At the second workshop in Pitlochry on Tuesday 14^th January 2014, we used huge dining table sized maps of the local area to identify community assets and issues under four categories:

1. Problems / needs
2. Things of note
3. Ideas / opportunities
4. Local assets

Participants took turns in sharing personal experiences that highlighted how they saw the needs and opportunities of the local area, and together provided a complex, but opportunity-rich picture of a possible future for Pitlochry and the surrounding area.

Pitlochry has a lot of good community assets that local people use and rely on. The groups listed the below places and organisations as playing key roles in the town.

Assets identified

• Sunnybraes residential care home
• Shopmobility scooters
• Fishersview Independent Living Facility
• Station bookshop
• Pitlochry Theatre
• John Muir Trust
• Hielan Hands
• Tryst
• Church of Scotland
• Library
• Atholl Centre – community hub
• Balhousie
• Welcome All soup lunch
• Friendship Hour  – Aldour Gardens
• Parkinsons Support Group – Aldour Gardens
• Moulin Heritage Centre
• James Court Sheltered Housing
• Older People Community Transport
• Incredible Walks
• Boats + café
• Fish ladder tourist attraction
• Balhousie has meeting rooms
• GP surgery
• Adult education
• School
• Leisure Centre
• Country walks

The problems that were raised by individual participants were recognised by the groups as affecting the town as a whole, and therefore important to address in order to add vitality and sustainability to Pitlochry.

Problems

• Evening class opportunities are missing (or unknown)
• High train fares
• Job opportunities missing
• Perception of the area as affluent restricts funding options
• Communication between community groups is an issue – more collaborative work needed
• Not knowing about all of the community groups in Pitlochry
• No utilisation of facilities out of hours
• Transportation links to surrounding area
• Overloaded families who care for relatives
• No allotments
• No skills development opportunities for young people
• Supermarket taking over local trade
• No bus service, adults not allowed on school bus

The things of note pose less of a problem to the community, but were considered important to understanding the context of the problems and opportunities. Many issues raised are facts which help provide a clearer understanding of the local area, or questions which the participants would like answered in order to better move the Creative Care and Support project forward.

Things of note

• Outdoor activities do exist but are not easy to just to try out
• Bringing together younger and older people should be natural, not forced
• Tourist activities should be more accessible for people to trial
• Where do people advertise? How can this be better?
• Better signposting of volunteering opportunities
• Gap of service provision for unpaid carers across Pitlochry of all ages, some support present but does not meet needs of all carers e.g parent carers
• Pitlochry community health and social care forum
• Will the co-op support local producers?
• Having no secondary school is a disadvantage
• We need people to take responsibility for taking ideas forward in this project
• Pitlochry website seems more for business than community groups
• There needs to be something for people who have moved away to ‘come back to’ in adult age
• Address the isolation issue
• There is a high number of older people
• Befriending
• Respite – what are the different models possible?
• Knowing all community groups in town is difficult

Many opportunities and ideas came out of thinking creatively about the problems raised, and others were private passions that people thought would fit in well in Pitlochry. Some ideas and identified opportunities have a person behind them who wants to drive them forward, but many still need a driving force, either a person, a group of people or a business to help it to become reality.

Opportunity / Idea

• Community photography classes
• Come and try sessions (of attractions for tourists)
• Community social responsibility pledge (Community Commitment Pledge) – you can pledge money, a placement, supported work etc
• Possibilities for people with same interests to meet up
• If a market is established include craft stalls for community to contribute to
• Volunteering to clean up green areas around town (outdoor conservation)
• Make it easier to make links
• Buddy system (to have people to do things with)
• A fly-tying business run by local young person
• Photoshop classes locally
• Storytelling
• Singing group / choir
• Learn to cook lessons at the Atholl Centre
• Moving and downsizing solutions for older people
• Birks trip (cinema)
• Herb walks
• Local support mechanism for unpaid carers
• Support for families of older / unwell people
• Pitlochry could be a ‘work from home’ town, but super broadband needed
• Community stall at the Co-op
• Veg box scheme
• Communicating with other communities that have established community ventures in their area
• Community café / hub
• Community power opportunities for small hydro
• Community section on town website
• Community allotments
• Mobile community centre (like a play bus)
• Market in the town hall
• Wild food walks
• Out of hours service (needs to exist)
• Stronger linking between surgery/GP and community supporters
• Independent living advice of solutions for older people
• Vouchers for therapies
• Supply local vegetables to local hotels and cafes

The subsequent workshops sessions are designed specifically to look at how people from Pitlochry and the surrounding area can take steps to help shape the future of care and support in the town by starting new enterprises, be they private businesses, co-operatives, social enterprises, voluntary organisations or other.  The groups attending workshop 2 were therefore encouraged to continue the conversation about assets, issues and solutions in the community after the workshops. Every member of the community will have a unique view of what the town has to offer and what it needs, so all reflections will contribute to strengthening the project ideas that will be developed during the course of the workshops.