BRDT - Start Here
Updated 21:22 Thursday 21 September
Supporting our town
Our aim is to support our town and help coordinate, communicate, promote what's going on in our town as well as help coordinate the development of our town as outlined in the Community Action Plan.
We are a membership organisation and residents in the town can be a member providing they wish to help support our town. The Trust is run by a Board of Trustees elected by members at the AGM. We could not operate without our members and volunteers hence if you'd like to get involved, please read on.
Get Involved
See below for a list of our active projects where you can get involved as a volunteer or, if you just want to support what we do and have a say in what we do, please complete the membership application here.
Community Action Plan Coordination
BRDT coordinates the activities of the Community Action Plan (CAP) – or as we refer to it, the Blairgowrie and Rattray Initiative (BaRI) - and is a resource to support and facilitate local groups to deliver the actions identified in the CAP.
BaRI Food - Give & Take Larders
There are currently 3 larders in the town in the following locations:
- Blairgowrie Bowling Club (Bowls of Help)
- Ashgrove Road (Bob's Barter Box)
- Rattray Community Connect (Fraser's Fare Share)
They are filled usually on a Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings and checked the next morning by volunteers to ensure items are removed that need removing.
They were refurbished in 2022 by Wisecraft who also installed a roof with space for a living roof.
The larder at the Guide Hut was removed in 2022 due to the Guide Hut re-build.
BaRI Food Saturday Lunch Club
Saturday Lunch Club provides home made soup and cake every Saturday for around 70-80 people every week. Although it is aimed at the more vulnerable and those on their own, anyone can ask to receive the lunch. It is made by a local chef and delivered by a team of volunteers each week.
Booklore
An integral part of the Trust, our popular Booklore shop is run entirely by a team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers. Open since 2011, this community bookshop is an Aladdin’s cave of second-hand books, both fact and fiction. There's something for everyone – and our volunteers are always on hand to help you out.
Community Engagement
Supporting and engaging with our community is a core activity to ensure our groups and locals are supported and feel part of the town, activities and how we see the town developing. Our Community Engagement Coordinator can be contacted at sam@discoverblairgowrie.co.uk
Davie Park - Picnic Benches
Residents had expressed a desire for some picnic benches in Davie Park in 2021. After discussions, Proactive Communities (now merged with Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust, BRDT) applied to the Community Investment Fund (CIF) for money to purchase benches to be installed by PKC. As a result PKC agreed to provide and install a disabled friendly picnic bench on the concrete area by the pond and install the 2 benches purchased using the CIF money; one near the infants play area and the other in the open space between the car par and pond.
Happy to Chat Benches
3 Happy to Chat, Happy to Listen Bench Trails were created in 2022 in memory of Jordan Hart who died by suicide in 2020 just before his 17th birthday. Thanks to the courage of Jordan's parents Sue and Gavin and his sister Bethany, over £9k was raised in July 2021 from the 48 groups/businesses and individuals who showed support to remove the stigma about Mental Health by taking part in a 24 hour walkathon round the Wellmeadow.
Hub Magazine
The quarterly Hub Magazine was created in 2013 to help promote what was going on in the town - it is paid for by adverts and is delivered free to almost every household in the town and some copies are delivered further afield. For more info email mag@brdt.org.uk.
Mental Health Hub
The development and creation of a Mental Health Hub helps to bring essential services to the town to support the most vulnerable in our community.
Rattray Community Garden
Rattray Community Garden is based in what used to be a walled garden for Mount Ericht House and has been home to award-winning environmental group Blairgowrie and Rattray in Bloom for a number of years. The purchase and redevelopment of the community garden was highlighted as something local people wanted as part of the community action plan consultation exercise carried out in 2020. When the opportunity arose to buy the land, the site was secured as a community asset for the town and then purchased by BRDT in 2021 thanks to support from the Scottish Land Fund.
BaRI Building
One of the aspirations stated in the community action plan is for the development of a community hub in and for the town. The aim is to develop a facility that is available and accessible to as many groups and people as possible. A feasibility study is the first step in realising this and is underway (mid 2023). In the meantime, BRDT has a two-year lease on the building at 53 - 55 High Street, giving us a base in a central location that is accessible to all and is home to the BaRI Food and Refill Store, the Mental Health and Wellbeing outreach base, and a number of other services.
BaRI Food Store and Refill
The BaRI Food Subsidised Store is open to everyone and helps reduce food waste by offering food at subsidised prices so you get a bargain and help reduce food waste. It is currently located in the BaRI Building (53 to 55 High Street, Blairgowrie) and is open4 times a week.
Cargills Riverside Trail
This project aims to promote the Riverside whilst at the same time highlighting one of our local historic figures. The plan is to install several figures leading from the Bridge to Cargills leap and tell the story of Donald Cargill. Local stone mason and sculptor David F Wilson has been commissioned to create the trail.
Community Hub Feasibility
One of the actions from the CAP was to develop a community hub, this feasibility study is the first step to realise the action.
Discover Blairgowrie
The Discover Blairgowrie website is the main element of our coordination, communication and promotion activities.
Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT)
The HEAT Project provides a free, professional energy advice service to households, private landlords and tenants to help them reduce their energy bills and meet Scottish Government Energy Efficiency Targets. Our project area (North and East Perthshire) covers Coupar Angus, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Pitlochry, Dunkeld, Birnam and Perth.
Open Spaces
Enhancing the Biodiversity of Blairgowrie & Rattray.
As part of our work we became the first Biodiversity Town in Scotland in October 2021.
Our first areas of focus are:
- Davie Park
- Lochy Park
- Gamsie
- Elm Drive Suds
- Riverside
- Connect with the Dunkeld to Montrose B Line
The Open Spaces group formed in April 2021 to look at coordinating the use of all the public open spaces in Blairgowrie & Rattray. The aim is to manage them effectively and utilise them more for rewilding, growing fruit and veg and helping the town towards biodiversity.