Fiddle Workshop - Lochgoilhead

Where are we now?

Those of you who log on regularly will be pleased to see that “now” is at last 2008!

We first constituted ourselves as a club in November 2002, and that our first classes started at the end of February 2003. Originally the aim was to get together a small group of local players and put on a concert or two…However, from the beginning it was clear that our communities wanted much, much more, and since then we have reconstituted ourselves as a charity, and expanded both the teaching and the events programmes again and again, gaining legions of local, national and international friends in the process.
In the summer of 2004 we got offered the opportunity of working with Argyll and Bute Council under the aegis of the Youth Music Initiative. We started teaching traditional fiddle to children in four junior schools in Strachur, Tighnabruaich, Glendaruel and Loch Goil. In 2007 we made the obvious transition to teaching in Dunoon Grammar School as well, where our tutor, Sarah Naylor is giving a new generation a thoroughly well grounded education in music. In 2008-9 she will (singlehandedly!) be teaching close on 90 pupils. Reports that Superwoman has been sighted in the vicinity are not wide of the mark…
For the adults, classes in Strachur and Lochgoilhead attract remarkably consistent support, with real progress being made by the many players who had never played any instrument before, a tribute, we know to their inspired teachers. We hope to start a new beginners’ class in Lochgoilhead this year, but feel now that it takes at least two years before beginners can comfortably integrate into the more advanced classes at Strachur. So this might be the last beginners’ class for two years or more-if you are interested, seize the opportunity. Come to the free Come and Try in September!

On the concert and events side, Mark continues to attract both the big established names and the up and coming, but hugely talented, bands.. Over the years the concert programme has attracted generous subsidies from private organizations, such as ScottishPower renewables, the Loch Fyne Trust, Western Ferries, to name a few: and, in the past, from the Scottish Arts Council. As a result we continue to follow a policy of letting children under 12 in free. However, we have failed to attract any major financial support this year, and the message is clear that the concert ticket receipts need to cover all the costs, which means…ticket prices are going up, and might have to go up again. We are grateful to the immensely loyal audience which attends these concerts regularly, and to all the helpers who prepare the concert venues, give raffle prizes, sell raffle tickets AND put staging and chairs away at the end! This year will see if we can survive in our rural location on this stern commercial (but non-profit) basis…watch this space.

Our UNsubsidised 2008-9 programme of concerts and other events is now finalised, so click on the link to get the details. We have found that we have many friends in the traditional music circuit who will go out of their way to play for us. They often say that they love playing Lochgoilhead and Strachur, because the audience is terrific and the atmosphere unique. So, friends and supporters-do yourselves a favour and keep supporting the concerts, bring your partners, children, friends, great-grannies…to these community events.

The other big development in recent years has been the growth of our junior programme under the aegis of Fèisean Nan Gaidheal. During 2006 and 2007 in our manifestation as Fèis Cheann Loch Goibhle, we held two weekends of music activities tied in with outdoor pursuits which went down a bomb with the target age group of children age 8-11, despite the Scottish climate’s attempt to drown them. We are developing this logically by adding in a similar weekend for teenagers in March 2009. Our thanks to Fèisean Nan Gaidheal who have always supported us to the hilt- but we still need to find approx 50% of the costs. We have a subcommittee of interested parents, chaired by Elizabeth Bain, so any fundraising ideas and help are welcome. Meanwhile please support the coming activities to raise the balance, the first being the coffee morning at Lochgoilhead on Saturday 23rd August.

Much to our bemusement we have attracted a number of awards now at national level. In June we won the prestigious Community Action Group of the Year award, and the “prize” is now sitting on Liz’s shelf. It would be nice to think that all of this warm congratulation would lead to increased financial support for our programmes, but unfortunately we, like all charities, are suffering from a withdrawal of previous financial support tied in with consistent failure to access new funds. The committee has devoted a demoralizing two years to unsuccessful applications, with the result that we no longer employ a Project Leader and most development of services have stopped, including any thought of securing office and storage facilities to help us pass on a vibrant and secure organization to the next generation. The exception is the youth programme, which we will never give up while we survive. So, when the going gets tough…we may be down, but we are NOT out, and will run the current programmes until our teeth fall out, or everyone loses interest, whatever comes sooner.

We would like to thank from the bottom of our hearts our three consistent funders:: the Scottish Arts Council, Argyll and Bute Authority , and Fèisean Nan Gaidheal. They continue to give us what they can, recognizing the peculiar difficulties we face. Without them we wouldn’t be here.