New role for Laura
Efforts to create a key document designed to help shape the future of Alyth have taken a significant step forward.
Laura Rodger has been appointed as a ‘community connector’ for the east Perthshire town and will work with local groups on the formation of a community action plan.
The project is being led by Alyth Development Trust (ADT) and Alyth Community Support Group, with what a spokesperson for ADT described as a “consortium” of other groups and organisations involved.
Similar to other projects already under way in the likes of Blairgowrie and Rattray and Meigle and Ardler, ADT has said the action plan will “identify the main priorities for Alyth and set out how the community can help influence and achieve positive changes at a local level.”
Alyth native Laura attended Blairgowrie High School before going on to complete undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Dundee, where she also became involved in documentary film-making and First World War research.
She has travelled and worked in mainland Europe, North and South America – including spells teaching English to primary and secondary school pupils in Colombia and Spain, as well as working as a research assistant on a Native American research project.
Laura said: “I am very excited to begin undertaking my role as community connector here in Alyth.
“I am eager to start building the profile of the town as it is today.
“Most importantly, I am looking forward to engaging with the community as a whole in order to establish what we can do to make Alyth a better place for everyone in our community.”
The new role will initially last for up to four months, depending on the progress of the project, and has been funded through ADT’s strategic projects fund.
Explaining what the position will involve, the ADT representative continued: “As community connector, Laura’s task for the next few months will be to engage with local people and groups to gather opinions, ideas, facts and figures about all aspects of Alyth.
“All this data will then be fed into a detailed plan setting out the strategies, priorities and actions to be followed over the next few years.
“Laura will interview local people and groups and support ADT and the other consortium members in running community consultation surveys.
“She will compile a report outlining the key findings and also help deliver a community event to feed back the findings to the community and get agreement on priorities for action.”
“I am eager to start building the profile of the town as it is today. Most importantly, I am looking forward to engaging with the community to establish what we can do to make Alyth a better place Laura Rodger