2023 Annual Report
The Community Resource Centre.
As mentioned in the previous year’s AGM the hybrid model of working continues to be the norm for many of the health care professionals based out of the Centre (some hours in the office and some hours at home). However, this year we have seen an increase in the face-to-face services being offered at the Centre. As well as the GP Practice team being here, we now have the addition of related services: a community physio, a CBT therapist, speech therapy, Parkinson’s clinic and listening service all have clinics at the Centre. We are also running pop up Covid vaccination clinics at key times throughout the year.
We also still continue to play host to our usual clinics: retinal eye screening, podiatry, midwife, baby/toddler immunisations and blue badge assessments.
With this increase in demand for clinic space we have also been in discussions with the health & social care partnership about creating more consulting space within the Centre. This has led to us having a good old tidy up of store areas with the potential of developing. Hopefully by this time next year we will have rooms that we can show you 😊
GYM – The gym is continuing to offer a number of classes to suit all levels of ability with “fitness for everyone” continuing to be our main ethos. We have adapted our teen session to be a drop-in session so that availability of the session is greater as teens can drop in during the hours specified (currently Thursday & Friday 6-8pm). We now also have a gentle gym class on Thursdays 1-2pm and a Pilates class from 10-11 also on Thursday.
The gym membership continues to be challenging as people come and go and we have peaks and troughs according to the time of year! New Year is always good as we start with the best intentions!!
Our exercise referral scheme continues to be a very important part of our gym work and we have a substantial case load at present, with plans to develop further with the AHSCP.
MVT initiatives
Resilience Hub
We continue to work with Aberdeenshire Council around resilience and making sure our communities are prepared. Last year we had our generator installed and it proved a god send in the last big storm - Otto (Feb 23) when we were able to provide support to over 100 people by serving food and hot drinks, providing a place to get warm and charge your phone and even charging essential medical equipment for Cornerstone. Since then, we have had a community meeting to increase the volunteer base should this occur again and we now have a number of village locals ready to muster in the event of another power outage.
Just Ask
I spoke last year about the Just Ask project a project designed in partnership with NHS Public Health to support families in our area struggling with the cost of living. The project is designed to support families in a number of key areas: Food, Clothing, Energy, home items, toiletries, baby items, financial advice. Since the start back in October last year we have supported over 130 families and also developed further support links to additional service partners. We will be continuing with this project and are currently sourcing additional funding to be able to support this work. We are also holding warm proofing workshops with Home Energy Scotland to give families help in ensuring their homes are weatherproofed for the winter in a bid to keep costs low and people warm. You may have seen the call out for people to knit draught excluders we hope to then distribute these out to any families presenting to the Just Ask.
The Central Buchan Christmas appeal
This appeal will be run once again from the Resource Centre and we will have gift tags out in the community by the end of October. We also have some out in the Resource Centre and Café now so we can start building up our supplies and hopefully start preparing earlier! Last year we supported over 205 children in our local area. If anyone who can help support this worthwhile cause with donations of new toys then we would be very grateful.
Mental Health Projects Officer
Last year we were successful in getting funding for this role. Jacqui has now been in post for 13 months and has really made a difference to the activities that the MVT and Resource Centre are involved in and she has really built some great relationships with the wider community and communities so our reach is now even wider. We are hopeful that we can secure funding again this year to continue this role. Here are some of those projects:
Conversation Café –
The Cafe continues to very well attended and we have done events in the summer for the children as well.
We have had numerous guest speakers over the year and trips to Haddo and up to New Deer for cinema afternoons also. The Café continues to run on the 1st Thursday of every month.
Tai chi for Arthritis
A new group which has been really well received and runs on a Weds 2pm-3pm.
Line Dancing
Yee ha get those cowboy boots on! Fridays 6-7pm open to everyone and free.
Walking Group
Maud Milers walk club every Wednesday 10-11am
Lego Club
Every Tuesday 3.30-4.30 pm and during the summer we had a morning for the Lego club where they came for the morning and had lunch.
Confidence 2 cook
Jacqui along with partners has run 2 blocks of confidence 2 cook classes that have been well received she even opened up one of the summer classes to some teens who not only cooked something but were also involved in a discussion round alcohol usage and got to try on beer glasses much to their delight!
Volunteering
Through her links with the community Jacqui has encouraged volunteers to join the Trust from across the area and has also linked up with the church. This has now enabled us to have a group of people to support with some of the work Jacqui is doing and also a number of the volunteers are involved in supporting some of the more vulnerable in our communities who have been identified by health professionals as being lonely and isolated and who could benefit from a friendly face popping in.
All our projects are reflective of the current needs of our communities and we will continue to develop them further or indeed introduce new ones as demand requires. However, in order to continue with these worthwhile project’s volunteers are needed (just a few hours a week). if anyone knows of anybody that may be interested in supporting these or indeed any other projects, please let me or reception know
The Community Service Centre
Café –The Café continues to do well and Annette and her team have been doing a great job in keeping everything running smoothly and engaging with our community whilst presenting some great food offers. Our Facebook page is very popular and a great way to keep everyone updated with offers and events happening at the Café. Annette also arranged for craft workshops in the school holidays which were very popular and she has some more organised for winter with a wreath making workshop scheduled.
Christmas will also see the return of our popular lunch or breakfast with Santa which always books up very fast!
Well done to all the staff!
Service Centre-
All units are now occupied with our newest tenants being a framer which will be open soon for business. We recently applied for a grant to make the units more energy efficient so they now all have new radiators and lighting which will hopefully help in our quest to reduce costs.
Village in Bloom
Once again, I need to make a special mention to Valerie and Gordon and their team, thank you for all the hard work and effort that you all put in. This year saw us get the award for most improved so next year may just be our year! Once again, the team in Muad did the village proud with lovely planters and floral displays.
Once again, the Directors and Management of the Maud Village Trust would like to thank staff, customers, users and general supporters of the Trust services for their support.
Thank you for your support
V. Brown – General Manager