A new year and time to say 'thank you'

As we look ahead to a new year at the East Church it seems appropriate to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who have helped in the past year, and who will be continuing their support in this one. Without their commitment the church would be locked and rather grubby!

Even in these quieter months of the year the church is averaging 10 visitors a day, so is great that enthusiasm for sharing the church allows it to be open every day of the year.

We do have some fun along the way too - and a warming cup of tea or coffee after a busy cleaning session is a great way to catch up with friends and neighbours.

Kirkmichael Church, just along the northern shore of the Black Isle, some six miles from Cromarty on the shores of Udale Bay, is another church to have benefitted from long term volunteer input. As you'll see from the newspaper article below they've been busy protecting the gables of the church. It is all in quite a perilous state, but they've been working hard for many years now to try and preserve it whilst they apply to funders for the large grants necessary to conserve it. The Kirkmichael Trust (the intrepid volunteers up the church gable and other helpers) would like to see the church re-roofed, so that they can house and display the precious medieval stones that lie in the kirkyard. To find out more about the church and the work of the trust take a look at their website.

ps - they do a great tea towel depicting historic sites on the Black Isle too - and all money raised goes into the trust fund for the conservation work.