A new virtual tour is showing how a Highland community is transforming its local area.
Members of the Glenurquhart Rural Community Association (Gurca) hosted an online tour of community-led projects and businesses.
The tour is a way of sharing projects and opportunities with other community groups to help communities work together.
Created by Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS) in partnership with Gurca, the virtual tour was launched on September 4.
‘There is a strong sense of friendliness and openness’
Gurca is run mainly by volunteers and works with several communities in the Highlands including Drumnadrochit, Lewiston and Balnain.
The total population of these is around 2,200 people.
Focusing mainly on community-led businesses and projects which help to improve the mental health and well-being of people and their environment, the tour featured several highlights.
These included taking ownership of the Loch Ness Hub and creating a visitor centre, the ownership and leasing of Blairbeg Park and running local markets, litter picks and lunch clubs.
It also mentioned taking ownership of a 116-year-old village hall with plans to modernise it and the appointing of a paid community development officer.
Dan Light, community development officer for Gurca, said: “The key to Gurca’s success is our community here – there is a strong sense of friendliness and openness.
“People support and care about each other and their environment. An organisation such as Gurca is dependent on volunteers who put in a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes.”
Helping to create a ‘better place for us all to live’
Susan Clark, chairwoman of Gurca, added that the developed 20-year community action plan was helping to assess where the need is.
“Community is at the heart of everything we do,” she said. “Our community action plan is helping to inform us about the community’s needs.
“What we are seeing is that people would like more community ownership of assets, better active travel projects, opportunities to better preserve our local heritage and the refurbishment of our village hall in Drumnadrochit.
“The plan helps us to work with people here and to create a better place for us all to live, work and play in.
“We would also like to thank DTAS for helping us to secure funding for our first-ever community development officer who has been instrumental in taking our community-led projects forward.”
Pauline Smith, chief executive of DTAS, said: “We would very much like to thank Gurca for sharing their journey and experiences through a virtual tour.
“By doing so, people can see how a small rural community has the power to make their community a better place.
“We are really pleased that other development trusts and community groups can learn from Gurca’s experiences too.”
Conversation