Auchinleck Community Development Initiative

The Auchinleck Community Development Initiative is based within the Boswell Centre in the village. One of the groups that form part of the initiative is an alcohol and drug recovery group. The aim of the group is to show that it is not only possible to recover from addition but to support its members in finding new skills and a healthier approach to life.

The group was not one of the 22 core projects that formed part of the Coalfield Community Landscape Partnership but they have worked closely with the partners and have in turn supported other projects.

The group made a film with the Biosphere Sense of Place project celebrating the benefits of cold water swimming and International Women's Day.

Here's what a few of them had to say about the experience.

“Cold water swimming is euphoric, I really love it!”

"We didn't know what we were going to make the film about but we decided it should be about cold water swimming and we could link that to International Women's Day. That was a good day but very, very cold."

"One of the things we learned was how to interview people. We ask a question and when they answer it we edit the question out."

"We made up story boards to plan the film, we still have them."

"We learned that using a digital SLR (camera) makes a real difference in quality and being able to zoom in and out. Learning what cameras are about and what they are called. To be honest we were not great to begin with but it turned out to be the best thing we have ever done."

"I really enjoyed what we did with the Biosphere, learning how to make videos, what to do and how to edit them. How to use the computer suite. Colin and Saskia showed us how to use them to put the videos through and bring them together. I really, really enjoyed that. It's something I still do, make wee videos, not about cold water swimming but about dogs."

In turn the group went on to support other projects, notably the health days at Auchinleck and Netherthird that had been piloted at Cumnock Juniors.

They also linked what they had learned on an enterprise course to support both the Lost Villages project and the Woodrow Park Group Fun Day with stalls selling books and art.

“Woodrow park was another good day. We sold a lot of our stuff, it was the first time we had a stall where we sold books and artworks.”
“The enterprise course tied things together from the Sense of Place to the stalls.”
“Without the group I’d never have had the confidence to get my Therapet business up and running.”

The Auchinleck Community Development Initiative is one of the groups that were not able to participate in the initial stages of the landscape partnership. They have however shown what strong networking and mutual support can achieve.

The group now has the skills and the experience of delivering projects to apply for their own funding to continue to have a positive impact in their local community.

“Being involved in the health awareness days shows the importance of doing the tests. We are getting the training to do the tests ourselves. The would bring the skills and confidence as well as a benefit for the local community.”