Our world has suddenly been turned upside down by the Covid 19 virus.  Everything that we took for granted has changed.  One of the most heartening things to come out of this awful situation is the way that communities are coming together.

At Can Do Places, we have been championing our local ‘Community Superheroes’ for the work they are doing in their villages, towns and cities by taking empty buildings that are the blights of our town centres and turning them into community hubs.

However, with Covid 19, everything has changed or should I say, adapted.  Our community superheroes are now doing things in a different way, finding ways to still help their community get through this awful crisis.

Take for example The Rockfield Centre in Oban.  As I live in Oban, I am very interested in this project both with my Can Do Places hat on and as a local resident. I was very impressed by the level of online activities they have created for both adults and children. The Centre is closed apart from acting as a distribution centre for the Oban Food Hub and the renovation work is paused until they get to the other side of this crisis but their wonderful staff are busy putting out suggestions of activities to keep us all occupied on their Facebook page.  (Link below) For example, they have organised an Easter Egg Hunt, asking for people to display Easter Egg pictures in their windows for families out walking to spot. Fabulous idea. In addition, they have organized a team of volunteers to help the most vulnerable by doing their shopping and collecting medicines.  https://www.facebook.com/therockfieldcentre

As so much good work was being done in Oban I wondered what some of our other Can Do places were up to.

In Falkirk although Annette Tonner and her team at Community Focus Scotland have had to shut their doors due to the crisis they are still continuing to work behind the scenes to do all they can to support the vulnerable & less fortunate in their community.  The are offering help or assistance to those in need who just need to contact them through their facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/CFSCIC/

In Crieff, our Can Do Crieff co working hub is closed but they are working with their local Business Improvement District, Crieff Succeeds to get the message out to local high street businesses who have been affected by this that they are working with local authority and Central Government to put in place immediate, short term support for them in view of liquidity problems and just to be there to assist them during the next few, challenging months. https://www.facebook.com/CrieffCoworking/ and Crieff Succeeds at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1206877869380658/.

In addition, Crieff Community Trust (CCT) would like to help any groups in the Crieff area who are providing assistance to support the community in the response to COVID-19 and may require financial support. They can access funding on these groups behalf to make sure they are covered at this time. For more information visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CrieffCommunityTrust/

Thank you to all our community superheroes what ever they are doing. We salute you all.

What is happening in your community?

We would love to hear from you. What is happening in your place? Who are your superheroes? There are so many rising to the challenge and we should celebrate them all.

Email me at fiona@candoplaces.org. Don’t forget to send photos too. We’ll post your stories on our website.

Or, post your photos on our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/CanDoPlaces/

STAY SAFE ** STAY AT HOME