The Western Isles, Skye and Lochalsh LEADER+ programme has assisted 100 projects, with a number of successful projects in the Skye and Lochalsh area. 

Skye and Lochalsh Horticultural Development Association (SLHDA) has recently been awarded up to £39,000 from LEADER+ to lead an innovative 'local food for local schools' project in a pilot group of five primary schools. 

In partnership with The Highland Council, they will deliver a series of workshops and events for local producers, school staff and pupils, designed to promote local food as a healthy option for young people in rural areas. Working closely with school catering staff, project ideas and educational tools will be developed, while training for local growers will introduce include modern horticultural methods, techniques and practices to encourage increased food production.

By working in partnership with a group from north west Devon who are already experienced in the delivery of the local food for local schools message, the project leaders will benefit from their successes and avoid similar pitfalls. 

A series of exchange visits began with a visit to north west Devon at the beginning of February, where the group visited an organic dairy farm and a junior school in Ilfracombe to see the methods in practice. They also participated in a producers' workshop and a 'Grab 5' training event at Woolsery village hall. Grab 5 is a programme run by Sustain - the alliance for better food and farming - for schools wanting to encourage pupils and their families to eat more fruit and vegetables. 

Deirdre Peppe, chairman of SLHDA, said: "The visit was a great success.  We are encouraged by the work achieved in an area which faces similar, if not identical, geographical and social issues as we do in Skye and Lochalsh.

"Our group is able to offer its knowledge and experience of a successful localised producers' distribution network, an idea which is in development in Devon, and the two groups will work together in designing and delivering educational tools for the various groups participating in the two projects." 

The Skye and Lochalsh project will be officially launched at the SLHDA annual conference at Tigh na Sgire, Portree, on Tuesday 15th March 2005. The conference will be joined by a party from north west Devon, who will give a presentation on the local food for local schools project. 

The project includes in kind contributions from SLHDA members, and has also received funding from Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise (SALE), the Highland Council, the Crofting Communities Development Scheme and the Tudor Trust.

Broadford Environmental Group (BEG) was recently awarded a grant of £6,000 towards a project based on the development of a site of important archaeological significance in Torrin, Isle of Skye. Deposits and artefacts, including pig and deer bones and simple tools, found in an area of Uamh an Àrd Achaidh (High Pasture Cave), have been shown by two of BEG's members to be closely linked to an early Iron Age settlement, which has since attracted support from a range of national and international academic institutions. 

Excavation and maintenance of the cave requires careful and specialist management, so the group has come up with a solution involving new technologies to preserve its fragile nature. A geophysical survey of the site to identify original buildings will be followed by the installation of underground lighting and camera equipment, enabling the remote monitoring of the site.  

Steve Birch of BEG, and project leader for the proposed work, said: "We are very excited to be working on the site, the funding from LEADER+ and the Highland Council will enable us to continue our excavation work whilst making the site much more accessible to the wider public and also to provide a record of our findings. Our dedicated web site will allow the virtual following of a weekly diary from the cave, and will be used to publish open days and other events in relation to the cave."

An Tuireann Arts Centre in Portree also received funding from LEADER+ and the Scottish Arts Council to enable them to deliver a year long project for young people after school.  The group is working with an artist towards publishing their own website which will give an insight into the visual arts.  

The group has been meeting one evening per week since last summer, and the young people have been extremely creative developing technical know-how along with their creative skills. They are also developing opinions on what the visual arts mean to them.

With help and in kind support from Skye company Sitekit Solutions Ltd, formerly Gaelnet, the group will be launching their site very soon. An Tuireann's education officer, Kath MacLeod, said: "The site will be very visual but also bi-lingual as the young people are a mixture of English speakers and Gaelic speakers.  The group hopes to link up with other similar groups around the country to share their experiences." 

Young people aged 11-17 are welcome to join the sessions, which run on Monday evenings in school term time.  Contact Kath MacLeod at An Tuireann, tel 01478 613306 or e-mail education@antuireann.org.uk.  The site www.tnt@ant.org.uk will be launched later in the spring.

For more information on the Western Isles, Skye and Lochalsh LEADER+ programme, contact Rona Macleod (project co-ordinator) on 01851
703703 or Claire Hannah (field officer) on 01478 612841.