Carrick Academy kitchen staff walk Millport for Breast Cancer charity. Pictured from left to right : Jean Swan, Tracey Capstick, Jo McGregor, Jean Barclay, Marion Wright, Andrea Corin, Joanne Anderson and Janie Hamilton. The photo was taken by the ninth member of the team, Lorna Lennox. Members of the kitchen staff at Carrick Academy recently completed a 10 mile sponsored walk around Millport, former home town of kitchen manager Janie Hamilton. The group managed to raise just over £1,000 for the charity. The intrepid team left Maybole early on a Sunday morning in October, Beast Cancer Awareness month, and travelled to Largs where they caught the Millport ferry. The weather forecast wasn't good but the rain stayed away and the walkers safely managed to complete their journey. Although they were a bit sore, they remained dry; at least on the outside. After a light refreshment and a recharge of the batteries, the walkers headed back and were in Maybole in time for tea.

Gordon Cockburn, of Maybole, is opening an exhibition in honour of his friend Ernest Levy who died a few months ago. Ernest survived not just one Nazi concentration camp but seven and became one of Scotland’s most respected religious leaders. He was born in 1925 in Bratislava and in 1938 he and his family, along with hundreds of other Jewish families, were sent to a camp on the Hungarian border before being allowed to cross the border to settle in Hungary. Germany invaded Hungary in March 1944, and the 19-year-old engineering student was deported to Auschwitz along with thousands of others. Ernest became a slave worker in seven Nazi camps, the last of which was Belsen in January 1945. Belsen was liberated by British troops in April 1945. His father, and also a brother and a sister, had died in the camps. In 1961 he decided to move to Glasgow, and in 1965 married another survivor of Belsen, Kathy Herman. The exhibition in the Cockburn Gallery is on Tuesday November 17 at 8.30pm and there will be special guests and international entertainment.

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A different type of train arrived in Maybole last week for an exceptional event. It was Soul Train, and it brought the Israel experience to the ancient capital of Carrick at a special showing of paintings in the Cockburn Gallery on the High Street.

The gallery is currently showing a selection, from over 500 of Gordon Cockburn's moving paintings inspired by his visit to Auschwitz, in memory of the Rev Ernest Levy, and the event was attended by Ernest's daughter, Judith, as well as South Ayrshire’s Provost Winifred Sloan, Walter Sneader, chair of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities’, and other local dignitaries.

Gordon Cockburn and the gallery manager Kate Rolwich, spoke movingly of their friendship with Ernest, and the entertainment included Jewish and Israeli music performed by David Weinreb and Danny Dor-El of Soul Train, as well as Scottish songs from Jim Stevens and his daughter Mhairi.

Also amongst those present were Jewish people from Ayrshire and the Borders who had learned about the event as a result of a Scottish Council of Jewish Communities’ government-funded outreach project. So far this project has connected more than 50 isolated Jewish people in rural areas from the Borders to the Northern Isles with the community.

Soul Train is a group that connects with members of small Jewish communities round the world – and anyone else who appreciates music and culture with a Jewish heart!

Accompanied by guitars, a flute, a clarinet and a Jambe (an African drum), the musicians sing Jewish soul music, Chassidic rock, Israeli songs, and Hebrew prayers. The group have a proven track record in other parts of the world, but have never before performed in Western Europe – so this was another first for Maybole.

They were beginning their Kosher Ceilidh tour of Scotland before moving on to Lochgilphead, the Isle of Skye, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) is the representative body of all the Jewish communities in Scotland. SCoJeC advances public understanding about the Jewish religion, culture and community, and develops and provides information and assistance to educational, health and welfare organisations. It also works in partnership with other organisations and stakeholders to promote good relations and understanding among community groups and to promote equality.  In furtherance of that end, it represents the Jewish community in Scotland to government and other statutory and official bodies, monitors the Scottish Parliament and liaises with MSPs and others on matters affecting the Jewish community. Contact SCoJeC for more details: scojec@scojec.org / 0141 638 6411 / 07887 488 100

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Spotty Zebras  is a new group starting in South Ayrshire for families who have a child with significant special needs – for example they may need one to one support to access ordinary activities.  Carrie McKnight, who lives in Maybole, has an 8 year old son, Keir, with Down’s syndrome and quite severe learning disability and Sasha Ratcliffe from Ayr has a 3 year old son, Jack, with general developmental delay.

Carrie told us, “Our group is for all the family so that parents and carers can meet each other and share stories, information and support while their disabled children and their siblings play. It is a bit like a parent and toddler group but for children of all ages! We are running the group ourselves and parents/carers wlll be responsible for their children at all times.”

She continued, “We wanted to start the group because it can be isolating having a child with special needs in the family.  “We want to create a space where it is normal to have a child who is different. We chose the name Spotty Zebras because it is fun and memorable and it symbolises that while our disabled children are different in some significant ways, they are mainly just the same as anyone else!

“We are planning to meet on a regular basis – at least once a month and our first meeting is on Sunday 15th November from 2-4pm at the old Digital building on Mosshill Industrial Estate just outside Ayr. There will be fun activities for children of all abilities.” Anybody who is interested in going along or finding out more can contact Carrie on 07950773899 or Sasha on 07775638026 or e-mail Carrie at carriemcknight@btinternet.com. They would love to hear from you!

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The former Co-operative building in Maybole’s Whitehall is having some emergency repairs done on. For some time now, the local community council has been trying to find out who the owners are and trying to have the property made safe. This has meant contacting South Ayrshire Council and Companies House and now the local authority has instructed contactors to carry out the work. Scaffolding has been erected along the frontage, because of concern about the condition of the roof. The contractor was also to check the condition of the boarding over the windows. This work was carried out to remove the immediate danger to the public. The delay in the remedial work commencing was that Amey initially did not approve the scaffolding quickly enough, and also said it could only be erected at the weekend. Building Standards are considering serving a Dangerous Building Notice on the property. This would require the owner to carry out work, such as the removal of the roof and permanently securing the windows, relating to the long term stability of the structure.

The first of South Ayrshire Council’s Community Conversation events was held in Carrick Academy, Maybole last Wednesday, November 4. Hugh Hunter, council leader, welcomed a few members of the public and said that in the current economic climate public sector organisations across the UK are facing unprecedented financial challenges.

 

He continued, “ These conversations are to increase awareness and understanding of the big issues that South Ayrshire Council is facing and to invite suggestions and ideas from communities. David Anderson, Chief Executive, outlined improvements the council has made since a Best Value Audit had been carried out and what still needed to be looked at.

 

Bill McIntosh, Portfolio Holder, resource and Performance, spoke about the economic outlook and its impact on local government. He said, “There will be a sharp reduction in the finance available with South Ayrshire Council looking at a potential £35 million funding gap over the next four years.

 

David Anderson then spoke on the approach to the council’s budget over those four years but said there was a high level of uncertainty about the way forward. He spoke about higher costs and increased demand for sevices, adding, “Efficiency actions will not be sufficient to get us through the budget changes.

 

We need to identify areas for doing things differently, reductions in what we do or withdrawing from some things we do. “The focus will be on property, people and purchases.”

 

Former council leader Andy Hill, a Maybole resident, was at the meeting and criticised the venue blaming it for the lack of people who had turned up. He also queried how the meeting had been publicised saying that people needed to get the opportunity to be heard. “These decisions will be hard,” he added, “with far reaching consequences.” In essence the reply was that the venue had been raised by the community council as not suitable but it was the first in a new venture and had seemed right because of staff to support it, parking and other factors.

 

David Anderson said, “It’s important we learn and will take this on board.” Bill McCubbin asked if the removal of ring fencing for funds had been helpful or not and the Chief Executive replied that it had been very helpful letting the council address what it thinks is important. Brian Robertson asked if services would be affected if the council had to reduce costs. Bill McIntosh replied that service reviews were being carried out and they were looking at whether a service should be done at all or could it be done more efficiently and how could quality be improved. Roger Martin was concerned about cut backs affecting grants for organisations such as the Scout group he helps run and Hugh Hunter replied that no decisions had been made and everything was being looked at. He pointed out that the council’s main grant system could still be applied to. William Grant asked about the possibility of sharing services with North and east Ayrshire Councils and case for an all Ayrshire authority. Hugh Hunter was “dead against” and all Ayrshire authority saying he believed in local delivery of service. David Anderson said the three councils were working together to look at being more cost effective particularly in buying. Andy Hill turned to the shortfall of £35 million over the next four years and said that this would mainly affect people who worked for the council.

 

“How will it help the community if people are made redundant, it will create more problems.” He then spoke about future Maybole projects and how they could be run. David Anderson said that 53% of the budget is spent on people and that can’t be ignored. “We have to produce a balanced budget; become more efficient, more effective and look at multitasking.” Hugh Hunter said that more buildings could be let go and there could be better use of buildings retained if jobs are to be saved. He said the Pathfinder project in Maybole was exciting and could be a future way of managing community assets.