The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Gift of Mother’ s Day joy
Ahandmade gift business ensured children in Tayside had presents to give their mothers at the weekend by providing more than 600 free keyrings.
Dundee firm Made at 94 gave the wooden keyrings to nurseries and childminders in the city, so they could be personalised by little ones and given as Mother’s Day gifts.
As part of a series of community projects Made at 94 owners Kevin and Sam Matthew decided they wanted to supply a number of resources for youngsters to bring back a bit of joy and creativity after the struggles of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kevin said: “Our main objective at the start of the year was to inspire creativity and positivity throughout children across Tayside and Angus and to do that we decided we would design craft projects and then donate these resources for children to make gifts and get creative whilst at nursery, playgroup or another community setting.
“We want to help community groups by giving them the resources and tools to inspire and add a bit of joy in the minds of their children.
“It is a great way for us to give back to the community and also allow children from a variety of
backgrounds to give gifts to their loved ones.
“To start with we targeted Valentine’s Day and had over 200 children taking part in decorating wooden heart shaped fridge magnets.
“We had such a good response and we expected to have around 500 children taking part in the Mother’s Day event.
“However, with children back at nurseries we
actually had 630 kids taking part in making keyrings for their loved ones.
“We made up little packs for each of the children which included the wooden gift then lots of little embellishments and a sheet which provided ideas of what they could create.
“We already have plans for further projects for special occasions with the
next being Easter and then Father’s Day.
“We originally aimed to reach 1,000 children by the end of the year but I think we are on target to reach that within the first half of the year which is fantastic.”
The handmade gifts company ensured locals could also provide gifts despite possible financial struggles at Christmas by offering surplus stock to locals for free.
Near the start of lockdown in May 2020 the pair also created the shoelace challenge, providing parents with free wooden shoe templates to help teach their children to tie their own laces and allowed them to get creative by colouring the template in too.
Kevin added: “As a family business we want to help people in any way that is possible for us to do.”
Fife is preparing for a summer surge in tourists with a £2 million investment in vital visitor facilities. Public toilets, car parking, caravan sites and access will all be improved ahead of a predicted influx of visitors once lockdown eases.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned against travelling abroad this summer but suggested staycations may be possible.
This could mean an increase in holiday-makers visiting Fife’s tourism hotspots if Covid-19 restrictions allow.
Fife Council is keen to welcome visitors once the pandemic has eased and case numbers fall.
But members want to avoid a repeat of last summer when some beauty spots were swamped with visitors.
The council has now pledged to invest £2.1m in tourism and community services as part of its 202122 budget.
Toilets at key sites will be renewed or depending condition.
Access and car parking will be improved and more sites for caravans and mobile homes introduced.
The upgrades will take place at popular attractions across Fife, including Lochore Meadows and Dunfermline Glen.
Tourism convener Altany Craik hopes much of the work will be complete before the peak visitor season.
“We’ll be supporting the coastal path communities as well as other areas,” he said.
“We know that it can get difficult in communities like Anstruther and Elie refurbished on their and we’ll be able to do something about it by this summer.”
The Labour councillor said the move would also support the Fife economy given 9,500 jobs rely on tourism.
“It’s all very well people coming here but if we’ve nowhere for them to spend their money it becomes difficult,” he said.
East Neuk councillor Bill Porteous expressed alarm last summer after roads became clogged and camper vans pitched up at beauty spots.
Sewage systems backed up in some areas due to demand from wild campers.
The Liberal Democrat councillor said: “With Covid-19 restrictions on foreign travel it was obvious that our welcoming and beautiful area of East Neuk and Landward would become very popular,” he said.
“They will probably be even more popular this summer because so many people have had the vaccine.”
“We know that it can get difficult in communities