February 2020 Update
We were planning to hold a soup lunch on Wednesday 18th March, but this was cancelled due to the current coronavirus emergency. We hope that the Tearoom will be open as usual on Wednesdays and Fridays beginning Friday 1st May. The season ends on Friday 30th October.
We had our AGM in late November – see gallery pictures here .... Our long-serving Vice Chair, Mary Rogers, stood down for family reasons and we welcomed Jackie Stephen onto the WLET Board.
The annual Hogmanay Gathering was a very enjoyable and successful occasion bringing together local people of all ages. We may manage another this year.
As always, we welcome anyone who would wish to volunteer help in any way. You don’t have to have a lot of time – an hour can make a difference.
Thank You!
Our special Christmas afternoon in the Old Schoolhouse Tearoom on Friday 6th December was very successful – over 60 people attended and we raised over £260 for our funds! Many thanks to all who came along – we do appreciate your support. We would like to say a special thank you to Santa’s Elf for helping to make the opening so enjoyable for everyone, especially our younger visitors.
NEW SERVICE AT INVERASDALE SCHOOL
Bridget Williams of Wester Ross Physiotherapy is holding a clinic by appointment in The Old School, usually on a Thursday afternoon. Contact Bridget on 07548 833555 or
Another Successful Season Ends
Here at the Old School, Inverasdale we’ve had a lovely 2019 summer season with another substantial increase in footfall and income against the previous year’s. We extend thanks to everyone who
has helped to make such a success - particularly those who bake, help out in the Tearoom and in the Exhibition Rooms, along with all those individuals and organisations who have contributed in any way.
The jigsaw donated by Gairloch Heritage Museum has proved a big hit with everyone who visits the School Exhibition – both children and adults!
This rearranged schoolroom area has been a great hit with our younger visitors as you can see from the photograph of a young visitor working hard at her desk!
The ‘Land Fit for Heroes’ exhibition kindly loaned by Gairloch Heritage Museum has been much enjoyed by visitors who spent time studying the information together with that in the ‘Gairloch Role of Honour’ in our display cabinets and booklets documenting the Poolewe Burial Ground.
WLET has been invited to Round 2 of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund for match funding towards the proposed new kitchen extension and porch, funding having already been secured through the National Lottery Community Fund and the Prince’s Countryside Fund. We will hear the outcome of the RCGF application in January 2020, at the earliest.
Thank you to:
• Steelite for the wonderful teapots, cups and plates
• All those who recently donated crockery
• to Julie (Cornerstone) for the donation of a wrapping paper display stand
• Gairloch Museum
• Everyone who has helped us in any way this year!
We are already looking forward to planning for the 2020 season!
Gallery
COMMUNITY LAND FESTIVAL OCTOBER 2025
SEASON 2024
GAMS VISIT SEPTEMBER
HOGMANY 2023
SEASON 2023
COMMUNITY PIZZA EVENING FEBRUARY
SEASON 2022
HOGMANY 2022
Community Lunch No 1 27/10/22
AGM November 2019
SEASON 2019
Tearoom
Classroom Exhibition
Local Exhibition
Local Crafts
June 2019 Update
The summer season at the Old School, Inverasdale has had a tremendous start. In May we welcomed three times as many people to the Old Schoolhouse Tearoom and exhibitions as against the same period last year!
“A Land Fit for Heroes” has proved interesting, enjoyable and moving for so many of our visitors. One visitor said “We came and had excellent tea and cake at the School last week, and spent some time enjoying your exhibitions. I think you've done a grand job of displaying the Museum posters in the context of your own stories.”
The ‘School Exhibition’ continues to attract interest, not just from those who have connections. A visitor who spent quite some time in the school exhibition recently, particularly admired the gallery of photographs and the story told by these and the School Registers.
If you’re visiting the area come along and have tea, coffee and home-baking on a Wednesday or Friday afternoon from 2.00 pm until 4.30 pm, enjoy our exhibitions and browse the local arts and crafts on display.
About Us
We are a registered charity in a remote rural community with a group of volunteers who have worked hard since 2015 to bring the old Inverasdale Primary School into community ownership as a Community Centre. Wester Loch Ewe Trust was set up in March 2015 to be the legal body for asset transfer and at the end of November 2018 we achieved ownership of the School.
Wester Loch Ewe Trust is developing the Old School to create a Community Centre serving the series of scattered crofting settlements which stretch for 9 miles along the isolated west coast of Loch Ewe. Our location is very disadvantaged, having no local services and no public transport. The nearest shop is 9 miles away from Cove, the furthest settlement, and it is a 100-mile round trip to the nearest supermarket. The Old School is the only building for this community, where isolation is a common issue facing residents of the settlements along this coast of Loch Ewe.
We aim to sustain community spirit and good health amongst local residents in our remote location. We offer opportunities to make friends, learn new skills and improve wellbeing for all who come here.
WHAT WE DO is run a variety of activities with the aim of reducing isolation, improving wellbeing and offering learning opportunities in our local community. Our activities include a weekly “drop-in” session where local residents can socialize; there are volunteering opportunities in our tearoom; we provide meeting spaces for local community groups and hold functions in honour of specific events (for example, a Remembrance Day lunch). The Old School is also a central resource hub in case of local emergencies, with a defibrillator and many volunteers trained in skills such as first aid.
OUR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE are to grow and thrive, supporting local volunteering as a way of bringing people together. We aim to link up with external stakeholders to provide activities at the centre, with everything from arts and crafts groups to advice services and groups offering mobility support services for our older local residents. We would also like to establish a fortnightly lunch club for older people, introduce themed meals in winter, and run other regular social activities. We also wish to become an established delivery point for online supermarket shopping as a service to our local residents.
April 2019 Update
Our volunteers have been busy getting ready for the summer season, our first under community ownership! We are open on Wednesdays and Fridays from 2.00 pm until 4.00 pm from 1st May until the end of October.
Come along and enjoy our Tearoom:
“A really wonderful place at which you can have a lovely afternoon tea experience with nice china and superb cakes - a real celebration of Scottish baking.” (Facebook comment)
Browse local arts and crafts as well as artisan produce made within a mile of the Old School.
This year you can see updated free exhibitions centered around the ‘History of Inverasdale School’, the Wester Loch Ewe area, and Gairloch Heritage Museum have kindly loaned ‘A Land Fit for Heroes’.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Old Schoolhouse Tearoom
If you are in the Poolewe area, come and visit us at the Old Schoolhouse Tearoom, open Wednesdays and Fridays 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm.
We have delicious home baking, including a gluten-free choice. There are displays of local arts, crafts and produce and 2 free exhibitions.
One exhibition room shows the history of Inverasdale School through photographs and artefacts. There is a small dedicated area where young children can draw, colour and play. The other room shows Wester Loch Ewe in the Past. The exhibitions are updated for each summer season.
If you come to see us and enjoy your visit, please leave a comment in our Guest Book, or our Facebook Page.
Good News - Big Lottery Support!
On 12th December 2018 the Big Lottery Community Led Medium Fund awarded WLET a grant of £116,465. The award gives £50,000 of capital toward the building renovation – for our first ever kitchen, toilet refurbishment and upgrading of access to the building. The rest is revenue spending which will allow us to employ a project development manager part time for 2.5 years as well as employing an admin support assistant for 10 hours a week for 3 years!
Wester Loch Ewe Trust is enormously grateful to the Big Lottery for this grant and to the National Lottery players who made it possible!
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