Tog Blog

Here’s the sixth of our series of blogposts on the Aire Air Sunnd project led by Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, this time by John Gillies. As with previous posts, comments are welcome!

Video thumbnails from the conference proceedings

John writes:

Aithisg ghoirid: Co-labhairt “Aire air Sunnd”, 7h dhen Dàmhair 2024

Brief report: “Attention to Wellbeing” Conference, 7th October 2024

This online conference was the culmination of the two year Aire air Sunnd (AAS) project. This was funded through a grant to Comann Eachdraich Uibhist a Tuath (CEUT) by the Ideas Fund, which derives its resourcing from the Wellcome Trust. Sgoil Chàirinis was used as the base for the day by Màiri Morrison, Gloria MacKillop, Archie Campbell, Loriana Pauli, James MacLetchie and Fiona MacIsaac.

The project was a collaboration between CEUT and the North Uist community, and academic partners. Gordon Wells of Guthan nan Eilean and the Language Sciences Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, has been a hugely valuable part of the project. Jess Wood, PhD student at the University of Aberdeen has helped to develop and analyse the co-created community survey. The University of St Andrews have supported digital aspects of the work.

On the 7^th, all the rest of the speakers besides those in Sgoil Chàirinis and the audience were online with support for this provided by XPoNorth through James Roberts. This was of a very high standard indeed and we were fortunate to secure their services.

The entire conference, divided into sections is now available on the Guthan nan Eilean website:

https://guthan.wordpress.com/aire-air-sunnd/aas-conference-recordings/

It is all very well worth watching and listening to! The content illustrates very well the close collaboration between CEUT, the community and the researchers. I know that some CEUT trustees did manage to attend some or all of the day, but we all have many calls on our time and this webpage means that people can listen to parts of it as time allows.

For those new to the project, the introductory session – Fàilte – gives a 20 minute overview of the background and the aims of the project from Uisdean, Jess Wood and myself, John Gillies. The survey showed clearly how important Gàidhlig is to people in Uist, including non Gàidhlig speakers. I would really recommend listening to Uisdean Robertson’s passionate speech on how in practical terms, the language supports wellbeing in North Uist, as well as his thoughts from his long experience, of what urgently needs to be done to better support it, including a positive impact on the economy of the islands.

This conference poster gives a summary of the day. (Click to  expand.)

It was a pleasure in the second session to see CEUT members Gloria, Eairdsidh, Loriana, and Màiri describe the work that the Gaelic Heritage and Wellbeing groups have been doing. Màiri introduced Fiona MacIsaac’s film by quoting:

‘The idea must die that small even isolated island communities aren’t worth investing in. They are sites of globally significant cultural economic and ecological resources. They need and deserve investment in their stewardship of these things which matter so much.’

(Dr Nazia Habib, Centre for research into resilience and sustainable development, Cambridge University.)

The excellent short film discussed the potential of heritage for economic regeneration and included footage from Paul MacCallum, Loriana, Katie MacCormick and Cathie Laing. I have a note that Cathie then said that ‘psalm singing was like a blessing on my life.’

Dr Alastair Allan MSP then introduced Kate Forbes MSP and Deputy First Minister and Minister for Gaelic, as the Keynote Speaker. Alastair suggested that ‘language loss is a part of biodiversity loss.’

Kate Forbes’ short speech is well worth listening to. She spoke of the need to be persistent and determined when advocating for services. She spoke of the need to look back to important bards like Dòmhnall Ruadh Choruna as well as contemporary cultural figures like Julie Fowlis and Runrig. She finished by saying that she was looking forward to hearing from CEUT on the issues of the AAS conference and others. Màiri made the point that the funding for Gàidhlig tended to go to the North and South ends of the Western Isles. Uisdean thanked Alastair and Kate but also made the point that funding as well as words were needed. I asked about support for the areas of special linguistic interest set out in the Scottish Government’s Languages Bill, but there is clearly no detail available on this yet.

The Partnership Session brought together most of the groups working in North Uist. They are listed on the AAS page on Guthan nan Eilean above. There was a consensus that multi-year funding would be hugely helpful for all organisations, but this was difficult given the way that Scottish Government is currently funded – on a yearly basis. Another theme emerging (from Diane MacPherson) was the desirability for the many organisations in North Uist to work more closely together. This was reinforced by Norman MacLeod from Taigh Chearsabagh who stressed the need for more collaborative working, as well as Ann Wilson of Ceann na h-Àirigh in Grimsay, another successful community organisation. Màiri Morrison suggested a six monthly meeting together would be helpful. The idea of employing someone between organisations for fundraising support was also raised.

A common challenge finding volunteers was discussed, as well as the need to bring in more islanders in the age groups 30 to 50 years!

Mapping our Place was a fascinating session on landscape and identity including background of archaeology and walking the landscape from Amanda as well as a wonderful described film on the Geireann Mill walk by James MacLetchie.

The Forum: Co-creation – Communities working with researchers brought together all our research partners as well as Professor Stuart Angus  (UHI and Nature Scot) and Ruthanne Baxter from the University of Edinburgh. It was co-chaired by me and Lewis Hou from the Ideas Fund, who has been a great supporter of CEUT and AAS.

Gordon Wells gave a brief summary of the 2022 report on The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community, now available free online. There is increasing disquiet, also reflected by Uisdean at the beginning of the webinar, about the decline in the use of Gaelic in places like North Uist. Gordon went on to underline the value of recording community members, given the linguistic understanding of the Primacy of Speech, and suggested that Gaelic is supported as an idea but not effectively as a practice in communities.

Professor Stuart Angus, whose engagement with islanders was described as a model of how academics should involve communities by Uisdean Robertson, gave us some alarming data on the deleterious effects of anthropogenic climate change on the coast of the Western seaboard of the Western Isles. This knowledge has been acquired by 50 years of visiting Uist and Barra as a scientist. This short summary of a complex issue is well worth listening to.

Ruthanne Baxter described the success of the Prescribe Culture project and her current engagement with Community Links Workers in NHS Highland. She recommended the Tiny Habitat website which may have some applicability for rural environments.

Heather May Morgan, Dean for Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Aberdeen complimented those involved in AAS as a model for collaboration and emphasised the need for pre-investment in communities to make future work even more productive. The work has made her realise some of the challenges of travel and engagement in island communities!

The final session Forum with Funders brought together Chris Manion (British Science Association), Kate O’Driscoll (Museums & Galleries Scotland), John Morrison (Morrison Media), Joanna Peteranna (HIE), David MacLeay (Community Engagement, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar). Councillor Uisdean Robertson and I gave a brief summary to close.

John Morrison (Morrison Media, Chair MG Alba) is well known in PR at  local,Highland, National and political levels. He congratulated the group for bringing AAS to fruition in the conference today and CEUT for their support. He encouraged CEUT to work out our Unique Selling Point (USP). His short speech, preceded by Màiri asking ‘Where do we go from here? is 2 minutes into the session recording.

Some quotes from his talk:

‘You have a very talented film-maker in your midst’ (Fiona MacIsaac)

‘Use this conference and report as a launching pad……..’

‘Use your USP to present solutions…’

6 minutes of hugely useful advice for CEUT.

Joanna Peteranna of HIE described the HIE mandate, in which  community views were important, which was based on a net-zero economy within a dynamic wellbeing economy. She cited the Working Group 2023 report on Gaelic and the Economy to which Scottish Government will shortly respond.

This Scottish Government response may be important in helping CEUT decide on how to shape future funding applications. Joanna also stressed that funding was in short supply and that organisations should think of collaborations with similar organisations to maximise opportunities to receive funding.

Chris Manion suggested that BSA was looking carefully at outputs from the Ideas Fund and that community focussed research would be more prominent in funding in the future—clearly an encouraging direction of travel. David MacLeay stressed that the funding climate was ‘the most challenging in 30 years’.

Kate O’Driscoll, who attended the whole day, described the work of Museums and Galleries Scotland (MGS) including their funding streams. CEUT has benefited from successive grants from MGS for many years. A future MGS focus will be on mental health.  Also, Collaboration, Health and Wellbeing, Inclusion, Education, Place, and Climate Action are six key areas that MGS will support in future. She said that from the AAS conference, CEUT was well placed to make a case for funding on the basis of work in these areas that was demonstrated today.

This event has increased the profile of CEUT throughout the islands, with prospective funders and with Scottish Government. To have the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Gaelic attending and saying that she was looking forward to hearing from CEUT can only be helpful for the organisation for the future.

Finally, none of this would have happened without a huge amount of work by many people in the AAS group over the past two years. In particular, Councillor Uisdean Robertson, Chair of CEUT has been supportive throughout and was central to securing the attendance of Dr Alasdair Allan MSP and Deputy First Minister and Minister for Gaelic Kate Forbes. Academic partners Gordon Wells and Jessica Wood have been vital to the project. Màiri Morrison has coordinated the process with energy and enthusiasm from grant application to successful final conference. The findings offer CEUT opportunities to move the organisation into a flourishing future.

Iain MacillÌosa

John Gillies

October 2024.