Shambellie House Trust – Partnerships & Funding News for Spring 2024
Shambellie House and Grounds is going from strength to strength as a creative centre, running workshops for all in visual art, photography & film, applied crafts, writing & storytelling and textiles & quilting. We are delighted to share news of some new partnerships and funding to help more people benefit from the unique experience to ‘Relax, Learn and Enjoy’ with us at Shambellie House.
Our partnership with Cloverglen Adult Services is very valuable to us. Members of Cloverglen attend workshops, exhibitions and events throughout the year as well as being offered the opportunity to volunteer in Shambellie House and Grounds. We are building on this with more and more members becoming involved, gaining confidence and learning new skills.
Our new partnership with SRUC Barony is part of our ongoing work to improve the grounds of Shambellie House and deliver an ongoing programme of maintenance and planting to enhance this wonderful natural resource for everyone. We already work regularly with young people from our local primary schools and this partnership aims to see our local schools and people living and visiting our local community of New Abbey benefit more. Students from our local rural college have the opportunity to learn in context, using Shambellie House as a base to complete project and course work and in return, we benefit from SRUC expertise, research knowledge and skills to support successful delivery of our land management strategy.
The importance of creativity is well known, and Shambellie House Trust wants to make sure that creativity is available for everyone, bringing people together and providing a wide range of opportunities to relax, learn and enjoy in our lovely house and grounds. We have been successful with a number of funding bids allowing us to offer subsidised and tailored workshops for people who may not otherwise be able to access these opportunities.
The Holywood Trust Fund is enabling us to offer a series of subsidised workshops for young people. This includes an Afterschool Creativity Club for primary aged children, After Hours sessions for young people aged 14-18, giving them a chance to explore their creativity and connect with likeminded peers and a Thrive Evening Club, aimed at young creatives aged 18-25. All workshops are on our website at https://www.shambelliehouse.org/category/courses/young-creatives/
A successful bid to the Short Breaks Fund from the Scottish Government has provided funds for us to offer heavily subsidised places and tailored group sessions for carers looking after adults over the age of 21. For a £3 booking fee, we are able to offer carers the chance to opt into creative activities throughout the year. This can be as individuals, with those they are caring for or as a group of carers. Please book through our website and get in touch if there is something you would like to see by contacting us at info@shambelliehouse.org.
We have recently secured funding from the Robin Rigg Community Fund for improvements to the grounds with the key focus being a multi-use footpath, safely linking Shambellie House to our local community, the village of New Abbey. We are seeking additional match funding for this and with the support of SRUC plan to begin working with our community partners on these improvements during 2024.
