New hybrid vehicle will allow The Vinery in Banff to expand services
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The Vinery in Banff is now using an eight-seat hybrid vehicle which will enable it to extend its services to more people in the communities it serves.
The community hub Grow @ The Vinery, operated by Aberdeen Foyer, was successful in its application to the Just Transition Fund which saw it awarded a grant of £46,995.
The funding is a £500 million 10-year commitment from The Scottish Government which will support projects in the north-east and Moray which contribute towards the region’s transition to net zero.
The total available to third sector groups in Aberdeenshire was £333,333 and the grants were aimed at environmentally friendly projects. The public was able to vote for their favourites.
The Banff community hub aims to be a positive, dynamic space which generates a sense of hope and pride.
There is a kitchen, café area, training space, wellbeing room and community garden with activities linked to accredited learning, work experience, apprenticeships and volunteering.
An overarching aim of the project is to enhance environmental awareness and community food growing.
The Vinery sought funding to enable it to increase its reach, ensuring flexible service delivery is integrated and accessible for vulnerable individuals, families and disadvantaged communities.
The eight-seat hybrid vehicle will enable it to open up Grow @The Vinery programmes and services, including gardening, cooking, wellbeing and financial inclusion, to a wider number of people including those living in Portsoy, Whitehills, Aberchirder, Macduff and more rurally.
They experience barriers to accessing services including poor transport infrastructure, anxiety around public transport, caring responsibilities, long term physical/mental health conditions and poverty.
Project lead at The Vinery Clare Bancroft said: "Right from the offset it has always been a vision of ours to be able to take some of the services that we deliver out to the more rural locations and the surrounding villages.
"Some are very isolated due to the lack of public transport that there is.
"To be able to go and collect people and bring them to The Vinery and to take our sessions that we deliver, including cooking; health and wellbeing; and arts and crafts, to these rural communities is just absolutely amazing.
"We've already been carrying out a couple of different outreach sessions with the gardeners and teams of volunteers who have been using the vehicle.
"It really widens the whole scope of where The Vinery can reach to.
"The opportunities are endless now really and its about listening to the communities to see what they want and feel they need. Then we can try and tailor our services and delivery to meet those needs.
"Everything that we have done at The Vinery is with net zero in mind. Everything that we are purchasing is very eco-friendly and we want to be as kind to the environment as we possibly can be.
"It was massively important that the vehicle can run on electricity and reduce the carbon footprint."
The next stage is to find volunteer drivers and anybody interested in these roles can email The Vinery at thevinery@aberdeenfoyer.com
The Vinery also has a fundraising Just Giving page to get logos and sign writing on the exterior of the vehicle which people can donate to.
