A most exciting year for initiative team: Langholm body calls for public to attend AGM and find out more

THE Langholm Initiative has been here for 25 years writes Jason Railton, but this is our biggest and best year yet.
The work we’ve done this year has been some of our most
ambitious and exciting.
We are working towards a goal of community ownership for Langholm Moor which was put up for sale in May.
Led by Kevin Cumming, the Langholm Initiative working group for this project has been productive and responsive so far in building a case.
Last Thursday Kevin and his team presented some potential opportunities to the community, based on their feasibility study.
We have also looked at supporting the resurgence of textiles. During 2019 Judith Johnson has worked with individuals, businesses and schools to inspire new and old skills to come together and ensure we can respond to a changing industry.
We have focused on digital skills. Many people in our community lack the essential digital skills needed to navigate a world which is increasingly online.
Cuts to education has meant that our young people are also not getting the opportunities for learning which other young people in Scotland are. We are working towards ensuring we can level the playing field with our Digital Skills Project.
The landscape around us has yet again been featured as a key part of our work.
Our Wild Eskdale project supports eco-tourism and outdoor education and is going from strength to strength.
As the organisation responsible for managing Welcome to Langholm in the Market Place, we’re excited to see more visitors and the changing use of the space to meet local and tourist needs.
The Townfoot Sports Centre redevelopment sits under the banner of the Langholm Initiative.
This working group was a quick response to the closure of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill centre earlier in the year.
They have embarked on community engagement and are drawing up plans for a feasibility study to test whether this would be a successful project.
Our AGM is an opportunity to hear about the work we do, ask questions and answer the query we often hear: “What does Langholm Initiative do?”.
To get the passion and rationale for what we do, there is no better event than our AGM.
It’s a social occasion, purposely open to both members and non-members so we can share our news and updates with you. Without your support, we have no mandate.
The AGM is also our chance to get your support to change our current legal status.
We’re a charitable company but it’s time to update our constitution to become a Scottish Charitable Incorporated
Organisation (SCIO).
This is our way of lessening our administrative burden and making sure we are a 21st century organisation, with the power and purposes to take forward amazing projects, like the ones we’ll tell you about on the night.
Becoming an SCIO will not make a difference to our membership or impose any more obligations than members
already have but having your support for us to do this is vital in making sure we continue to support our community in the ways we’ve outlined here.
So, come along at 7pm on Wednesday, December 18 in the Buccleuch Centre. It’s informal, there’ll be free refreshments and it might just give you a positive note, on which to end the year.