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£32K Funding for Linlithgow to Support the Community Coronavirus Response!

Linlithgow Community Development Trust has just been awarded £32k funding from the Scottish Government Covid-19 Supporting Communities Fund.

This funding will run until the end of September and help:

  • coordinate and support the local community response to the pandemic, particularly for groups supporting older, isolated and infirm people, and families and households in need,
  • support and promote good communication across the whole community with local information.

There are many groups in Linlithgow providing support to the community at this time. Linlithgow’s strength is the many groups, volunteers and businesses ready to help those in need. LCDT has been working with 1st Step, Linlithgow Link, Linlithgow’s Young Person’s Project and Linlithgow’s Coronavirus Support Group helping everyone work together.

Ensuring all groups work together and in line with Council, NHS and other public sector responses, will be very important to ensure we support those most in need safely, and in the best ways possible, keeping up with all national developments, throughout this crisis. LCDT, is developing collaborations with the Community Council and OneLinlithgow Business Improvement District, to help coordinate the community responses. We are also working with the Black Bitch Magazine.

Linlith-Go-Solar Target Achieved!

We are very pleased to announce we have successfully raised the £25,000 investment required as match funding for phase 2 of Linlith-Go-Solar!

Thank you very much to all the investors in the community bonds who have helped us achieve this target. Thanks also to Scottish Communities Finance Ltd who manage the bond offer and Linlithgow Sports Club, Linlithgow Golf Club and Linlithgow Rugby Club who have supported the promotion.

There are many more organisations and volunteers to thank for all their input, too many to mention, but thank you to them all – a real ‘community team’ effort!

Following Linlith-Go-Solar on Facebook to stay updated with plans for phase 3 of the project!

Halfway to meeting the Linlith-Go-Solar target!

We are halfway to meeting our target!!

With the installations now complete, we have one final hurdle and we need your help …..

We’ve raised over £12.5k – halfway there – towards our match-funding target of £25k. Thank you for the incredible generosity of people who have already purchased bonds – especially in such unprecedented times.

Now we need to raise the rest of the funding to match the financial support already secured thanks to CARES at Local Energy Scotland to support our Phase 2 of Linlith-Go-Solar.

For full details of the Bond and how to apply visit the Scottish Communities Finance website.

The application process can be done seamlessly online and you will receive a certificate as a keepsake for your investment.

Please share with anyone that may be interested in investing in the community and the environment!

Thanks also to AES Solar for their fantastic efforts installing the solar panels at Linlithgow Golf ClubLinlithgow RFC and Linlithgow Sports Club. We’re so pleased to have met the end of March installation target!

Linlith-Go-Solar Phase 2 Community Bond Offer is Open!

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our second Community Bond Offer for Phase 2 of Linlith-Go-Solar!

This is your chance to make an ethical investment which will support community and climate benefits for the people of Linlithgow.

You can apply to invest online at the Scottish Communities Finance Ltd website.

We are looking to raise £25,000 which will fund the installation of Solar PV panels at Linlithgow Golf Club, Linlithgow Sports Club and a secondary system at Linlithgow Rugby Club, who were involved in Phase 1 of the project.

We are also pleased to be able to offer an increased interest rate for all investments, compared with the first Community Bond offer.

Here just some of the reasons to invest:

  • Profits from the project will be reinvested back into the community to support local projects.
  • Local clubs will get electricity at a lower price.
  • Solar energy will reduce the environmental impact of community sites across the town.
  • Local clubs will be supported to become sustainable, enabling them to offer better benefits to members.
  • Your investment will be returned in full with interest when matured.

Follow us on Facebook to keep updated with all the latest news about the Community Bond Offer and the Linlith-Go-Solar project. We have big plans for Phase 3!

This project has received funding and support through a CARES grant to help us fund a Project Manager from Locogen, and CARES loans towards the development and installation costs. Scottish Communities Finance Ltd manage the Bond for us and we would also like to thank them for their support with marketing the Bond Offer.

This support has allowed our small group of LCDT volunteers to make this project happen. Thank you!

We did it – thank you!

An incredible £33,015 was raised for the West Lothian Cycle Circuit crowdfunder which will be used to erect 27 floodlights around the perimeter of the circuit. This will enable cycling can continue all year round, throughout the whole day. Phase two will extend the circuit to a full km with an additional two loops. Thank you so much for all the donations and thanks to all our hardworking team that made the crowdfunder a success.

We are really grateful for the ongoing support from our main funders, West Lothian Council, SportScotland and Scottish Cycling. We are now in discussions with them to finalise funding so we can push ahead with building phase 1 of the circuit as soon as possible. We anticipate construction commencing later in the Summer and look forward to the circuit being open to the public by Spring next year.

Linlith-Go-Solar Phase 2 is coming soon!

We’re almost there with the launch of Phase 2 Linlith-Go-Solar!

Today we signed our agreements with Linlithgow Golf Club to install 2 Solar PV systems on the Golf Shop and Greenkeeper Shed roofs. The documents were signed after months of hard work, technical and other assessments in developing the project.

Pictured here are Liam, Dougie and John – trustees of the club, with Fraser, our Trust Chair, Neil the lead volunteer for LgS, and Ken, special guest and President of the Rugby Club, where we installed our pilot solar project last year.

Watch this space for the launch of our 2nd Community Bond. This will be another great opportunity to invest in local community renewable energy projects to help reduce Linlithgow’s carbon footprint, reduce our local clubs energy costs and help create a surplus of revenue for other good community initiatives.

We’ll be sending you all more information soon . . .

West Lothian Cycle Circuit Crowdfunder Launch

THE #Letsbuildit CROWDFUNDER IS GO!

Watch our inspiring crowdfunder video at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/letsbuildit which explains what our project is all about and make a pledge for your chance to get one of our amazing rewards.

The video features Commonwealth Games medalist, James McCallum (along with a cast of hundreds!), explains why we need to build the West Lothian Cycle Circuit. This is the final piece of funding to build phase 1 of the cycle circuit in Linlithgow, West Lothian.

We want to get more people riding bikes and benefiting from the physical and mental health benefits that cycling can bring.

This £30K crowdfunder is aiming to raise enough money to erect 27 floodlights around the perimeter of the circuit so that cycling can continue all year round.

Our core values are:

• Helping people of all ages and abilities improve their physical and mental health.
• A safe environment to increase cycling confidence.
• Creating a more sustainable, healthier, happier and better connected community.

What is it?

  • Phase one is a 0.5km, tarmac traffic-free circuit in Linlithgow. Made up of 2 loops that are fenced and floodlit for year-round use.
  • Open for individual drop in sessions, club use and organised activities.
  • Phase two extends the circuit to a full km with an additional two loops

Find out more at www.westlothiancyclecircuit.org and thank you to everyone that came along to help celebrate the launch!

 

Coming soon!

It’s going to be a busy few months ahead for two of our key projects.

Linlith-Go-Solar is getting ready to launch Phase 2 of the project. We will be offering community bonds to finance the installation of solar panels on various locations throughout the town. Longer-term, the surplus revenue created will be reinvested to help community initiatives, and provides an opportunity to invest in the community.

The West Lothian Cycle Circuit is also busy planning a crowd funder to launch in early 2020. This will add to the funding already raised via various charitable grants, and help us achieve the funding shortfall.

We will share more information soon about both of these projects!

Extraordinary General Meeting 12/12/19

We are holding an Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday 12th December 7pm at Linlithgow Young People Project, 30, The Vennel, Linlithgow EH49 7QX.

New members are very welcome!

This meeting will be focused on discussing our constitution and the advantages of moving to become a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).

There will also be festive refreshments and a chance to meet Directors, we hope you can make it along!

Meeting papers can be found in our key documents section.

The first Linlithgow Soup!

We had a fantastic evening at the first Linlithgow Soup – thank you so much to everyone that came, helped out on the night and supported the event.

42 people attended and we enjoyed delicious soup courtesy of Mustard Seeds from 1st Step Cafe

It was so fantastic to hear all the heartfelt pitches from Linlithgow Link, Lochside Playgroup, 1st Step Cafe, Linlithgow Young People’s Project and West Lothian Food Train.

Congratulations to Linlithgow Link who had the winning pitch. They provide volunteer drivers to take people to the hospital and medical appointments, and they also run the Caring Cafe for people with dementia. Bert Lawson from Linlithgow Link explained that they had had their Council funding cut and are at risk of closure next year if they can’t raise enough funds.

Afterwards, Bert said “I really enjoyed taking part in the pitch. The others were worthy contenders for winning the pot, all five could have won.” Here he is receiving £185 winnings from our Chair, Fraser Falconer.

We also raised £90 from the raffle, which helped cover the soup and venue costs. Thank you very much to Bright Star Toys, Granary Cafe, Rebecca Holmes Photography, Transition Linlithgow and some of our LCDT volunteers, who all very generously donated raffle prizes.

Our Development Worker Pamela Barnes said; “It was wonderful to see so many people at the first-ever Linlithgow Soup. All five pitches were fantastic and truly heartfelt. It was really hard for folk to vote for their favourite! I’m delighted Linlithgow Link won, and also hope every group felt it was worthwhile taking part. It was such a great, supportive atmosphere, a real community event. Thank you to everyone who attended, for their generosity, and helping the evening be a great success. I’m looking forward to the next one already!”

We will be holding another Linlithgow Soup in 2020, so watch this space to find out more details.