Notice Board

Always something going on... Send your posters (in Word, jpeg or pdf format) to The Fountain via catrionahouston@ yahoo.co.uk or the Fountain Facebook page

Aberdeenshire Voluntary Acti on

(AVA) is a registered charity covering the whole of Aberdeenshire.

It was set up to support groups, organisati ons and registered chariti es with funding, governance, charitable status, volunteer recruitment, retainment and recogniti on, start-up help and business planning advice and support. We have a dedicated team of Development Offi cers.

Your Development Offi cer for your area is Aileen Longino who can support your organisati on. During these last few months we have seen a huge surge in groups looking for help and volunteers going above and beyond to support their communiti es.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Aileen, she is here to help. 14 Aileen.Longino@avashire. org.uk Mobile: 07824 096531

As the nights are fair drawing in, LLA is working with Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership to encourage people to keep busy and be kind to others in their community by taking part in a winter knitti ng project.

Through the initi ati ve Knit A Cosy Bosie, they are asking people to help others who may be struggling to keep warm by knitti ng or crocheti ng a cosy bosie for someone in their community.

A cosy bosie can be a lap blanket, hat, scarf, pair of gloves or socks. Once you’ve knitt ed it, simply give it to someone! Local groups could also get involved by co-ordinati ng the collecti on and distributi on of the Cosy Bosies in their community.

If you would like to connect with a local group, or for more informati on and details of how to take part, call 01467 532929, email libraries@ aberdeenshire.gov.uk or see htt p://bit. ly/CosyBosie

Aboyne and Deeside Community

Centre and Swimming Pool has opened a number of new sessions, including Adult and Baby classes, Adult and Preschool Child classes, age 8-11 Swim Session and Aquafit with Ruth.

For more details or to book, go to www.livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk or call 01339 267702.

Hot Tubs for your home and business

Our luxurious hot tubs are hand-crafted in the USA and are a perfect combination of quality and affordability. Do you have a holiday home? We have models designed specifically for the hospitality industry that come with a full commercial warranty. www.highlandglenspas.co.uk Phone. 013398 80540

Aboyne Farmers’ Market returned to the Green in October and November, and market organisers The Seed Box hope that 2021 will see the market back at full capacity.

If Government restrictions allow, the market will run on the 2nd Saturday of each month from April to December, 10am-2pm, Aboyne Green with a variety of local stall holders.

See their Facebook page for updates.

Library back too! Sort of...

Our lovely Aboyne Library ladies are delighted to welcome you back too.

You can now book slots to return books, collect book bundles, and collect hearing aid batteries at the following times: Saturday 10-1, and Monday and Wednesday 4-6.

You can book your slot via the Live Life Aberdeenshire website or by calling 01467 532929 (9-5 Monday to Friday).

Virus brings challenging ti mes for new parents writes NHS Volunteer Peer Supporter Vikki McPherson

Opti ons for Tarland’s ‘Village Farm’ site are explored

Like a lot of villages in rural Aberdeenshire, Tarland needs more aff ordable homes for local people. These are needed for lots of reasons, whether it’s for young families, older people looking to downsize, or businesses hoping to retain or increase staff numbers. The questi on is, how does a community go about helping get these designed and built?

Tarland Development Group (TDG) has been working on this for a while and a lot of progress has been made! There’s an ideal piece of ground in the village – the ‘Village Farm’ site – that’s been the subject of a lot of explorati on and feasibility studies. These have focused on trying to get as many homes as possible onto the land. Unfortunately this hasn’t really worked because of the prohibiti vely high costs of upgrading the existi ng water, drainage and mains electrics to serve the new homes.

There aren’t really any other suitable sites in the village for housing so we’re looking at the Village Farm site from a diff erent perspecti ve: instead of maximising the number of homes on the site, how many homes could be built without having to upgrade all of the water, drainage and mains electric? It sounds like an obvious thing to do when you say it out loud. So that’s what we’re going to do.

The project has a highly experienced steering group and a paid development worker, Sam Foster from Rural Housing Scotland, who is managing a range of aspects. This includes setti ng up an ‘offi cial’ new group (Tarland Community Housing) that’s separate from TDG and we’re looking for people to join as volunteers to help shape the project.

If you want to help push this amazing project forwards we want to hear from you. Get 16 in touch with Sam at sam@ruralhousingscotland.org / 07421 369263 / facebook. com/tarlandcommunityhousing. Photo by Dan Christi e

WE’RE ON YOUR DOORSTEP

Remember when service was truly personal and not just another one size fits all approach?

We are backed by a team and organisation built on over 100 years of customer service and trust.

Working from a local office in Inverurie we bring our knowledge and experience to you to help ensure you have the right cover in place to protect the things that matter.

Whether it’s home, motor, equine or business we have the expertise to make sure your insurance needs are covered.

For a real conversation about your insurance call us on 01467 698 045, or alternatively send an email to Inverurie_agency@nfumutual.co.uk.

When times are tough, don’t stop ADVERTISING!

The Fountain relies on advertising to pay for design and printing and it means a lot that so many regular customers have continued to advertise during the Covid calamity.

Always delighted to welcome new advertisers, I have opened up opportunities with a new value ad size, see right >>>

At Myriad Pro Publishing, advertisers are not just a space on a page. All advertisers benefit from featuring in a Facebook album every quarter, and where advertisers’ own posts are seen on that social media platform, they will be shared. Feel free to tag The Fountain to make sure.

New customers can also benefit from introductory features, and there are perks to being a long-term advertiser too, as well as discounts for featuring in the Alford and Banchory publications.

The business landscape and publicity methods are changing all the time, and especially at the moment! So if you have any ideas on how The Fountain can further support you, do let me know.

No matter if you are on the main street, out in the sticks, working from your spare room or just operating online, I can help.

Have you started a new business in the Aboyne area? Want a mention? Get in touch.

The Fountain represents a unique opportunity for you to promote your business to a targetted area at reasonable cost. Ad rates start at just £27 for a quarter page. Around 1,500 copies are distributed through the doors of residences in the village, prominent spots in the local community and within businesses willing to stock it. Geographically it covers Aboyne and the surrounding areas and includes Tarland. All Myriad Pro Publications are also available to read online at issuu.com