FIOS COLUMN MARCH 2018

A series of public meetings were held this month, throughout Lewis and Harris, to share the draft Deer Management Plan and gain feedback on the content of the plan. We were also pleased to host habitat impact training as part of the deer management work and this was well attended from people throughout Lewis. The plan is being finalised by the end

of March and this will then form the basis of discussions with those on the ground to support the management. A draft of the plan can be found on the following website:

www.deer-management.co.uk and by clicking on Lewis & Harris. Hard copies are available if you wish to drop into the UOG Business Centre.

Croft rent collection commences in October each year and we have still a number of outstanding

rents due. If you have yet to pay, please do so asap. We are keen to finalise the collection for the year and would ask that you make payment before the end of April at the very latest.

We launch our Sunnd programme this month, a pilot initiative aimed at supporting independent

living and improving community health and wellbeing. Community health and wellbeing is a really interesting topic and one to focus on as the delivery of care and various other services evolve.

We have worked with various partners, including NHS Western Isles, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service etc. to develop the pilot programme. Adopting a community-centred approach to improving health and wellbeing is a good way to ensure our community has access to a wide range of high quality services. We will be obtaining feedback after each stage of this programme and hope to build on it in a bid to roll it out across different locations on the estate. The programme is open to anyone 60+ from anywhere. If the model works, it may be something that can be replicated anywhere. We are grateful to the Borve Young at Heart group who have worked with us to help shape the programme and we look forward to receiving their feedback as champions of Sunnd.

Our Easter outdoor session for families are detailed in this issue and as ever these are

already proving to be very popular. If you would like to come along then

please book your space asap.

More information on our events/projects can be found in this issue of Fios or visit

www.galsontrust.com, follow us on Facebook or call the office on 01851 850393 /

email: office@uogltd.com