Youngsters in a Highland village are putting their creative skills to the test thanks to a special donation.
Pupils attending Shieldaig Primary and Nursery School have been gifted arts and crafts activity packs to provide a distraction to the children’s everyday routine.
The packs – containing colouring pencils, pens, paper, a paper crown and a craft chest – were created by Shieldaig Community Council following receipt of a £626.62 award from the North Highland Initiative (NHI)
Chairwoman Natalya Revitt said: “As the weeks of lockdown passed it became more and more clear to us that the children in our village were finding isolation particularly hard, as were their parents. We wanted to provide something for the children to do that would give them, and their parents, a break from the same routine.
“As part of the packs we also worked with Julia Boger, the Shielding Primary School teacher, and set little tasks for the children to do using their new arts and crafts packs.”
The 22-strong band of pupils have been set a number of tasks, including drawing a picture for an elderly or vulnerable person in our community and colouring a poster to thank all the postmen and women, bin men, delivery drivers, shop staff, NHS, and key workers.
Youngsters are also helping to record this historic period in time through the creation of a Covid-19 time capsule workbook, which will be included in the village record.
The community council – comprised of just five members – has successfully secured more than £35,000 worth of funding to help sustain the tourist driven community.
The funds will be used to provide funding grants, weekly care packages and compost and seed potatoes to residents growing their own food.
Meanwhile, a new community food cupboard has also been established encouraging users to ‘Give what you can, take what you need’.
The Grub hub, located outside the village hall, will be stocked with non-perishable groceries and household items for use by people living in Shieldaig and along the Applecross Peninsula.
Mrs Revitt, moved to the mainland from the Isle of Mull six months ago before taking up the position of chairwoman in February.
She said she is immensely proud of how much they have achieved in a short time.
She said: “It has made me feel part of the community. Everyone is willing to help you with anything and if I need volunteers, I am never short of any help from anywhere.
“We have no income here right now as we are tourist dependent so to be able to offer just a little bit of help to other people to get through this is wonderful. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
