Pulteneytown People’s Project

41 Murchison Street, Wick, Caithness, KW1 5HWTel 01955 606950 Fax 01955 604918E-Mail: p-p-p@btconnect.comScottish Charity No. SC 0033675 Limited Company No. 272750

Newsletter - March 2011

Contents

Cover Page: Social EnterpriseDIYnamo can offer you com-petitive general maintenancework on your home and gar-den.Page 1: The MAASK Easter Club is preparing for action;

The Mum’s Fun Group is hop-

ing to win a prize for their hard work.Page 2: College catering skillswere on the menu for students;kids celebrate Pancake Daywith lots of syrup!Back Page: Our contact infor-mation and details on where tofind out more stories from thePPP.

DIYnamo’s Here to Help

OUR new social enterprise DIYnamo is set to revolutionise general maintenance inhomes and gardens throughout Caithness.

Run by the Pulteneytown People’s Project, DIYnamo’s aim is to pro-

vide affordable services for the general public and procure contract work by bid-ding for competitive tenders; this will in turn allow the elderly in the community tohave work done on their property at a subsidised rate.The money made from contract and public work helps to pay for the up-

keep of elderly citizens’ homes. By hiring the DIYnamo team the public will be

ensuring that pensioners who need the most help will pay the least for it.Co-ordinated by Fraser Malcolm, the DIYnamo workers will be availableto cut grass, clean windows, wall-paper rooms, build fences, power-wash paths and patios, and carryout many more general mainte-nance tasks for anyone living inCaithness.The DIYnamo team, con-sisting of Fraser Malcolm, AndrewEdwards, and Martin John, hopethat the project will be embracedby the community and prove usefulto those who require maintenancedone to their property.Able to carry-out work for

all of Caithness’ residents, DIYnamo has also been fortunate in winning a contract

with Albyn Housing Society.DIYnamo was created with a start-up grant from the Scottish Govern-

ment’s Wider Role Fund but now operates as a social enterprise generating its own

income in order to continue and provide subsidised rates for the elderly. You canfind out more information about DIYnamo or get a quote from the team by con-

tacting the Pulteneytown People’s Project office on (01955) 606950, email

p-p-p@btconnect.com, or visiting our website:www.pulteneytownpeoplesproject.org.uk

Community CentreConstruction Blog:March 5th

The site is looking veryorganised and the holesfor the foundations aremuch better defined thanbefore. This is the laststage before the steelframework begins to beerected, hopefully withinthe next few days. Whenthis happens there shouldbe big changes in the ap-pearance of the site everyday, so keep checking thewebsite blog for all thelatest!

Our Website Blog:

http://www.pulteneytownpeoplesproject.org.uk/centre_updates.html

The Easter Club is Coming!

THE Pulteneytown People’s Project MAASK team is preparing for its annual

Easter Club, filled with fun Easter games, activities and events.Running from the 11

to the 15

of April in South Primary School, the kidswill be able to make Easter bonnets, paint eggs, play on game consoles such asNintendo Wii and DS, and take part in lots of outdoor activities. Weather permit-ting there might even be a trip to Balmore.The Easter Club is open to all children in Primary One through to 2

year atHigh School

–

prices are £8 for the full day, £5 for half a day. This price includessnacks, but those attendingfor the full day will need tobring a packed lunch also.A free pick-up and drop-off service is provided for children living in Wick.Places fill upquickly, so contact the PPPoffice on (01955) 606950

to book your child’s place.

Last year’s Easter Club was a

huge success

Mums Agree Monday isBest

IN the PPP every Monday tenmums and their babies meet to take

part in Mum’s Fun

- a group whichmixes pampering and learning tohelp young mothers.Meeting from eleven in the morninguntil half past four at night themums get a chance to bake, cook,help each other with their make-up,and also learn maths and budgetingskills to keep their households in order.The mums choose what they want to do each week and simply love gettingtogether to chat, share experiences and improve their maths.Some of the mums are even registered for their ILA (Individual LearningAccount) and the PPP are looking to get the others attending the group interested

in registering too. This will enable them to take part in courses outside of Mum’s

Fun such as first-aid which will benefit them and their own individual needs.All the mums agree that they have seen a big change in their lives, sayingtheir confidence levels have improved and that they have found their maths andbudgeting skills are much better. While the mums have seen the benefits for them-selves they also say its a great day out for the babies too as they get a chance toplay with other children.Recently the girls have been working on a poster for HALP (HighlandAdult Literacies Program) to display at the forthcoming Partners in Practice Con-

ference. Mum’s Fun is funded by HALP, and there is a prize for the best poster atthe conference, so we’ve all got our fingers crossed the girls win!

Community CentreConstruction Blog:March 12th

There are some bigchanges in the founda-tions, with all thetrenches now filled withconcrete blocks and steelfabrication lying roundthe site ready to be used.On the concrete blocksyou can see steel pinssticking out where theframework of the Com-munity Centre will beplaced, giving a goodidea of the shape andscale of the building.Let's hope the weather stays nice enough so asnot to hamper construc-tion!

College Catering Fits the Bill

THE Pulteneytown People's Project College Access Course had its students outworking at a local event where they learned the art of catering.Taking place on February 8th, the college students had an introduction tohospitality management, served the public delicious food and drinks, and evengained food hygiene certificates.As can be seen by these photos, the students were a great help on the dayand their service was exquisite!

Two of the students laying the tables and serving customers

Pancake Day at MAASK

KIDS at MAASK (Morning and After School Club) were mixing ingredients anddrizzling syrup on their pancakes on March 8th as they celebrated Pancake Day.Each of the children came up and had a go at stirring the bowl and pouringthe mixture into the pan, watching with excite-ment as the bubbles began to form and pop tosignal it was time to turn over. Their pancakeswere then left to cool at the side before theywere allowed to spread butter, toffee sauce or

syrup on. From the looks on everyone’s faces it

was obvious the pancakes were delicious!After making the pancakes it was businessas usual at MAASK, with everyone playinggames together, colouringin, using laptops, andpainting models.Some of the kidswere even colouring inpaper pancakes with funnyfaces and bright colours.Today was a bit dif-ferent however, as certifi-cates were handed out justbefore home-time whichshowed all the childrenhad taken part in PancakeDay and had a wonderfultime.