April 2007. The complete text of the headlines above and more articles follow below.

As it was Palm Sunday, parishioners at Our Lady & St Cuthbert’s Church in Maybole started there service a little differently. Everyone gathered outside the church for the traditional blessing of palms. The Gospel of the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem was read, followed by a procession into the church with parishioners holding blessed palms and singing “Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising”. Immediately afterwards, the theme changed radically with the reading of the Passion from St Luke’s gospel.

The Carrick Centre In the Heart of Maybole. The Maybole New Church Project committee has named the new community facilities at the Greenside the Carrick Centre and last week its newly elected Advisory Committee met for the first time. This new centre, which is estimated to cost about £2,000,000, will accommodate a youth facility, a coffee shop, conference and community facilities, as well as the new Maybole Parish Church. The new Community Advisory Management Committee was formed last month and consists of representatives from local voluntary groups and the congregation.

The New Church Project committee no longer exists and at last week’s meeting the advisory committee created a company limited by guarantee to make applications to funders for the community facilities. The first directors of the new company are Bill Miller, Jim Stevens, Hugh Paterson, Peter Lynn, Ellen Hawkes, David Kiltie, Jim Paterson, Rev Dave Whiteman and Lesley Grant. The new site has been cleared ready for construction work to begin, and this innovative project is a clear partnership between the Church and the community. To date the Maybole New Church Project committee has succeeded in raising over £1,000,000 for the church and community facilities from the sale of properties, trust funders, and donations. A further £100,800 has been raised towards £500,000 needed for a youth wing.

Rev John Stuart, former minister of the West Parish Church has been in touch with our local correspondent. He emailed David Kiltie saying, “No doubt you are aware of the terrible shootings at the Virginia Tech college in Blacksburg, Virginia. We are all shocked about the massacre and it has sadly brought up memories of the Columbine and Dunblane shootings. What you may not know is that our oldest daughter Lynsey will be taking up a position at Virginia Tech during summer of this year. She is going to work in Students Affairs and administration, so she will have a lot of pain and pressure to deal with. May I humbly ask that the people of Maybole, whom we still love deeply, will keep Lynsey in their hearts and prayers? May God bless you all, as well as the good people of Dunure.” Rev Stuart has written a poem which is now on www.maybole.org and it is working its way across the Internet in the United States. Poem

Ellen Hawkes, Project Co-ordinator, and David Kiltie, representing the Burns Festival Committee met with local businesses at a cheese and wine evening last week. The evening was to inform and consult with local businesses about the proposed heritage event re-enacting the market fair at Maybole where Robert Burns’ parents first met in 1756. Business owners were given an overview of “Robert Burns – Where it began” by Mr. Kiltie and Mrs Hawkes spoke about the information pack available to businesses. Feedback on ideas for the event was excellent with 100% backing from the businesses present, all of whom will wear period dress and dress their shop windows to reflect the event. more

The Matt Dunnachie Award. On Easter Sunday a new trophy was presented to Carrick Sports Club in memory of founder member Matt Dunnachie. Matt’s wife May presented club convener Alex Meek with a beautiful new award which the family felt would mark his long assocation with the club and the community. The trophy will be awarded annually in recognition of service to the community of Maybole in any capacity. It will be the task of the club to decide who will receive the award each year and a sub committee will be formed to nominate the recipient. The award winner, individual or organisation, will not necessarily be a club member. There will also be a certificate to accompany the trophy.

At the presentation on Sunday club secretary Bill McCubbin said it was appropriate that it held in the Burns’ Lounge of the club as he remembered Matt working in what was formerly a room and kitchen. “I well remember matt in the thick of it taking out the fireplace and putting in support beams away back in the early 70s,” he said. “Previous to that, he was very much involved in the creation of the ground floor lounge and what was then the dance hall.” Bill continued, “As a founder member of this club Matt firmly believed that it would play an important part in the life of Maybole. This has indeed proved to be the case over these past 32 years. The fact that this place is here is a tribute to Matt and the others like him who made it happen through their hard work and loyalty.” “It is because of his long association with the club that we welcome May, Edgar, Lorna, Heather and Andrew here today,” he added. “We know that they were all proud of Matt and who he was, as indeed we were.” “I feel sure,” he concluded, “that Matt would approve this gesture in his memory by the family he was so devoted to.”

Young parishioners of Our Lady & St Cuthbert's Church held a talent contest last Saturday and called it "The C Factor" - C for Church. In a hilarious role reversal, presenters were Fr Stephen McFrattan (played by Kyle Campbell) and Kyle Campbell (played by Fr Stephen)! Judges were Louis Walsh (Alex Kelly), Sharon Osbourne (Nancy Flanagan) and Simon Cowell (Jamie Moan) After a lot of deliberation the winner was Sam Currie, 2nd was Josh Malone and 3rd were dancers Rhiain Collins, Paige Campbell and Phoebe McDowall. Father Stephen McGrattan said afterwards: "There are certainly some rising stars among the young people of the parish. Not only do they have talent, but they share it generously with others. Well done and thank you! The C Factor drew in a large audience of family and friends making it a social highlight in the life of the parish. There have already been requests to host the show every year: I look forward to that."

Carrick Speakers Golf Club Open, Sunday 22nd April On a day which had promised rain showers, it was sunshine all the way for John McVittie of Girvan Golf Club and Weir McCulloch of the host club as they captured the Carrick Sports Club trophy and the Scratch trophy respectively. On a very competitive day, each recorded victory by the narrowest of margins with John making his move late in the day to pip home player Bert Jardine with a net 59.

Over one hundred competitors battled for prizes, the other major successes being: 3rd J McNulty (Glasgow Gailes); 4th H McEwan (Brunston Castle); 5th G McCulloch (Brunston Castle); 6th J Wilson (Brunston Castle). In his closing remarks,club captain, Les Newlands, thanked Carrick Sports Club for its very generous sponsorship and club convener, Alex Meek, for presenting the main awards. The golf club would like to thank all sponsors for their help over many years without which the competition could not be held, in particular South Ayrshire Council for granting the courtesy of the course for the whole day.

On a long but enjoyable day all club members worked very hard to ensure that all went smoothly, ably assisted by the ladies of The 18th Hole, the ever-obliging course starter and the greenkeeping staff who had the course in excellent condition for the time of year.

FAIRKNOWE RESIDENTS SOCIAL FUND COMMITTEE. The recently formed committee organised a real fun day last Wednesday, April 11. A good number of residents’ families and friends attended and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day. There was plenty of entertainment, games, nibbles, drinks and laughter with Guess the Name of the Easter Toy, a raffle for the “Big Easter Egg” and lots of other prizes. The Best Easter Bonnet competition was won by resident Mary Duffy and the Best Decorated Egg competition was won by Emma Lawrie. Everyone enjoyed the community singing and the Easter Egg Hunt.

Committee members are Ina Speirs, Janet Warnes, Kelly Boddie, Carol Richardson, Lovina Galloway, Lynda McBirnie, Margaret Sturgeon, Linda Davidson, Donna Davidson, Elaine Sym, Isabell Toye, Pat Thorburn and Maureen Grant. Office Bearers are :Chairperson – Margaret Sturgeon, Secretary - Isabell Toye, Treasurer - Lynda McBirnie, Assistant Treasurer – Carol Richardson. The committee is also hoping to take an active part in the Maybole Gala Day, later in the year, involving some of the residents in the parade and having a stall.

Salmon in the Classroom project success Like other primary school pupils across Ayrshire, pupils at St Cuthbert’s school in Maybole last week released their baby salmon, which they had been caring for since February. One of the pupils told us, “Mr. Minting from the Ayrshire River Trust came to St. Cuthbert's Primary to talk to us about salmon and other kinds of fish that live in the rivers around us. “Before he left, he gave us about 200 salmon eggs to look after. We had to monitor the temperature of the tank, record the number of fish that hatched and the number of fish that died. We looked after them for six weeks and then we released them back into the River Girvan. “We hope to go back nearer the summer to see if we can find any of the salmon. It was great fun and we enjoyed the experience of having them in the class and helping to restore salmon to local waters.” Twelve schools and Dolphin House Education Centre at Culzean have been involved in the Salmon in the Classroom project this year, run by Ayrshire Rivers Trust.

The project involves an afternoon lesson to primary school classes on local rivers, including threats to wildlife such as pollution, habitat loss and overfishing. The salmon life cycle is then covered in detail including breeding behaviour and migration. After advice on how to look after salmon eggs, the class is provided with an aquarium containing around 200 salmon eggs. The aquaria are fitted with thermostatic coolers, to cope with high classroom temperatures and keep the water at the same temperature as the river. The coolers ensure a high survival rate and allow the children to see the development of the fish for longer before they are released. Pupils keep a daily record of the progress of the salmon and create posters on the salmon life cycle. Eggs have been supplied by local hatcheries approved by District Salmon Fishery Boards using only native salmon.

Children learn to identify different fish species and how to assess water quality by sampling river invertebrates. The project has significantly expanded since 2005, when four schools took part followed by ten in 2006. In 2007 the following primary schools have taken part; Barr, Dailly, St Cuthbert’s and Cairn (Maybole), Dolphin House (Culzean), Minishant, Heathfield, Dundonald, Tarbolton, Catrine, Patna, Dalmellington and Muirkirk. Ayrshire Rivers Trust biologist Peter Minting has been developing the project and applying for funds from different sources. A large portion of funding for SITC has been provided by the Big Lottery Fund’s Fairshare Trust, which is funding five schools in the Maybole area until 2008. Scottish Natural Heritage, Spirit Aerosystems, East Ayrshire Council, South Ayrshire Council, the Hadyard Hill Windfarm Community Fund and Minerals Trust are now also helping to fund the project. Peter Minting has again been running the project in 2007, with the help of senior biologist Brian Shaw.

For information on how to participate in the project contact Peter Minting on 01292 525142. Ayrshire Rivers Trust is a local charity working to improve the quality of Ayrshire’s rivers for fish and other wildlife. For comments from individual teachers, please use contact details below: Primary school Postcode Head teacher Teacher/contact Tel: St Cuthberts, Maybole KA19 7HD Mrs Elizabeth Miller Miss Sharon McCutcheon 01655 882349 Cairn, Maybole Fiona MacAvoy Mr Quentin Black 01655 883292 Dailly KA26 9SB Mrs Eileen Haddow Mrs Maureen McLeod 01465 811258 Culzean Mr Henry Anderson Mr Kenny Dunlop 01655 760600 Minishant Davina Hose Mrs Park 01292 441803 Patna Marion McClean Miss Hunter 01292 531271 Barr KA26 9TT Mrs Nancy Doyle Mrs Young 01465 861244 Heathfield Mrs Shearing Kathleen Reid 01292 264802 Catrine KA5 6PS Mrs Campbell McClinton Mrs Abram 01290 551436 Dundonald Jane Houston Jane Houston 01563 850396 Tarbolton KA5 5QA Karen Butler 01292 541278 Dalmellington KA6 7SJ Jack Paterson Sandra Jones 01292 550364 Muirkirk KA18 3RH Mrs Jean Ronald Miss Lindsey 01290 661350

OPPORTUNITY THROUGH PARTNERSHIP

Travel Connections (Maybole Fair Share Area) (including Maybole, Crosshill, Dailly, Dunure, Fisherton, Kirkmichael, Kirkoswald, Maidens, Minishant, Straiton, and Turnberry)

Who Are We?

Travel Connections is managed by Stepping Stones for Families, a national voluntary organisation. This project serves the Maybole Fair Share Area and is an expansion of the established Girvan project.

Our Aim

To support people within the Maybole Fair Share Area to make positive changes in their lives through accessing employment, training, health or welfare services and community activities by providing transport where private or public transport is unavailable or inaccessible.

Our Purpose

To develop and run a subsidised transport service to ensure that people living in rural areas can access local services and activities.

Can You Use The Service?

Yes, if you live in the Maybole Fair Share Area and you want to use a service either within the Maybole Fair Share Area or nearby and you don’t have access to a car for the journey you want to make and no public transport is available within half an hour of the time you need to travel

Physical Disability

If you are registered disabled and are unable to step on to a normal service bus, then we may be able to book a taxi for you even if public transport is available.

How Will You Travel?

Initially travel will be by private taxi either directly to the service you want to use or to a place where you can get a train or bus.  We will be recruiting volunteer drivers to assist with transport.  Please contact us if you wish to join this exciting venture.

What Is The Cost?

£3.60 per journey for an adult (16+ if left school)

£1.80 per journey for a school pupil

Pre-school children free of charge.

No other concessionary fares.

How Do You Pay?

You buy tickets from Travel Connections or from one of our ‘Village or Community Champions’.  More details when you register.

Travel Connections Identity Cards

You will need a Travel Connections Identity Card which requires a recent photograph of yourself.  This can be created for you by the Travel Connections staff upon registration with the Project.

Conditions Of Service

Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult.  Seatbelts MUST be worn in accordance with current legislation. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that all children under the age of 12 travel in the rear seats of the taxi and also to ensure that appropriate safety restraints are used.

Liability

Stepping Stones for Families accepts NO liability for any loss or damage occurring through use of the subsidised travel scheme. If any problem should arise passengers should contact the Taxi firm  providing the transport.

Mission

Stepping Stones for Families is a national voluntary organisation which has been connecting with families and young people in Scotland for over 15 years. Our work today provides support, opportunity and a voice for families and young people affected by disadvantage.

Vision

By providing innovative solutions and working in partnership, we will continue to support communities in need within Scotland.  Our work will target the

effects of poverty and exclusion.

Statement of Values

Stepping Stones for Families’ members and volunteers are committed to upholding the core values which underpin all of the work carried out by the organisation.

OPENING TIMES

Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 4.00 pm

All bookings must be made at least two hours in advance of required journey, except weekends and early Monday requests which must be received no later than 2 pm on Fridays

CONTACT

Travel Connections

Carrick Buildings Learning Centre

Henrietta Street, Girvan,  KA26 9AL

Tel:  01465 716633

Mobile No:  07764 826733

E-mail:  tc@ssff.org.uk

Stepping Stones for Families is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in Scotland No. 114228. It’s Registered Office is at Studio 3003A, Mile End Mill, 12 Seedhill Road, Paisley, PA1 1JS www.ssff.org.uk.  Stepping Stones for Families is a Charity No. SCOO4894