Dumfries and Galloway Local Employability and Skills Partnership (DGLEP) and The Galloway Glens Scheme have launched a report which will help employability services to support young people and their employers in the region.

With recent exciting developments, The Loch Ken Trust is seeking extra support from the community to make their future plans the best they can be.

Two useful reports into the energy efficiency of our Galloway buildings have been published by the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust (GCAT).

Saturday 16th September is a special day for anyone interested in the local heritage and history of Galloway, with five heritage offerings in the Ken/Dee valley coming together to celebrate a community-led approach to local history and records.

This event on 18th September, delivered in partnership between the Galloway Glens Scheme and Dumfries Archival Mapping Project (DAMP), explores what pre-ordnance survey maps can tell us about what habitats used to be where and when, using four expert speakers to consider ‘Woodlands’, ‘Bogs’, Moths’ and ‘Meadows’ in Galloway in the 1700s.

Saturday 26th August was the day of the Great Corsock Show, with exhibitors and visitors coming from far and wide to attend a vital feature in the Stewartry’s event calendar.

The Great Corsock Show is coming! On Saturday, 26th of August, this much-loved Stewartry tradition will allow the great and the good of home baking, crafting, scarecrow fashioning, vegetable growing and homemade drink brewing to pit their skills against each other.

Letter from Reverend Pam, Glenkens Churches Locum.

A single Responsible Tourism Strategy for the South of Scotland is being proposed by the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA), VisitScotland, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), Scottish Borders Council and Dumfries & Galloway Council.

The Glenkens & District Community Action Plan was published in 2020, and is owned and kept relevant by the CAP Steering Group, who felt it was timely to publish an Update Report on the progress of the Community Action Plan to date.

Muirdrochwood Woodland, near Carsphairn, has been a hive of activity since ownership passed to Carsphairn Community Woodland Ltd. The Directors are now looking to recruit the next Forestry Pre-Apprentice for a whole range of outdoor and practical tasks on site.

The Glenkens Rectified Estate Mapping and Land Information Network (‘GREMLIN’) project has interpreted 44 estate maps from the 1800s, using the contents to measure and classify land use in the Glenkens 200 years ago.

On 7th July, twenty guests got a guided tour of Glenlair House, the home of James Clerk Maxwell, and heard from volunteers that have been leading the ‘Building Biographies’ research project, investigating the history of stately homes across Galloway.

After a period of 30 years as an unlicensed premises you can now enjoy a glass of wine or beer at The Smithy New Galloway.

The Loch Ken Trust is holding a Free Family Fun Day on Saturday 22nd July 11am-3pm, focussing on promoting Water Safety Awareness.

Thanks to funding from the Scottish Government's 'Community Led Vision' fund, administered by D&G Council, eleven community buildings in the Glenkens have received detailed assessments of their energy efficiency upgrade options.

The South of Scotland Tree Planting project has just announced a new round of funding, with £120,000 available over the next 12 months to enable community groups, farmers and landowners
to plant around 15,000 landscape trees across the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

There is lots on this summer; here is a brief round-up of what’s on in the area.

The ‘Go Wild’ experiences are five-day outdoor summer camps, teaching young people that the great outdoors is accessible to them, often free and lots of fun.