The Aboyne Fountain 31 - Winter 2022

Literally thousands of NE properties in the palm of your hand.

Tina has excelled herself again! You must have seen the fabulous Tommy toppers across the area during November. You can find out more and donate at the Facebook page /Torphins Knitted Post Box

Do you have something to share?

Group or individual, let The Fountain know what you are up to, using the contacts on p3 and 30.

Postboxes Return

Young@Heart Deeside are looking to hand deliver their ‘Wee Bundles of Christmas Cheer’ to the most vulnerable in Aboyne and Tarland area again this year.

Last year they delivered 350 care parcels with the help of Aboyne Academy pupils to the most vulnerable in our community. They also delivered to Allachburn, Praesmohr, Alastrean, Bonty Court and Cromar Court and Mid-Deeside Day Centre.

Shortly there will be Young@Heart Deeside post boxes popping up in Aboyne Library, The Cornerhouse in Aboyne and The Paper Shop and Toyshop & Post Office in Tarland. Anyone can pop in the post boxes the name and address of someone they know who would benefit from a ‘Wee Bundle of Christmas Cheer’.

It could be a neighbour, friend or relative. If you prefer you can email membership@youngatheartdeeside.org. uk with the details.

Engage older people in rural communities in Deeside

Organise events and activities for physical and mental wellbeing Connect and meet new and old friends Help you learn new skills and have fun!

www.youngatheartdeeside.org.uk youngatheartdeeside

Engage older people in rural communities in Deeside

Organise

and activities for

It must be Christmas!

Charity and good cheer strikes at the heart of the community

Aboyne-Dinnet Church Halls

Cover Story: Progress on Village Resilience

Mid-Deeside Community Council Resilience

In the lead up to winter, and following the experiences of many through the storms of 2021/22, we hope all homes and businesses in the Mid Deeside Community Council catchment will now have received a booklet titled “Preparing for Emergencies – A Guide for Residents”.

Mid Deeside Community Council formed its Resilience Group at the beginning of this year; the group’s task was to consider the ways that the community can look after itself in the short but critical interval, from an incident occurring to when the emergency services and local authority arrive to take the lead.

The Resilience Group, comprised of residents and business owners in the area, have considered the possible risks and the strategies that might be possible for a small volunteer group to implement for a period of 24-48hrs.

While there are several parts to our resilience strategy, the first and perhaps the most important, is household resilience. The booklet that we have prepared and distributed is intended to encourage all households and businesses to think ahead and to have specific items ‘to hand’ in the event of an emergency.

We hope that we don’t have a winter of storms like we did last year, but we can never know what emergency might happen, so we believe it is best to prepare, to be ready, just in case.

Where we might experience storms or other emergencies that significantly impact our rural community and where there is for example a power outage for 24hrs or more, we are preparing our second level response, the Resilience Hubs.

The Resilience Hubs will have power (from generators we are in the process of purchasing and installing), offering heat, light and charging for mobile devices. We will have hot water and food and we will offer respite for those who can make it to us from their homes.

Our experience of the last storms, and from discussion with other resilience groups in Deeside, is that there will be some who are unable to make it to a Resilience Hub; the weather or a fallen

Group empowers villagers to be more prepared after last year’s storms, assisted by the MDCC

Cover Story cont.

tree or a personal mobility issue or even anxiety may prevent them from coming to us. We are therefore building a volunteer group and welcome all individuals willing to register to help so that we can take a thermos of soup to them, and to check if all is well and ensure that no major help is required.

The Resilience Hubs will be the centre for all communications, and we are working with the Authorities to ensure that any messages that can be communicated are shared with the hubs so our volunteers can pass it on and keep the community informed.

While you will have received the booklet “Preparing for Emergencies – A Guide for Residents” we still have some work yet to do and we will provide further updates in The Fountain and

Twinning update

from Ruth Emslie

A few months break from the gratifying intensity of the short and successful visit in August from our twinning friends in Martignas sur Jalle was all to the good. At the end of October, fully re-energised, we resumed our programme of events with a very well attended fund raising Quiz Night.

It was held in Aboyne Dinnet Church Hall, and members and friends enjoyed the absorbing range of themes and questions to puzzle and whisper over before commi�ng to an answer. There was a lot of hilarity too, despite the competing teams, and a stovie supper was served during the brain soothing interval, when we also had the chance to throw coins at a bottle and, a number of lucky attendees later went home with a raffle prize or two.

on the Community Council’s website, www.middeesidecommunitycouncil.org/ resilience.

If you have not received a booklet and would like one, they are available in shops across the three villages.

Please prepare, just in case, we just don’t know when events might happen.

So, for future fundraising, what’s next? Well, no confirmed dates at the moment but: we hope to have a stall at Aboyne Academy’s Christmas Fayre in December, before winter is over perhaps a French pancake event or/and a fondue evening, then our highly recommended annual Spring coffee morning in 2023. All the information will soon be appearing on the notice board in the top square.

En plus, we are all quite excited that talks for exchanges involving youngsters (adults too) from local rugby and basketball clubs continue apace in a very positive manner. Some plans are still simmering in various other fields of interest too.

Did you know that it was at a FrancoSco�sh international rugby match in France that Aboyne’s twinning ties with Martignas were conceived? Who knew such a beginning would lead to this worthwhile association?

News from your Co-op store

Friends of Anchor

We are absolutely delighted to have donated £1,000 to this fantastic charity with proceeds from our in store book sale!

THANK YOU!

Junior Memberships

Did you know under-16s can become a Member if a parent/guardian applies by calling 0800 023 4708. They will still build up democratic points and receive a share of the profits. They just won’t be able to vote in any of the elections until they are 16!

Coop Local Causes…

On behalf of our local causes I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to our members. You raised a phenomenal amount totalling £12,349.38, which was split between the following groups:

Aboyne After School Club: £3,915.21

Aboyne Food Bank: £4,358.48

One to One Counselling: £4,075.69

Our next round of causes has already begun. Please remember to select the cause you wish to support:

Aboyne Primary Parent Council

Aboyne After School Club

Tre-life CIC

with Gemma Massie, Aboyne Member Pioneer

Do you knit or crochet and would like to donate a woolly item that you have made to help keep someone in your community warm this winter?

To find out how you can get involved in LLA’s Cosy Bosie project, and where to donate your woolly items, go to https:// tinyurl.com/552s49sh

Live Life Essentials is a completely free membership that’s packed with more than you’d expect.

You could pop along to a library to pick up a book, or stay in the comfort of your home to read an e-Book through our Digital Library, or virtually flick through the day’s newspapers and magazines using PressReader.

Charge your mobile devices and access WiFi, or freshen up with a shower at one of our sports and leisure venues.

Warm Space Aboyne runs every Tuesday and Friday from 11.15–1pm. Anyone can pop in for a chat, catch up with friends or a quiet read of the newspapers, which we get free from The Paper Girls. We have great board games, packs of cards and jigsaws or you can bring your own. If you knit, bring it along.

Enjoy hot drinks and biscuits from 11.15am and delicious soup and bread from 12noon. During these times, the library service is not open to the public. The library is cosy, well-lit, and very comfortable. Sometimes it’s good to have a change of scene in your week and you are sure of a warm welcome.

We are also delighted that some senior pupils at Aboyne Academy come along and join in. These sessions are supported by Young@Heart Deeside, Aboyne Academy and Live Life Aberdeenshire. We hope to see you soon! 14

If you already have a LLA monthly direct debit membership or a 30 day pass you don’t have to sign up. Live Life Essentials benefits will be automatically included in your existing membership. Sign up at h�ps://bit.ly/3frW6jQ

When times are tough, don’t stop ADVERTISING!

The Fountain relies on advertising to pay for its design and printing and I am so grateful to our regular advertisers.

I am always delighted to welcome new advertisers, and you can see details of costs and deals etc on p30.

At Myriad Pro Publishing, advertisers are not just a space on a page. Your investment allows the publications to promote the activities of local groups and event organisers at no cost to them.

New customers can also benefit from introductory editorial 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 will help if I can.

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 targe�ed area at reasonable cost. Ad rates start at just £15 for a small ad (A7 size). 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

Friday night is movie night at Aboyne and Deeside Community Centre Theatre!

By the time you read this, Cinema at Aboyne audiences will have already enjoyed The Woman King and NTL’s Jack Absolute Flies Again on the big screen and The Wallace Collection bringing their musical melodies to the stage. There was also a live talk by the mountaineer and writer Mick Fowler, in aid of Braemar Mountain Rescue. Coming up: 02/12 - The Lost King (12A) 16/12 - Matilda the Musical (PG) The Banshees of Inisherin (15)

For details of upcoming films, head to the group’s Facebook page “Cinema at Aboyne”. See also “Music at Aboyne” for information about upcoming music events at the venue.

Information about upcoming films is available at Deeside Community Centre reception and foyer but tickets for films and events are no longer sold there. Go online to www.showsataboyne.co.uk

Our role is to improve the quality of life for all those living and working in our community. We are a team of local volunteers who together form MDCC, including the areas of Aboyne, Glen Tanar, Dinnet and Kincardine O’Neil.

We meet every month and members of the public are very welcome to join. You can find details of our meetings, minutes and reports on our website or contact us via Facebook or via middeesidecommunitycouncil@gmail.com. Please join us!

in Lady V’s Shoes

It took me longer than normal to come up with a topic for this edition’s column. Usually I have some sort of plan, or larger focus brewing at the back of my mind that I want to put into action. And, generally speaking, I am more likely to put these ideas into action if I have some way to hold myself accountable.

This is where you all come in, as you did with last season’s Fountain when I shared my plans to do the Illuminator. When it came to the actual night, I was sorely tempted to retreat upstairs to my warm (and dry) duvet cocoon, and no one would have been any the wiser. But I knew I had promised you all I was doing the Illuminator, so dammit I was going to do the Illuminator.

But, for once, I have no plans or grand schemes for the coming months. Rather, instead of thinking about what is next, recently I have been taking the time to look back and reflect on a lot of things. This reflective period I am currently in began with Queen Elizabeth’s passing in September. While I had never personally met the queen, hearing the news of her death hit me harder than I realised it would.

While processing the news of her passing, I began looking back at various events during my life, and recalling her presence at many of them – be that her calling for Daniel Craig’s Bond, James Bond as part of the Olympics opening ceremony in 2012, or one of her many Christmas speeches I listened to with my parents. She was just always there, and I still find it strange when I remember she is gone.

I went down to Ballater Road with my family on the day the Queen’s body was moved from Balmoral, and I still think about that moment often. What a testament to a life well spent to have so many people out to send her off on her final journey through Aboyne.

I am not sure how best to close this column, as my ruminations evidently don’t have a clear conclusion. I do, however, hope that you are all well, and I wish you all the best for Christmas and 2023. Take care, V xx

REIKI

CHRISTMAS VOUCHERS

Relax in the hands of Fiona Bonner, a qualified Reiki Master and Teacher with over 20 years’ experience

The ideal gift for a friend or relative

Aboyne Fareshare were delighted to accept a £1,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Aboyne and Upper Deeside, writes Ruth Powell.

This will help provide food to supply the village pantry at Aboyne Dinnet Church and also the village pantries in Kinker, Torphins and Lumphanan, maintained by Mid Deeside Church.

At Aboyne Fareshare, we receive surplus food from Cfine and donations made at Aboyne Coop and Morrison’s in Banchory and redistribute it out to the local pantries and other local organisations.

We are always looking for donations of dried, tinned and packet foods, toiletries and cleaning products. We have donation bins at Aboyne Co-op and Morrison’s in Banchory. Money donations can be made by contacting MDCT on 013398 85222.

If you feel you are able to help us by becoming involved then please email us at Aboyne Fareshare on aboynefareshare@ mid-deeside.org.uk

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has so generously donated to us in the past, without you we could not help those who are in need.

Unfortunately this winter, life is likely to become harder for many, so please, if you are able, put a little something into one of our donation bins. Thank you.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

We are delighted to announce two new appointments within our Property and Private Client Teams, joining us from Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace.

Gillian Smith has joined as an Associate within our thriving Private Client Team. An experienced solicitor, Gillian deals with all aspects of Private Client business, including Wills, Power of Attorney, Executries and Estate Planning.

Andrea Hardie joins us as Senior Property Adviser. With over 20 years of experience in the property industry, Andrea brings a wealth of knowledge to the role. Based in our busy Cults office, Andrea looks forward to guiding existing and new clients through all aspects of the property sale process.

In these often turbulent times, Mackinnons Solicitors stand fast in our outlook and optimism for the future, delivering a level of service we ourselves would expect.

ABERDEEN CULTS ABOYNE BALLATER