What is Here We Are ?

Here We Are Provides a resource that is an interface between -   

• the past and the future,  

• the local and the incomer,  

• the young and the old ,

• the more wealthy and the less wealthy,  

• agencies and the needs on the ground  - i.e. "bottom up",

• the visitor and visited,

• the urban and the rural

We are now in our 6th year of operation. 

We are proud of where HWA Cairndow has got.  We have grown beyond expectations.

In 1998 we could never have imagined where we would be today.    

A heritage centre looks to the past and tourist information centres focus on attractions in the next hour or two, but  a HWA wants to explain how a rural community, while loyal to its roots, makes its way in the modern world. Its subject matter is people in a place - and hence its title. 

In its 6 years of operation some 75,000 people have visited the HWA centre.  Many are local or from a similar rural environment, some are from abroad, but the majority are from urban areas of Scotland and England.  All have learned something about themselves and about a small rural community.

 Our aims remain to ....

 i, ensure the existence of Here We Are Cairndow as a service to the local community and to visitors,  and to be a showcase for the concept, so that it will become established in the mainstream of rural development policy.

 ii, continue to instigate special projects/exhibitions at Cairndow.

 iii, carry the Here We Are torch elsewhere, to spread the good practice and establish practical links with other rural communities in Scotland, and further a-field, for whom the 21^st century poses similar challenges.

iv, to be self supporting

The ethos of what we can do for ourselves and what we can learn through that process is essential to the HWA concept and is the reason why we have not involved consultants but have done the fund-raising, research, development and production ourselves - listened to our own voice and gained pride and confidence from so doing.  

We want to become self supporting, less grant dependent - 

• Argyll and Bute's Council Service Point in the HWA centre continues successfully and we also now display information on behalf of the community council. Argyll College's courses at HWA continue successfully with students doing an increasing variety of courses.

• Our new meetings room for hire is proving popular and earned us £1,000 in its first six months.  (see p7 for booking information)

• We were successful in securing an "Investing In Ideas" grant for the initial stage of carrying the torch of Here We Are to other communities.  The grant was for the research and the development for the initiative.

  We have commissioned a booklet and a DVD describing the HWA concept, have researched potential communities in the Highlands and Islands, and are now beginning to put together the application to the "Investing in Communities, Supporting 21st Century Life fund", with the support of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Senscot.