Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Funding windfall for shinty memories groups tackling loneliness

John MacKenzie, chairman of Badeoch Shinty Memories (left) and Donnie Grant, Shinty Memories ambassador
John MacKenzie, chairman of Badeoch Shinty Memories (left) and Donnie Grant, Shinty Memories ambassador

Three shinty groups are to share a funding windfall for projects helping people suffering from mental health issues and isolation.

More than £2,500 has been secured by Shinty Memories Scotland from the Life Changes Trust’s Creating Better Lives in the Highlands Small Grants Programme.

Grant are being made available to the Badenoch, Caberfeidh and Beauly shinty memories groups (SMGs) to start new projects and build on previous work.

Beauly SMG has been awarded £1,000 to buy media equipment to show archive photographs, videos and audio files to its members.

A spokesman said: “This development will enable us to show digitised versions of photographs and means we need not be in possession of hard copies of photographs which are so often delicate and easily damaged.

“It also means that memories groups can use the same images at the same time.

“Furthermore, as we move out of the Covid-19 crisis, people are much more wary of handling items in archives, which could be a potential issue with hard copies, or even passing around a laptop.

“These concerns are understandably even more prevalent with the demographics that memories groups tend to work with as they are often more vulnerable to disease and illness.”

Badenoch SMG also receives £1,000 to continue the production and printing of the regular newsletter and shinty quiz, Camans and Goings which was started during lockdown.

Chairman John MacKenzie said: “The newsletter provides a sense of belonging to the group and is an ideal way to share news and memories of the sport.”

Caberfeidh SMG receives £695 to purchase media equipment to help them develop their activities, including a Friday afternoon club.

David MacMaster, from Caberfeidh SMG, who is also Shinty Memories Scotland chairman, said: “This weekly gathering is a great opportunity to convene in a welcome friendly setting and not only assist the club but also to allow them to retain an active link with the club and encourage social gathering.”

Meanwhile, in the absence of regular shinty events at New Year, followers of the game can test their knowledge of its history in an online quiz.

The Camanachd Callainn Challenge will be hosted on Zoom by shinty historian and broadcaster Hugh Dan Maclennan, secretary of Shinty Memories Scotland, at 7pm on December 29.

Tickets costing £5 are being sold online by Eventbrite.

Mr Maclennan said: “We have had to re-adjust our activities this year due to Covid-19 and made a switch to virtual and online activity to enable us to keep in touch with people who were and still are, isolated for whatever reason.

“Hopefully, once the vaccination programme and other circumstances ease our difficulties we will re-launch our core activities and hopefully we will get some real shinty action as well.”