Fundraising high wire adventure

BRAVE children and adults will be taking on a high wire adventure course next weekend to raise money for a new sculpture in Fort William.

The Ben Nevis Bronze Ford group have organised the fundraiser as part of their bid to place a full-size Ford T car replica in the town’s High Street, to commemorate May 9 1911, when a car was driven to the summit of Ben Nevis by Henry Alexander, the son of Scotland’s first Ford distributor.

The group is calling on youngsters to brave the high wire course at Nevis Range on the morning of Saturday September 19, before teams of four adults tackle the ‘Great Bucket Challenge’, attempting the treetop course, including the parachute jump, carrying pails full of water.

All participants have been asked to raise sponsorship of at least £25. For more information or to sign up contact Chris Robinson on 01397 702886 or creakingshelves@ btinternet. com

Concern over time to place children

IT TAKES more than a year to place children with permanent carers in the Highlands, a report has shown.

The average time to move a child from care into their new home once a suitable guardian had been found was 15 months in 2014/15 in the Highland council area, an increase of nine months from the previous year.

At a full Highland council meeting last Thursday (September 3), chief executive Steve Barron said reasons for the delay included staff workload, difficulty of cases and decisions made by the Children’s Panel.

Mr Barron said the council was ‘working to improve this’ and added further training had been offered to all relevant staff.

Councillor Margaret Davidson, leader of the local authority, said she was ‘very concerned’ about how long it takes to remove children from the care system.

Police appeal to step up security

POLICE are reminding the public to secure their vehicles following a spate of thefts in the Highlands.

Advice including locking cars and vans, not leaving keys inside the vehicle and hiding valuables from sight have been issued.

Inspector Ewan Henderson said: ‘ We would also renew our appeal for the public to report any sightings of suspicious vehicles or activity to the police immediately. Where possible also note the vehicle registration number, the number and description of occupants and the last known direction of travel for the vehicle.’

Officers say rural areas have been most affected.