Launch of Caithness Challenge Initiative

Issued by Hub North Scotland

The Caithness Challenge initiative to breathe new life into local spaces will be launched next month with residents being welcomed and encouraged to play their part in making it a success.

Meetings are being held at the UHI Campus in Thurso and Castletown Drill Hall to map out a way forward to make the best use of the two sites to help address the local challenges they face.

Partner organisations behind the launch say the initial findings and conclusions from the events will be used for other spaces across the county for the benefit of the entire community.

The Caithness Challenge is the latest stage of the Place-based Demonstrator project, which is backed by £750,000 of Scottish Government funding with the aim to help make communities in the Far North more resilient and sustainable.

The Demonstrator project is covering the whole of Caithness and initially focused on sites in Thurso, Castletown, Wick and Lybster, which had been identified as suitable spaces which could be reused for community benefit such as the co-location of services or repurposed to provide new or additional education and skills support, health, social care and other wellbeing services.

A series of public drop-in sessions were held in February at all four sites and following feedback from them, the partner organisations, which include The Highland Council, NHS Highland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, University of the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Futures Trust and Hub North Scotland, have decided to launch the next stage with a preliminary focus on the first two sites, which are in a better position to proceed.

The initial two launch events are on Wednesday 6 September from 5.30pm-8pm at the UHI Campus in Thurso and on Thursday 7 September from 5.30pm-8pm at the Castletown Drill Hall. The Drill Hall remains open during current repair works. Those wanting to take part can register at the following link: Caithness Challenge . Please try to register on the link to give the organisers an idea of numbers beforehand, although people can just pop along on the night.

The findings and conclusions from the two events will be shared, tested and utilised across the whole of Caithness for the benefit of all the communities.

Fraser Innes, place and partnership director at Hub North Scotland, who are facilitating the project, said the launch of the Caithness Challenge was a key moment in helping local communities make their spaces work better for all.

He added: “We had very good feedback from the drop-in sessions but we now need to take this initiative to the next step to give the communities a direct say in the future of these important spaces. We want residents of all age groups to come to these launch events and tell us their ideas and what they need to be able to live well locally and be a part of that discussion.”

Leader of The Highland Council, councillor Raymond Bremner, who also represents the Wick and East Caithness ward, said: “The launch of the Caithness Challenge is a crucial step towards the success of this project. Although these two events are initially centred on Thurso and Castletown, what we learn from them will be used across the whole of Caithness to help improve the future use of other community spaces and give everyone the opportunity to live well locally.”

The Caithness Challenge will run from 6 September until 22 November with an opportunity for a midway review and a final event to look at progress. There will also be regular on-line meetings during that period. For further information, please contact Ross Kirkwood at Hub North Scotland on ross.kirkwood@hubnorthscotland.co.uk or Rose Minshall on rose.minshall@innovationunit.org.