Rubber Chicken Theatre staged hit musical The Wedding Singer from scratch in a remarkable 11 hours and 59 minutes! The turnaround and performance at Stirling’s MacRoberts Art Centre on Sunday has been recognised by Guinness World Records. A cast and crew of nearly 200 people aged eight to 70 took part in the challenge.
Creative director Pamela Mackie said: “From the moment we opened the mystery box of scripts at 7.30am to find out what show we would be putting on, until curtain up at 7.30pm it was all hands-on deck. We had just 12 hours to pull together the entire show, from learning lines, songs and choreography, to organising costumes, lighting, sound, set and props. We’ve done a show in a week before, but nothing can prepare you for a once in a lifetime challenge like this. There might have been a few ruffled feathers, but our chickens kept their heads about them to pull the challenge off.”
Rubber Chicken Theatre was announced as the new world title holder by adjudicator Sofia Greenacre. The company shaved two and a half hours off the previous world record set by an American production last year.
Ms Mackie said: “I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a theatre family today. It was a huge team effort and we’re feeling on top of the world.”
DDT is creating a dementia friendly garden in the grounds of the Braeport Community Centre which will also be open to the wider public. One purpose will be to involve the attendees at our weekly Memory Café in the planting up and occasional maintenance of the garden.
£8,000 of the estimated £12,000 cost has been raised from a number of funding sources for site clearance, building of accessible raised beds and other features including seating, a potting shed, a pergola and some play items for younger children. To complete the project, DDT is seeking donations towards the £3,500 required for professional laying of quality paving and to purchase trees, hedging plants, shrubs, perennials and seeds for displays that provide a range of stimulating scents, sounds and colours.
Find out more on the Dunblane Development Trust website.
Dunblane High School has been named Scottish State Secondary School of the Year by the Sunday Times.
Congratulations to all the staff & young people at the school and the wider learning community in Dunblane.
Read Stirling Council's news release here.
Dunblane Sports Club celebrated the opening of their new squash courts on Sunday 18th August by hosting the latest event in the Scottish Squash Roadshow. Scotland’s number 2 and world ranked number 79 Alison Thomson teamed up with National Coach Paul Bell to deliver coaching sessions for juniors and adults, followed by an exhibition match and a chance for club members to ‘play against the pros’.
The courts have been given a complete £30k rebuild, including new state of the art ASB walls, new Junckers sprung flooring and new lighting. The investment comes alongside increased popularity in squash, with busy club nights, team practice sessions, ladies and men’s teams in local leagues, and a popular internal box league and ladder. The new courts have been sponsored by Erskine Eyecare, who have branches in Auchterarder, Bridge of Allan and Dunblane.
Scottish star Alison said she had a “great day getting on the new courts with the juniors and adults”. Paul praised the club for investing in their facilities and promoting squash to the local community: “It was so much fun in Dunblane on our latest Scottish Squash Roadshow. It was a nice challenge delivering a session for 12 adults on 2 courts of various abilities, but that’s why we do it. When there’s a will there’s a way.”
New members are always welcome. For more more information on the club, and how to join, please see the website: www.dunblanesportsclub.co.uk. Junior coaching starts on Saturday 7th September for children P4 and above. Cost of 5 week session is £25 for members and £35 for non-members. Rackets are provided.
Work in Progress!
There has been some good progress of planting, fencing and digger work to help stabilise and repair the path and improve drainage along it. As we volunteers know it will all green up very quickly. In addition a survey above the path has highlighted the need to repair some old drainage to help reduce erosion and extend the life of the path – but this needs some extra funds, which we are trying to secure to maximise the efficiency of the ongoing works.
Funds!
We are pleased to say that the 4 grant applications in the original budget were successful - 8000 from Sustrans, 9000 from CSET, 1500 from Community Pride and 1500 from Scotways. We have also reached 3000 for the Kindlink appeal which is fantastic, but still have another 2000 to go.
For the additional drainage works we have applied to Paths for All and are approaching some other sources.
Please pass the word on and keep up the generosity to help us reach our target for the public appeal at https://www.kindlink.com/charity/dunblane-development-trust/1953/fundraising
Donors have written some lovely comments
“Love this path and thanks to all the volunteers that work so hard to keep it open"
"The Glen Road is the most tranquil and safe cycling route between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan and should be preserved”.
"I always enjoy my commute by bike into Stirling through the Glen"
"Hoping to be able to continue enjoying the Glen walk for many years to come."
"I love cycling this route. Must keep it open.”
"Happy to add my labour, if needed."
"Thanks very much to everyone for all their hard work on this - good to keep such an excellent path open!"
"Thank you for doing this! We love this walk:-)"
"I love walking this route and so do many others. Thank you for keeping it open."
Many thanks to everyone!
Bridget Clark, Duncan Lavery, Mike Watson
Volunteer coordinators and representatives from Dunblane and Bridge of Allan
See original article here : http://www.dunblane.info/component/k2/1471-glen-road-path-appeal
BT have a proposal to remove one telephone box in Dunblane - Kippendavie Avenue used 19 times in the last 12 months.
Contact the local authority if you have any comments.
Since closing as a road for vehicles in 1987 due to landslips between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, both communities have fought hard to retain this popular walking, running and cycling path.
In 2011 the communities came together (via Dunblane Development Trust & Bridge of Allan Community Council) with engineering advice from IKM. We matched funds with Sustrans to rescue this core path and link the national cycle route 765 between our communities, in cooperation with SNH, Stirling Council and 3 landowners.
Since then volunteers have managed the drains and vegetation, with support from Stirling Council for larger fallen trees, but now the concern is that some areas of the path will be lost to erosion without urgent attention this year.
So our volunteer engineer, Ian from IKM Consulting, has provided advice and proposals which have been approved by SNH, Stirling Council and landowners, and we are sourcing funds from Sustrans, Clackmannanshire and Stirling Environment Trust, Scotways and Community Pride. However we have a shortfall of around £5000 – hence this public appeal.
We have set up an Old Glen Road Path appeal page with Kindlink – a free fundraising platform for charities, via Dunblane Development Trust who are managing the funds for the project. Donate at;
https://www.kindlink.com/charity/dunblane-development-trust/1953/fundraising
If you use the route and want it to be retained please donate so we can complete the work this year and minimise costs.
Thank you very much!
Bridget Clark, Duncan Lavery, Mike Watson
Volunteer coordinators and representatives from Dunblane and Bridge of Allan
First Responders Meeting : Six potential volunteers come forward
Download the Poster Read the Stirling Observer article on 120419 Read the Stirling Observer article on 170419
A new team of First Responders is being established in Dunblane under the auspices of Trossachs Search & Rescue. If you are interested in hearing about the First Responder service and finding out what is involved in becoming a volunteer First Responder, then contact Trossachs Search & Rescue
A public meeting was held on Wednesday 24 April in the Braeport Centre. The meeting was jointly sponsored by Scottish Ambulance Service, Trossachs Search & Rescue and Dunblane Community Council.
What are First Responders?
First responders attend emergency calls prior to the arrival of an emergency ambulance in order to provide lifesaving treatment, stabilise patients and promote recovery.
They receive training from the Scottish Ambulance Service that qualifies them to respond to a variety of life threatening conditions.
On duty personnel are dispatched by the Ambulance Control Centres after an emergency ambulance has first been directed to attend.
What happened to Dunblane First Responders (DFR)
DFR provided a valuable service in Dunblane for nearly a decade. The group is no longer in a position to provide a First Responder service in the town.
Who are Trossachs Search & Rescue (TSAR)
TSAR already provides a First Responder service in Stirling’s rural areas including Doune and Callander. Read more at https://www.trossachs-sar.com/. The group was invited by Dunblane Community Council to expand their area of operation to include Dunblane