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CRIEFF CAMERA CLUB
President Jane Morrison introduced Cat Burton from Scone to present her style of photography.
Cat specialises in fine artwork, developing her images to have an ethereal and sometimes ghostly effect.
She loves the outdoors and most of her work reflects the land of Scotland with overtones of the past.
Cat presented her images with detailed description and great enthusiasm.
Whereas the modern trend in photography has been toward High Dynamic Range, with colour range and contrast boosted, many of Cat’s images tend towards monochrome, with colours subtly desaturated and contrast muted.
Her work develops stories about the Highlands, with wildlife, forests and castles all being combined to good effect.
Crieff Camera Club continues to meet in Strathearn Community Campus.
The next meeting is from 7.30pm on Thursday, December 2.
The results of the Natural World competition will be presented by Gordon Scott.
For more on Cat’s work, see the website www. catburton. co. uk or search on Facebook or Twitter.
MADDERTY SWI
The most recent meeting was the last outing of Madderty SWI members before the Institute closed after 96 years.
Madderty Rural was formed on January 24, 1925, in the former St David’s Guild Hall.
Final Institute president Isobel Robertson came to Madderty in 1972 and has been a stalwart Rural member for nearly 50 years.
The records show she has served on the committee in various roles for some 35 of those years.
In addition, Isobel has served as group chair, Federation chair and national chair, something which the local membership is particularly proud of.
Isobel recently retired to Perth but still maintains her presence within the SWI.
Some of the girls who joined Madderty Rural at the age of 14 are still part of the SWI.
The remaining members of the Institute have now formed a new social organisation, Madderty Ladies and Friends Group, which will meet once a month in Madderty Hall.
SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL, CRIEFF
Comrie Cares has a long-standing connection with Maryhill Integration Network (MIN) in Glasgow.
SI Crieff members have supported and made practical donations of clothes, toiletries, toys, etc, to MIN on a number of occasions and some members have managed to visit over the past few years so the club was very pleased last week to welcome Pinar Aksu – a human rights and advocacy co-ordinator from MIN – to hear about their work and what they offer asylum seekers, refugees and migrants arriving in Scotland.
It was good to be able to appreciate the reality of what so many who have had to flee have to face and how organisations such as MIN can help from someone so directly involved.
It is probably true that few people understand the difference between asylum seekers and refugees, such as that asylum seekers by law are not allowed to work until they are granted refugee status, something which can take literally years.
The fact that so few are allowed to work, even though they may be highly-trained
and qualified in their own countries, frequently skilled in areas with shortages here, can understandably cause frustration and worse.
The fact, too, that only £38 per person per week can be claimed from the government - with a daily increase during the pandemic of 26 pence – sheds a d i f f e rent light on the public misconception of vast amounts of money being claimed.
Housing is also a problem as often only properties declined by others, often due to their condition or isolated location, are available.
To make matters worse, during the lockdown period many were moved into
hotels so it is easy to understand the resultant breakdown in wellbeing and health, examples of which became headline news earlier this year.
The aims of MIN are clear from its name and the community offers great support.
One key objective is to lift the ban on permission for asylum seekers to work.
This was clearly shown by the coverage and publicity a few months ago of the huge support by people when two people were detained and threatened with deportation, when protestations were voiced by so many that these were their neighbours and their friends.
Pinar answered the many questions raised by SI members about MIN’s work
and the plight of so many of our neighbours.
For more information, see www. maryhillintegration.org.uk.
As Maddy King said in her vote of thanks, it was very thought-provoking and moving to hear what Pinar described and clear that MIN and Maryhill do great work together in truly welcoming people as friends and neighbours, although obviously a great deal more support is always needed.
FOWLIS WESTER SWI
On a dark night 25 ladies gathered in the brightly lit Fowlis Wester Hall to be welcomed by President Wilma Brown and Audrey McColl.
This month those gathered made Christmas cards, but due to talking and laughing so much they only made one card each.
Carrying on the Christmas theme, the SWI ladies will be making paper flowers at their next meeting, which is due to be held on Tuesday, December 14.
CRIEFF PARISH CHURCH GUILD
At the last Guild meeting members enjoyed a photo quiz, and raised £105.30 from a sales table for Guild projects.
The next meeting on December 1 will be a joint one and is in Crieff.
Moira and Dorothy will be ‘Celebrating Christmas’ with flowers and explaining Christian traditions and the meanings behind them.
There will then be no more meetings of the Guild until January.
CRIEFF ROUND TABLE
Following the success of last year’s event, Crieff Round Table is putting on its Drive-by Santa’s Grotto again this year.
The set-up will remain pretty much unchanged but at the new venue of Dallerie Playing Fields and will run over the weekend of November 26 to 28.
Each car will be able to book a five minute slot to see Santa and children will be given the opportunity to hand deliver their letters to Santa. Each child will also receive a small gift.
All profits are donated to charity. The cost is £5 per car and one child, with every additional child costing a further £1.
During the event, the Round Table will also be taking orders for Christmas trees, which can be delivered to your home.
To book a slot, go to https:// crieffsgrotto. book. app/ and fill in the details.
COMRIE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Comrie Christmas Lights committee is holding a festive window competition.
Locals are invited to browse the village’s shop windows and cast a vote for their favourite display in the box in Comrie Post Office by December 2.
CRIEFF IN LEAF
The AGM of Crieff in Leaf will be held on Monday, November 29, at 3pm in Strathearn Artspace, Comrie Road, Crieff to which everyone interested is welcome.
CRIEFF FOLK CLUB
Crieff Folk Club welcomes John Dew on pipes and whistles, Dylan Cairns on guitar and Eoghainn Beaton on bodhran on Thursday of this week at Strathearn Arts.
The trio play progressive traditional music and good old fashioned tunes.
They met whilst studying on the BMus Traditional Performance degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Glasgow and playing at regular Glasgow sessions and RCS gigs.
John’s debut album ‘Mackerel Sky’ has just been released. The album explores the multiple layering of bagpipes and whistles inspired by the layering of the mackerel sky so often seen in Scotland.