Author: Rick Dekker

The Kippen Horticultural Society held its 2016 Annual General Meeting on 1 December at the Inn at Kippen, reflecting on the successful Kippen Flower Show held on 20 August 2016 and planning ahead to the next flower show, which in 2017 will be held on Sunday 20 August. It is hoped that the change of day for this traditionally Saturday event will allow competitors more time to prepare entries, and be a more attractive day for visitors to come and spend time at the show.

There were some new additions to the show in 2016 which proved very successful and which we plan to expand on this coming year.

The 2016 show benefitted from the involvement of Alison Bradley of Fusion Flowers, which helped encourage interest in the Floral Art section of the show. Alison has again kindly offered her support for the 2017 Kippen Flower Show. As she did this year, Alison has offered to run a set of flower arranging workshops prior to the next show, and to also judge the floral art section at the 2017 show.

The workshops held this year were a tremendous opportunity to learn flower arranging techniques from a world renowned expert, and also a lot of fun! Held in the evening at the Kippen Village Hall, this year’s workshops were offered at the cost of just £50 per person for three workshops covering the basics of flower arranging: Bouquets and posies, classical flower arrangement and table arrangement. As an incentive to enter the Kippen Flower Show, part of the workshop fee was also refunded if the participants went on to enter their arrangements in the show.

If you are interested in joining this coming year’s workshops further details will be posted on the Kippen Flower Show Facebook page, and places can be reserved by contacting Ali on 07748 651 564.

This year the Society was also very pleased to invite expert show competitor and judge Walter Robertson to the first of our evening events. Walter delivered a fascinating talk on the intricacies of growing and showing chrysanthemums. Not a task for the faint hearted! This event was held in October in the Inn at Kippen (with thanks to Alice and Mark Silverwood for the use of their events room).

We would like to hold more events like this in the coming year to encourage local horticulturalists. If you would like to present a talk, or have a suggestion of a topic you would like us to cover, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Do follow us on our Facebook Page and look out for local news announcements.

We would like to give huge thanks to everyone who supported us over the festive period. An incredible £15,000 was raised for our ‘Feed a Family’ appeal enabling us to provide Christmas dinner for around 300 families in financial crisis. With the additional funds raised, we will be able to provide fresh produce in all food-packs in 2017, ensuring those in need can still enjoy a healthy fresh meal. Around 10 tonnes of food were also donated, which we will distribute in food parcels.

And yet, the need continues to grow. We distributed 99,000 meals in 2016, an increase of 27% on the previous year. Half of all recipients are referred repeatedly for support. This growing dependency on foodbanks has shaped ‘Beyond the Food Bank’ – our new support service whereby we aim to provide the time, the place and the space for those stuck in the revolving door of poverty. We want to provide access to advice on many aspects affecting people’s lives -money matters, fuel poverty, addictions, unemployment, mental/physical health – and work more intensely and long-term with people in need to help them get back on their feet.

To find out more and how to get involved please contact us at mail@startupstirling.org.uk or on 01786 5614027

The Carse of Stirling Partnership (COSP) was set up in 2012. Its aim was to bring people together from across the Carse to work co-operatively on issues that might otherwise have been tackled in isolation. These included a real range of interests from farming and the environment to recreation and heritage.

Now in its fourth year, its dedicated committee, who are all volunteers, still meet regularly at the Inn at Kippen to discuss on-going projects and ideas. The group’s initiatives so far have included a scheme encouraging local schoolchildren to plant clover for bees and hoverflies, and farm wildlife surveys. They’ve also been involved with a natural flood management study – with four case study farmers on the Carse – carried out by the James Hutton Institute and Heriot Watt University. The COSP has been recognised with an Award for Planning Excellence from the Royal Town Planning Institute, and was nominated for an RSPB Nature of Scotland Award.

Already this year, the partnership was part of ‘Resolve to get Involved’ held at the Inn in January and then held an open evening in Gargunnock in March aimed at local communities, with presentations and displays from other organisations such as SNH and the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative. They also had a stall at the Gargunnock show in June, and recently held their annual general meeting.

Looking to the future, the COSP, supported by SNH, aim to continue their work to promote and preserve local heritage, improve information about local access, and undertake schemes to benefit wildlife.

If you’d like to find out more about the COSP, or get involved, please check out our Facebook Page.

“We who live or work in or around Stirling are exceptionally fortunate to have the buildings and landscape we have inherited. The concern of Stirling Civic Trust is quite simply that we should bequeath a comparable legacy to our successor”.

This statement is on the home page of the Stirling Civic Trust website (stirlingcivictrust.org.uk) and summarises what we are about. We are only one of over 100 other Civic Trust bodies in Scotland, all affiliated to the Scottish Civic Trust, and who co-operate with other community bodies in their area, with similar goals.

Here, in Kippen, we have attended Community Council meetings on matters of the village amenities and made representation to the Stirling planning authority regarding these concerns when we felt this would be of benefit to the village.

At the centre of these efforts is the need to demonstrate that the Civic Trust contributes to “BETTER PLACES FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE” – not necessarily related to buildings or architecture – spaces also qualify. In fact, many or most projects developed around the country by Civic Trusts involve changing derelict or underused facilities to “people friendly” areas.

If you have any concerns related to our objectives, please feel free to contact us to establish what can be achieved to resolve the issue.

Jack Sutherland Tel: 870699
Convenor and Secretary, Stirling Civic Trust

During this year, the Reading Room Committee decided to improve the heating arrangements in the building and, over the last 2 weeks, new heaters have been installed in all the principal rooms. It is hoped that these will be enjoyed by all users. Other improvement plans are being considered but these will be dependent on architects’ advice, complying with any planning requirements and, finally, the necessary cash being available. The Committee is very grateful to all who have helped with the two jumble sales in 2016 and to those organisations that have generously supported the Reading Room. The next jumble sale will take place on Saturday 25th March 2017 and the usual leaflets will be circulated a week before.

Ricky Muir-Simpson
RR Treasurer

If you go down to Burnside Wood, Kippen you will be in for a pleasant surprise. The main path between the football pitch and pond has been widened, with the drainage and surface of the path improved. This means that the path has become accessible to those in mobility scooters and prams. Walks have also become more sociable now that it is possible to walk two abreast.

The improvement would not have happened without a £1500 Community Paths Grant from Paths for All and £300 from Waitrose, which enabled the purchase of equipment and materials as well as the services of a contractor to be procured for a day. It definitely would not have been possible without 40 Kippen residents giving up their time on 1 October 2016 to move 20 tonnes of aggregate, ably assisted by Bobby Wilson of Stephen Paul Associates who loaded the aggregate into the wheelbarrows, making a tough day achievable. Under blue skies and sunshine there was a fantastic atmosphere in the woods and everyone worked incredibly well as a team wheelbarrowing and laying the aggregate, delivering a much improved path.

Behind the scenes, members of the Kippen Community Woodland Group worked hard hiring equipment and procuring materials and services, making sure that everything was in place for the volunteer day. On the day, members of the Kippen Community Woodland Group supervised the volunteers, helped out as required and provided refreshments to sustain all those involved.

Many thanks to those who contributed, we hope that you enjoy the much improved path.

To provide feedback on the path or find out more about the work of the Kippen Community Woodland Group, please email kippenwoodlandgroup@gmail.com or find us on our Facebook Page.

We believe there has been some amount of concern regarding what steps might be taken to make the bus shelter at Kippen Cross more accessible to those with wheelchairs, or otherwise handicapped. The following statement from Derek Parry in reply to a concerned resident’s query may help to inform as to current plans.

“There is no intention to remove the bus shelter in Kippen. To the contrary, we are hoping to make the bus shelter more accessible for everyone and to improve its appearance.

We intend to dismantle the existing bus shelter and relocate it a little further forward from its current location, at the same ground level as the pavement nearby. This will make the bus shelter more accessible for disabled and elderly residents and parents with prams or buggies, as the bus shelter can currently only be accessed by climbing steps. Installing ramp access to the existing location was considered, but discounted as a direct ramp would have been too steep and the only ramp design that would have complied would have been far too long and inconvenient. The existing stonework will be re-used and the flat roof will be replaced by a pitched one.

As this is a conservation area, the relocated bus shelter will be designed and constructed with this in mind and we are being advised in this regard by our Conservation Planning Officer.

Several site visits have taken place, attended by Stirling Council Officers and representatives from Kippen Community Council, First Midland Bluebird Ltd and the Stirling and Falkirk Area Disability Panels.

We hope to engage a contractor in the coming weeks with a view to the work being carried out early in the new year.

I trust that this information will allay your concerns and those of your fellow bus passengers, but please do not hesitate to come back to me if you require any further information.

Derek Parry
Public Transport Co-ordination Team Leader
Stirling & Clackmannanshire Councils Transport Coordination Centre

P3 and P4 Curling Trip

P3 and P4 went to see the Scotland Women’s Curling Team play in the European Curling Championships at Braehead, Glasgow. The classes had a great time supporting Scotland.

At this session, table-topping Scotland faced Finland and earned a 10-4 win that kept the Scotland women’s team at the top of the table.

One of the Scotland men’s team, Hammy McMillan Jr, came to the school to tell the classes about curling and to answer questions about his sport. He brought some indoor curling equipment that classes could use on the carpet. They had a go at this at Braehead too.

“We had a go at curling but it wasn’t on the ice.” McKenzie M.

“It was fun watching because the Scotland team was right at the front.” Alicia J.

P5, 6 and 7 Velodrome Trip

P5, 6 and 7 supported Great Britain at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup and saw the GB Men and Women’s Team Pursuit qualifying races. Both teams went on to win gold medals in the later sessions.

“It was a great experience to be able to see all the different countries competing in our country.” Evie F

It was very warm inside the velodrome. That is because the optimum temperature for track cycling is 28ºC. A bit warmer than outside! Air density reduces as temperature increases. Therefore, raising the temperature inside the velodrome will reduce the drag force acting on the rider, allowing them to go faster. A constant temperature is needed to keep the wood from warping.

One of the pupils’ favourite parts was when Mrs Stone had to compete for a goody bag by naming different parts of a bike. She did an amazing job against one of the cyclists so she got to keep the prize.

P1, 2 and 3 Nativity

Primary 1,2 and 3 performed the Nativity ‘Little Star’s Story’ to an audience of families and friends. They pulled off a very professional and confident performance on each occasion and the audience had lots of good things to say afterwards, including “Best Nativity yet!”

We are very proud of all of our little stars. There was a huge amount of hard work and effort put into the performance and we would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved. Thank you too to our audiences. P4-7 and some nursery visitors watched and enjoyed the dress rehearsal. We never fail to be amazed by the confident singing and acting by the pupils of Kippen Primary.

Parent Council Christmas Community Concert

The Christmas Concert raised a fantastic £1,107 for the school! The donations from the mulled wine stall raised £250 for the Over 60s Christmas Lunch. Thank you so much to everyone who helped, donated, organised, supported and a special big thank you to all the wonderful performers who made it such a special night.

All school pupils performed in a song from the P1-3 Nativity, a P4-7 rendition of Winter Wonderland or the choir’s performance of Let It Go, as well as individual pupils and groups demonstrating their musical talents.

P1-4 Christmas Party and P5-7 Christmas Party.

Pupils enjoyed Christmas parties towards the end of term. Pupils joined in with social dancing using traditional ceilidh dances as well as a bit of disco dancing and party games. There was even a very welcome visit from Santa who kindly gave every pupil a present.

Dragon Open Afternoon

We had an Open Afternoon at the end of October to showcase the literacy and expressive arts work involving the theme of The Dragon that all classes were involved with. Each class presented a short performance in the hall, followed by all classrooms and areas being open to visitors. The dragon mosaic which was made by all pupils in memory of Matthew Gardner was newly installed on the area beside the ramp in the top corridor for our visitors to see. Thank you to Jaine Marriot Mosaics for supporting us to make the mosaic and to everyone who came to share in the Open Afternoon with us.

Responsibility Groups

Did you know that every pupil contributes to our school by being in a responsibility group? There are 4 groups altogether and pupils are in the group for up to 2 years, then they get a choice to remain in the group for longer or can suggest 2 other groups that they would like to join.

Eco Group

Our Eco Group is in charge of keeping our Green Flag status by organising litter picking, checking energy use and promoting Reduce, Renew and Recycle. We have a Rag Bag in the school that we use to collect unwanted clothes which get collected regularly. We are looking to see if we could get an outdoor collection point so that all the community could use this. We also keep the school’s Eco code up to date.

Pupil Council

The pupil council listen to ideas and make decisions about things to do with the school. This year they decided to have a Christmas panto in school rather than paying for the cost of buses to go to a performance. They have been fundraising towards the panto by having pop up tuck shops on special occasions. The pupil council have also been supporting Mary’s Meals Back Pack project by collecting back packs and items for inside them to send to children in Malawi. We also support charities such as Jeans for Genes day and Children in Need.

The Tech Team

Our Website team is now named the Tech Team to reflect the different ways we use ICT. As well as the school laptops, we now have 12 iPad’s in the school. The Tech Team help look after the equipment and remind others about how to look after it properly. They also help to write articles for the school website http://www.kippenschool.org.uk. We also have a school twitter page which is an easy way to share news and photos. Visit us @kippenprimary

The Grounds Team

The Grounds Team help look after our school grounds. We have been growing vegetables in the raised beds and made soup using these. We had a trip to Arnprior Pumpkins to see how the pumpkins and turnips were growing there. We are looking for donations of wood to build more raised beds. Please contact us if you have any unwanted wood, e.g. from on old fence.

A project is underway to map the location and determine the condition of all the orchards in Scotland; an important first step in the long term task of reviving Scotland’s traditional orchards.

If you have five or more fruit trees within 20 m of each other and would like them to form part National Orchard Inventory for Scotland, all you have to do is to fill in an on-line form at https://goo.gl/krhj8g

To find out more about the project see:
http://www.orchardrevival.org.uk/inventory-scotland/

or contact the Forth Valley Orchards’ Initiative:
http://www.forthenvironmentlink.org/projects/forth-valleys-orchards

Paula Watson