2012 News

A breast screening bus will be in Appin (probably in the car park of the Appin Village Hall) during March and April. All women aged 50 to 70 who haven't been screened in the last 3 years will receive an invitation to attend. Anyone over 70 who wishes to attend can make an appointment by phoning 0141 572 5800. Screening will be by appointment only. The recommended website is here. If you follow the links you will find this brochure. If you are interested in what is happening in England here is the site.

The Comann Eachdraidh Lios Mòr is setting up an exhibition of a schoolroom around the first half of the 20th century. (very approximate). Does anyone have anything that would enhance our display? Old desks? Chairs? Blackboard? Photographs? If so, please contact the museum.

Starting on Wednesday 22nd February 2012, a choir will meet on Wednesday evenings in the Hall.

More information

Members of Pix in the Stix were on Lismore to talk about their visit in June 2012.

More information

On 9th February 2012 Michael Lees was awarded an OBE for services to the Prison Service. He was given the award by Prince Charles on behalf of the Queen. His wife Fiona (Campbell) and son & daughter in law Richard and Gillian attended the ceremony with him at Buckingham Palace. We are very pleased for him and proud of him.

Brogan Fuels will be on Lismore to make fuel deliveries. They can be contacted on 01631 570 670 or by email.

The MV Eigg will be having its annual overhaul from 4th to 28th March. More details here.

This replaces the information provided in the news snippet on 17th December 2011. To claim the money you should now

Send an email to feedback@sse.com giving your name, postal address, email address and telephone number to claim £75 compensation for the power outage which started on Thursday 8th December.

If you can also give your account number and the time power was restored this may help your claim, but apparently there is now a long backlog of claims waiting to be processed.

Claims can also be made in writing to:

Scottish Hydro Electric
FAO: ESC
Inveralmond House
200 Dunkeld Road
Perth PH1 3AQ

The final report by the Centre for Rural Health, University of the Highlands and Islands can be found here. This follows their evaluation of the new healthcare arrangements for Lismore which have been introduced over the past 2-3 years by the Argyll and Bute Community Health Partnership, Scottish Ambulance Service etc.

Lismore Primary School enjoyed a really exciting morning at Oban High School on Friday 20th January when they went to visit the Science Labs. Principal teacher, Iain Fulton, led the children through a variety of experiments – lighting a Bunsen burner, burning magnesium along with some hair-raising demonstrations using the Van der Graaf generator. Mr Fulton even lit a Bunsen burner using a spark form his finger! Mr Porter then demonstrated some explosive and impressive chemistry after which the children tucked into lunch in the school dining room. Returning to Lismore the children were full of their morning and are now keen to tackle more experiments back on the island. Thank you very much to Mr Fulton and all the staff at Oban High for their hospitality and for making us feel so welcome.

On Thursday 8th December, after weeks of preparation and training the P7 girls were at last ready for the big opening of their latest enterprise project. The Cozy Cakes Café was going to be open for business with an exciting lunchtime and snack menu for customers. The girls looked very smart in specially made t shirts and the room looked inviting with decorated tables and a cosy sitting area next to the fire. The girls had been lent £50 from the Parent Council and had spent many hours planning menus and practising their waitressing skills. They were hoping to raise lots of money for their chosen charities Mary’s Meals and Asthma UK. Hazel had spent hours making beautiful cakes and muffins as well as three varieties of soup and bread, cheese and ham were waiting to be made into delicious toasties.

As school started, the skies darkened and the wind began to blow, harder and harder. We could hear it whistling through the eaves and around the corners of the building. The sea was boiling with white spray and foam covering the surface of the water. As the morning progressed, we realised that this was not going to be a good day to have a café. Police were warning people not to leave their houses unless they really had to and children were asked to go home as soon as they could. It was at this point we decided to postpone our café until another day. At 12 noon the lights went out and with a prolonged power cut we were unable to have the café or lessons the following day. There was great disappointment for all of us but particularly for Hazel and the P7 girls who had worked so hard to prepare for the day. With so much food already prepared, Hazel suggested that we delivered soup, sandwiches and cakes to people who had no power. The goodies were gratefully received by many and the donations given by members of the community have covered the cost enabling the P7 girls to pay back their loan from the Parent Council.

The Cozy Cakes Café at last opened for business on Thursday 19th January. Once again the café looked very inviting with beautifully decorated tables and decorations hanging from the ceiling. Customers began to arrive at 10.30am and by lunchtime the cafe was full with many people ordering lunch. The P7 girls were kept busy taking orders and serving teas, coffees and cakes and Hazel worked hard in the kitchen cooking soup and toasties. Customers were invited to take part in a Café quiz as they chatted to friends and relatives. At the end of the day the girls were delighted to have raised over £240 for their chosen charities of Mary’s Meals and Asthma UK. A huge thank you to Hazel who planned and organised the event and whose tireless effort ensured the success of the event. Also, well done to the polite and efficient P7 waitresses. There is another report and some more photographs here.

The Scottish Ferry Services draft plan for consultation dated December 2011 can be found here.

Several dishes and items of clothing have been left in the hall. Could the owners please collect them as soom as possible. Thank you.

This is two scans of a letter from Fergus Ewing (the minister for energy, enterprise and tourism in the Scottish Parliament) to Jamie McGrigor (member of the Scottish Parliament for Highlands and Islands) about the electricity problems in December. The first page is here and the second page is here.

Despite a couple of setbacks the nativity play at Lismore Primary School was greatly enjoyed by a large audience. Head teacher Catherine Davies, who herself was suffering from a very bad cold, told us that the children acted as a team and when Sophie King was too ill to attend, they all had to absorb her parts (they all played several parts) and learn the lines in double quick time. The result was a word perfect, very well projected performance and very strong, tuneful singing. Congratulations to all. Some photos can be found here.

A very impressive donation of £682.00 is going to Edinburgh Sick Kids Friends Foundation.
£305.00 was collected at the "Holly Tea" held in the Hall in December and £377.00 from "Lismore Xmas Card" - a big thank you to everyone who contributed and also those who gave of their time.

The Sunday school pupils of the Lismore church excelled themselves filling twenty one shoe boxes for this year's Blytheswood Care Shoebox Appeal. The children worked hard and enthusiastically covering and filling the boxes as well as collecting boxes others had prepared. Because they know how valued these boxes are, they wish to thank all who participated. (Link to original news story)

A lunch was held at the café as a thank you to the many who volunteer throughout the year to keep the museum going and developing. Because of the power failure and attendant loss of freezer food, the lunch had to be brought forward two days and some were unable to attend. However despite this setback Beth Campbell produced her usual delicious food.

Catering manager Hazel MacCormick and sous chef John MacCormick along with head teacher Catherine Davies entertained the parents and children of the Lismore primary school plus a few lucky guests at their annual Christmas dinner. This event was also greatly affected by the storm and the resultant power cuts as all the food in the freezer had been lost. But even though Hazel had to start from scratch ordering and preparing, the meal was faultless and greatly enjoyed by all. After dinner the guests were treated to some lovely carol singing by the children.

A very tasty dinner organised and catered by Beth Campbell celebrated St Andrew's Day with excellent food, ambience and conversation.

A two day Cataloguing Archive course on 21st and 22nd November introduced several volunteers to the skills needed to organise the Heritage Museum's growing document archive, which up until now has been done solely by Margaret Black. It was led by Kirsty Stewart, Archivist for the Carmichael Watson Project at Edinburgh University, with whom the curators have worked closely in the past

The Lismore hall came alive on Saturday 19 November as the third annual Christmas Craft Fair opened its doors to Christmas shoppers or indeed anyone seeking original, beautifully crafted Lismore products. And there was lots of it with highland beef and homemade sweets, including delicious chocolates, selling alongside ready meals, preserves and home baking. In addition crafted bags, jewellery, cards, books, hats, and scarves all attested to the depth of both the island's talent and entrepreneurial spirit. For the busy shopper there were tea and cakes as well as soup, sandwiches and light snacks served and made by Fay Carmichael and family. (Link to original page)

Following the 2011 Poppy Day collection by Gilly Dixon Spain islanders donated £414.18 for the Royal British Legion.

The figure for the rainfall for December 2011 is now on the rainfall page. Eleven times as much rain fell in December 2011 as in December 2010. December was a record month making four records in 2011. 2011 as a whole was also a record year with over twice the rain of 2010. Thank you to David and Catriona White for providing us with these data.