline Primary school, please advise them to contact our school office as soon as possible. This allows us time to advise the local authority of our requirements in relation to staffing for the 2018-19 session.

We are keen to engage in any local projects as part of our Outdoor Learning award schemes that the children are participating in. If we can be of help, please let us know.

Finally, we are due to have some changes in the school in relation to our school entrance. We have uncovered quite a lot of old school photographs and documents which we think would be of interest to our local community. Mrs Gray (Head Teacher) and Ms Perkins (Deputy Head Teacher) have discussed an event around this where we could display the historical photographs and information for our local community to come and view. Perhaps you could share some of your school experiences if you were a pupil at Saline Primary School. More details to follow.

CHURCH NEWS

Sunday services continue weekly at 9.30 am. The midweek service is held on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 11.30 am.

World Day of Prayer: This year we will be joining friends in Carnock & Oakley Parish Church and the Church of the Holy Name to celebrate the Day at a Service in the Church of the Holy Name in Oakley at 8.00pm on Friday 2 March. The service, which was written by a group of Christian Women in Surinam (South America), will be used by groups all over the world on or near 2 March. Women and men of any denomination or none are welcome to take part.

Swap Shop: Friday 16 March at 7.00pm in the Church Hall. Tickets, including refreshments, £3.00 from Irene Black. Come and find a bargain! Proceeds will go to the Church Restoration Fund.

Concert by Bruce Davies: Monday 19 March at 7.00pm in the Church Hall. Ticket (including Refreshments) £5. Proceeds for the Guild Project, Street Pastors.

Fairtrade Fortnight: 26 Feb-11 March. Look out for the Fairtrade symbol on bananas, chocolate, cocoa, tea, sugar and many other products in the local supermarkets. Farmers worldwide often struggle to get a fair return for their products. Purchasing items with the Fairtrade logo ensures the producers offer goods of a good standard and will get a fair return for their labours.

POLICE SURVEY

The 2018/19 Annual Police Plan will set out the priorities for policing and how they will be delivered. It offers a significant opportunity to improve how communities are policed.

Police Scotland is required to produce an Annual Plan for the Scottish Government. Operational priorities are shaped by listening to what public and communities have to say as well as Police analysis of emerging threats.

Police Scotland is keen to engage with the public and are asking people to answer a seven- question survey about the planned actions in 2018/19. This survey can be accessed at https://consult.scotland.police.uk/consultation/annual-police-plan/.

SMALL SOCIETY LOTTERIES LICENCE

The Community Council has renewed its licence for running raffles. It can be used by community groups. If your group wishes to hold a raffle that needs a licence, please contact Marie Crane on 852698.

HIGHLAND DANCING CLASSES

Spaces available for new/former pupils at the Highland Dancing classes in The Session Room of Saline Church Hall. These are held on Tuesdays 4.00pm-5.30pm and Thursdays 6.30pm-8.00pm. Please phone Betty on 01383 852610 or leave a message.

BODIES REQUIRED…

Required: adult bodies for badminton at Saline Community Centre. No experience is needed and racquets are available. Sessions are Mondays at 7.45pm, Wednesdays 1.30pm and 7.45pm. Phone either Jocelyn on 01383 852854 or Betty on 01383 852610.

COMMUNITY COUNCIL MATTERS

David Chisholm started with the sad news of George Duncan's death. George was a regular attender until his illness became too bad. He brought a dogged tenacity to many issues, particularly traffic dangers on West Road and through Upper Steelend, (he constantly argued for the reinstatement of the original High Steelend name) and pressed Fife Council for action on the flooding that plagued the North Road playpark. He will certainly be missed. David had visited his widow and sent condolences on behalf of the Community Council.

Alexis Perkins

Alexis is Saline Primary School's new deputy head teacher. She had been pleased that Marie Crane and David had judged the school's Burns and Scottish poets' competition and stressed that she was keen for other residents to pop in as she wanted pupils to learn more about Saline and Steelend's past. Marie Crane presented Alexis with a copy of John's Of Cabbages and Kings book.

Saline and District Heritage Society's good work investigating and cataloguing our past was referred to and was seen as a valuable asset in the children's education.

The school is looking to become more involved in the community through things like clean-ups and this determination was welcomed. It was noted that this was particularly helpful in funding bids for priorities in the Community Action Plan. The school's lack of accessible green space was concerning but, if Saline and Steelend Community Development Trust's bids for funding of the path to Comrie Colliery are successful, this would open up the Forestry Commission land south west of Saline. Indeed, a meeting that David Chisholm and Donald Murdoch had had with Fife Environment Trust had established strong support for projects involving schools. They had passed on photos of an outdoor classroom created by the community in Letham that might be appropriate here. These photos will be posted on the community website.

A particularly welcome piece of information was that fire drills had been carried out, one at a busy time without warning, and the school had been evacuated successfully within two minutes which gave comfort to those concerned about the Cairneyhill School fire.

AGM

A very quick AGM re-elected the current office bearers: David Chisholm as Chair, Jim Currie as Vice Chair, Marie Crane as Treasurer and Donald Murdoch as Secretary.

There is a vacancy for a Community Councillor and opportunities to be co-opted. The Community Council is keen to encourage people to join, particularly new residents and parts of the community not represented. If you are interested or want to discuss the matter further, please contact David Chisholm at david.chisholm47@btinternet.com.

Playpark Group

Issues with the tenders appear to have been resolved and it is anticipated that work can start soon.

Steelend Residents Association will be consulting soon to establish the level of support for redevelopment of Steelend's playpark and how this would be progressed. The results of this exercise will determine whether the Playpark group is involved or moves forward with proposals for Upper Kinneddar.

Community Action Plan and Community Centre

A business plan is required to enable the future of the Community Centre to be determined. Potential funders have made it clear that assistance is dependent on the current Community Action Plan being updated. Thank you to Ian Holmes-Lewis who has offered to lead a group of locals to update the Plan. This will require volunteers so, if you are willing to help, please, please contact Ian -

To be blunt, if people are unwilling to participate, the Community Centre will continue to deteriorate and it will become much harder to justify priority improvements sought by the community

The Glebe

The progress of the planning applications related to the site behind The Glebe, to which many objections have been raised, remains unclear. The Community Council has written to Fife Council regarding contradictory statements about land ownerships and concerns about the impact of constructing a very large bin store at the access point to the site.

Traffic and Road Safety

More vehicles have left the road west of Saline but Fife Council has not yet been able to establish a cause.

In response to the Community Council's concerns about the Redcraigs junction, Transportation advised that works had started to improve visibility and signage, and that the junction from Dunfermline did not merit a Stop sign.

There has been a number of complaints about certain streets such as North Road not being cleared during the recent snow. There has also been complaints about the arbitrary clearance of pavements with particular concerns about the pavement outside the school. It is unclear who is responsible for pavement clearance and Fife Council is to be asked to clarify.

Mothers and Toddlers

This group has now folded but there is a willingness to restart it if sufficient interest is shown and volunteers can be recruited. Thoughts are that the group's activities could be expanded to include older children, again if more people become involved.

This group offers a great opportunity for mums and toddlers, particularly new residents, to make new friends. If you are interested in attending or helping out, please contact Nicola Smith at nicshuff@tiscali.co.uk.

Traditional Events

The good attendances at the 2017 lantern events and the willow horse under the Friends and Neighbours Initiative and Alexis Perkins' reference to learning more about our past reminded folk of the popular events such as Bonfire Night and Saline Gala that have been lost.

It was therefore proposed that a new group of young people be established to look at ways of getting these events going again. The Playpark Group has been successful in running fund raisers but their priority must be our playparks so new people are essential. However, the group are willing to help as are the auld yins. If you would be willing to at least attend a discussion meeting, please contact Laura Chesby at laurachesby84@hotmail.com or via the Saline Facebook page.

Village Shop and Post Office

The current owners wish to retire and are willing to sell or lease the shop. Some people have suggested a community-run shop while others have pointed out that the growing population could justify a Co-op store.

These suggestions raise a number of issues such how a community shop would operate or where a Co-op store could be located. Whatever happens, it is essential that most of the community gets involved in deciding what should be done and in driving forward any agreed proposal. In the first instance, David Chisholm will be contacting the Co-op but it would be helpful if people could give him their thoughts at david.chisholm47@btinternet.com.

Date of Next Meeting

Tuesday 27 Feb at 7.30pm in Saline Community Centre. Come along and express yourself!

116th FIFE SCOUT GROUP

Once again, Christmas is behind us and the Scout Post was all delivered on time during the week leading up to Christmas. A big thank you to all who used this service and helped with deliveries, thus enabling us to have a welcome boost to our funds.

The Cubs, Scouts and Explorers enjoyed their Christmas outing to Bowlplex, finishing with a well-earned snack in McDonald's. Meanwhile the Beavers had a Christmas party of their own in the hall which was greatly enjoyed by all including the Leaders and parents who helped.

In the Beaver Colony, Rory was presented with the Chief Scout's Bronze Award the highest award in the Beaver section. Well done, Rory. He has, along with Riley, now moved up to the Cub Pack. The Beavers are working to gain their Animal Friend Activity Badge by keeping a record of how they cared for their pet over a number of weeks.

We urgently need to recruit additional Leaders to ensure that the Beaver Colony continues. Would you like to help?

Well done, Hayden and Aidan who were presented with the Chief Scouts Silver Award and have joined Nathan in the Scout Troop.

On 4 Feb, a team of our Cubs will take part in a safety competition to be held at Dunfermline Fire Station. Good luck. On 8 Feb, the Cubs are off to Pets at Home as part of their Animal Carer activity badge.

The Scout Troop have their first camp of the year at Fordell Firs. Forthcoming District Competitions are the Scout Guide Quiz and the Willie Robertson Troop Night Competition.

Jay from our Explorer Unit was elected to the DYAG (District Youth Advisory Group) and was subsequently elected Dunfermline District Youth Commissioner by his peers.

Hillwalking will start soon for Explorers and Scouts.

SALINE & DISTRICT HERITAGE SOCIETY

Our next event is on Wednesday 21 Feb, 7.00 for 7.30pm, Derek Abbot on The Fife Coastal Path, which some of you may have walked.

Did you know that we have linked up with another Saline in America? We thought it would be interesting to correspond with a group abroad; they also have a small museum and are quite rural. Tina is keen to gather any information on local schools and we have discovered that the lady who taught at Dunduff public school had to walk all the way from Dunfermline, even in the snow. They must have been hardy folk.

MONTHLY MEDITATION SESSIONS AT CHERRY TREE LODGE

Cherry Tree Lodge now offers monthly meditation sessions in the Chan tradition. Chan is also sometimes called Chinese Zen. Everybody is welcome to dip their toes in: beginners, mindfulness practitioners, experienced meditators or people who are curious about Chan.

The dates for the first half of the year are the following Sundays: 18 February, 18 March, 15 April, 20 May and 17 June. Start is at 5.00pm. After an introduction, a first meditation session will be given with instructions. This is followed by a silent walking meditation and a second meditation session. At 7.00pm we share a supper. The suggested donation is £5.

For further details, please contact Till on 07834596727, and text or ring if you are planning to attend.

SALINE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP

Christmas Tree Uplift

The Christmas tree pick up service was very successful. We collected 34 Christmas trees between Saline and Steelend. However, unbeknown to the volunteers, some had contracted the mysterious Christmas Tree Blindness bug and unfortunately a few trees were missed. So sincere apologies to anyone who had hoped their tree was going to be uplifted but was missed. Hopefully we'll be better next year!

Snowdrop Walk

The next event for the community is a fabulous Snowdrop Walk at High Valleyfield on the afternoon of Sunday 25 Feb. This guided walk is a regular annual event and takes around one and a half hours. There are light refreshments provided by the nearby Riding Centre if anyone fancies a cup of coffee afterwards.

This link gives further details: www.innerforthlandscape.co.uk - valleyfield snowdrop walks

If you are interested and have a car can you please contact me (Di Crawford) on 07809 109308. We can then sort out transport so that everyone gets a lift. Meet at the bus turning circle at 1.15pm on Sunday 25 February so that we can get to the Shiresmill Car Park (meeting place for guided walk) at 2.00pm.

Editor's note:

The Editor reserves the right to refuse, edit or factually correct all items submitted for publication. All views expressed in this Bulletin are purely those of the author of the item concerned and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Communications Group as a whole.

OPPORTUNITY TO GUIDE FIFE'S WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

Fife Council's Resource Efficient Solutions (RES) team is hosting a workshop in Carnegie College on February 15 at 7.00pm-9.00pm for all who wish to contribute to Fife's Waste Strategy.

Fife is currently writing a new waste strategy that will be known as the Resource Strategy to reflect that not all waste is valueless and much that goes to landfill can be re-used, repaired and recycled. The strategy is in draft and will go to Committee in March. RES would welcome input and ideas from West Fife communities so that the strategy can be appropriate as much as possible to meet the waste challenge of the next ten years. Some of these include;

· How do we dispose of waste after the 2021 landfill ban?

· Fife's current recycling rate is 55% and a further 4% is diverted to energy recovery but 41% still goes to landfill. There are only a few years to change that. How can the target be reached and what happens if it isn’t?

· How best can a circular economy for Fife be created?

To book a place, please contact Carolyn Bell on email at carolynm.bell@refsol.co.uk or by phone at 03451 555555, extension 440240.

Active Fife All-Ability Bike Night

The Tuesday cycling sessions for people with a disability or additional support need will return to Lochore Meadows Outdoor Education Centre in April. Sessions will run from the 17 April till the 2 October (during school terms) between 5.30pm to 6.30pm, and, 7pm to 8pm.

These sessions give families/carers and the cyclist with a disability supported access to the full range of adapted and mainstream bikes at Lochore Meadows. Cyclists can either go for a recreational cycle around the park (with or without a volunteer) or participate in a coach led cycling session.

Individuals aged 14+ years who are at beginner, intermediate or advanced level are welcome. It costs £3.00 per session, carers go free.

Anyone interested in attending the Bike Night need to register using the attached document. Completed forms should be returned to Active Fife at the address below, or, to the e-mail address sportsdevelopment.enquiries@fife.gov.uk. For further information, please call Anna on 01383 602393.

CARERS

Do you work with families or people in the community who are unpaid carers? Do you also care for a family member, friend or loved one or know someone who does?

Fife’s Health and Social Care Partnership has launched a six week ‘Fife Carer Strategy Consultation’ to hear the views and capture feedback on what matters to unpaid carers. Find out more and have your say here. www.fifedirect.org.uk

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS:

Steelend Club

Saturday 10 February, 9.00pm-12.00pm, Saline & Steelend Reunion Night, entry £5

including buffet. Dancing to Carly Schiavone, a great vocalist.

Friday 16 February, 9.00pm-12.00pm, Valentine Disco, entry £3 with buffet.

Sunday 25 February, 2.00pm-4.00pm, Vintage Afternoon Tea, tickets £5, available

from the Club. Tel 01383 851160.

Non-members welcome to all events.

Saline Golf Club

First Saturday of each month: Family Night, 5-7pm

Tuesdays: Bingo Night, 7.30pm

Thursdays: Quiz Night, 8.30pm, entry £1/person

Sky TV and free Wi-Fi. Associate membership £10 per annum, £4 concessions

Q’zine Catering: also available for all functions.

Rainbows

Every Thursday 5.00pm-6.00pm

Saline Church Hall

Brownies

Every Thursday 6.00pm-7.30pm

Saline Church Hall

116th Fife Scout Group

Beaver Colony

Every Friday, 6.00pm-7.30pm

Cub Pack

Every Thursday, 6.30pm-8.00pm

Scout Troop

Every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.00pm

Explorer Unit

Every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.00pm

Carnock Community Centre, Camps Road, Carnock. Open to both boys & girls

Community Council Meeting

Tuesday 27 February, 7.30pm

Saline Community Centre

Highland Dancing Classes

Tuesdays 4.00pm-5.00pm

Thursdays 6.30pm-8.00pm

Tel Betty on 852610

Adult Badminton

Mondays 7.45pm

Wednesday 1.30pm and 7.30pm

Saline CC T: 852610

Craft and Chatter

Thursdays 10.00am-12.00noon

Last Friday of month 7.00pm-9.00pm

Shieldbank Coffee Shop

Saline & Steelend Heritage Society

Wednesday 21 February,

Derek Abbot on The Fife Coastal Path,

7.00pm for 7.30pm, Saline Church Hall

Sambangra Drumming Group

Tuesdays, 7.00pm-8.30pm, £2

Steelend Club

Saline & District Rural

Wednesday 7 March

7:30pm, Community Centre

Cake demo with Marianne

A warm welcome to all

Saline & Blairingone Parish Church

Afternoon Craft Group

Every second Tuesday. Everyone is invited to join with any sewing, knitting or craft - and enjoy the blether! 2pm-4pm, Saline Church Hall.

Shieldbank Riding & Vaulting Club

Telephone: 01383 852874 Website: www.shieldbank.co.uk Also on Facebook.

Riding lessons for children and adults of all ages and stages.

Vaulting (gymnastics on horseback) instruction for 5-20 year olds.

Everyone welcome.

Just call or email to book.

Shieldbank Coffee Shop

Telephone: 01383 852621 Also on Facebook.

Open Tuesdays to Sundays 9.30 am- 6.00 pm.

Craft Group meet here on Thursday mornings 10.00 am until lunchtime.

New: Group for Amateur Photographers meet on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm.

This Community Bulletin is produced by Saline and Steelend Communications Group