As part of our Dreel Burn catchment initiative, we have been asked by project partner, Credit Nature, to help gather some data on birds to fill gaps in existing data.  Volunteers of all ages and with any level of bird knowledge can help us to build bigger and better data on the birdlife in the Dreel Burn catchment.

We are collaborating with Fife Coast & Countryside Trust and Credit Nature to do this via a BioBlitz event on the Balcaskie Estate. The activity will start at 9am on Thursday 17^th October, with small groups of 2-4 volunteers walking prescribed areas of the estate and recording the birds seen in that area. Each walk should take no more than 3 hours to complete, and volunteers are invited to gather at Balcaskie House afterwards for some warming soup and home baking.

We are seeking volunteers to help gather the data; volunteers could be experienced bird watchers or less experienced but enthusiastic and keen to learn.

If you are interested in joining this activity as a volunteer you can sign up here or if you have any questions please email Cristin.Lambert@fifecountryside.co.uk at Fife Coast & Countryside Trust.

Download a programme here.

Download the poster here.

2023 was the final year of our three-year funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to establish the Anster Community Development Project and employ our first Community Development Worker, Julia Priestley. The funding has transformed the AIA, allowing us to make a step change in the range of events and activities we can offer our community at Dreel Halls and our effectiveness as a community group outside the walls of our heritage home.

We completed our season of Anster Nichts at the start of the year with talks by Dr Andrew Blight (The Biodiversity of Coastal Marine Ecosystems) and Harry Watkins (Plants on the move). The new season began in September with talks by Nikki and Claire Pollock (Rooting for a Better Future at Ardross Farm) and Team Footprint (Bring Back Woodland to the East Neuk). Our October talk and AGM were threatened by Storm Babet; Dr Anne-Marie Weijmans was kind enough to brave the elements for those who could make it and gave us a fascinating gallop around the solar system. We will reschedule Dr Weijmans’ full talk for next season, and the teaser she gave us suggests it is one not to be missed. Our thanks to all our speakers, who generously give up their time to educate and entertain us. 

Anster Cinema continued with monthly film screenings at Dreel Halls, usually on the first Sunday of the month at 6.45pm. We offered a free screening of Ava DuVernay’s searing documentary 13^th and finished the year with the ever-popular Meet Me in St Louis. Another highlight was a community screening of a one-off film, The Real Dreel, by local filmmaker Bill Bruce, capturing some of the voices of the Dreel Burn community. The event included live music by Tom Houston, with opportunities for our audience to join in making it a memorable evening. 

We enjoyed another busy and successful Duck Race, continuing our new tradition of an outdoor prize giving and bonnet parade. The Design a Duck colouring competition has also joined the new Duck Race format, and Jacqui Irvine and Pam Gough had the tricky task of choosing the winners from a terrific field of entries. Our thanks to Bowhouse Food Market for offering us the opportunity to promote the Duck Race at the March market. The biggest thanks, though, must go to all the people who volunteer on the day and the businesses who sell our sponsored ducks and donate prizes – our busiest event of the year simply could not happen without them.

Dreel Babies & Toddlers, our early years social group, entered its third year. Our thanks must go to volunteer Katherine Harley, who coordinated the group throughout 2023, along with a dedicated group of supportive weekly parent helpers. The group also benefited hugely from regular volunteers Jacqui Irvine and Gill Fraser. The group enjoyed dressing up and hosting parties to celebrate the King’s Coronation, Halloween and Christmas.The parents, carers, babies and toddlers participated in crafts, ceramic painting, songs and rhymes, and organised outreach activities led by the Scottish Fisheries Museum.

Dreel Friends, our community café, continued to provide space for members of our community to meet and socialise and keep in touch with community activities. The regular audience enjoyed the teas, home baking, book swap, stories for younger children and a seasonal, themed craft table. This activity is supported by regular volunteers and in 2023 partnered with East Neuk Lighthouse, Bilingual Families in Fife and Tayside and the Scottish Fisheries Museum to provide activities for young visitors.

Dreel Crafters has thrived in 2023, growing in popularity and providing opportunities for volunteering, skill sharing and connecting with like-minded crafters. Yet again, members of the group contributed knitting to raise funds for the Duck Race and were at the centre of the AIA’s Vintage Day in October.  Here, Dreel Halls hosted traditional vintage teas, vintage jewellery, clothing and craft stalls, charity stalls, including Anstruther’s very own Community Kist, and a raffle. Visitors had a lovely time and the AIA is grateful to the volunteers, home bakers, crafters, stall holders and local businesses who supported the day. Like the Duck Race, Vintage Day raises critical funds for the AIA’s Anster Community Development Project and Dreel Halls.

In 2023, activity around the Dreel Shelled Wall Restoration Project grew. Behind the scenes, the AIA is working to ensure that the project has the permissions and resources to proceed; meanwhile the public focus is on collecting the shells to complete the work. We had a sunny September Buckie Treasure Hunt at Shell Bay in Elie, and volunteers also started the long process of sorting and bagging shells.

The Dreel Burn Project went from strength to strength in 2023, and in total the Dreel Burn Project has attracted over £500,000 of funding to the East Neuk area for environmental outcomes. Our community science volunteers completed a full year of water quality monitoring, and, with funding from The National Lottery Community Fund via Climate Action Fife and St Andrews University Community Fund, we were able to recruit new volunteers to be trained in the Riverfly Partnership’s Monitoring Initiative. This team of volunteers will monitor the health of the burn through the presence or absence of pollution-sensitive invertebrates. We have partnered with Footprint East Neuk’s Dreelside Woods group to organise regular litter picks along the burn, and, with the help of Forth Rivers Trust, delivered our first Fish in the Classroom project at Anstruther Primary School, allowing P5s to nurture brown trout eggs in the classroom before releasing them into the burn. We held three engagement sessions: in April and September we opened Dreel Halls to the public for Community River Sessions, the latter allowing us to celebrate one year of the project. We also attended the Anstruther Harbour Festival with the Forth Rivers Trust’s interactive river table. We are lucky to be supported by a Steering Group to help guide the direction of the project.

The first landscape intervention in the catchment, led by Forth Rivers Trust, received full funding from NatureScot and Fife Environment Trust in 2023. This will see the creation of a new wetland area, installation of leaky dams, more tree planting along the burn and the removal of a ford which impedes fish passage in 2024. These should increase the burn’s biodiversity and address flooding risk caused by climate change. 

The success of our community activity drew attention to the Dreel Burn in 2023, and the AIA was invited to join a partnership project led by Fife Coast & Countryside Trust to demonstrate within the Dreel Burn catchment how nature restoration might be funded by private investment. This partnership project is funded by Fife Council and the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS), a collaboration between the Scottish Government, NatureScot and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the AIA has been tasked with delivering community engagement activity for the project.  

In September we had some cracking, if blustery, weather for Doors Open Day at Dreel Halls. Our volunteers were able to offer visitors great views, tours of the St Nicholas Tower and delicious home baking. Volunteers also manage the AIA garden, just over the bridge from Dreel Halls.  

In November thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the AIA was able to thank all the wonderful volunteers who offer up their time and skills, at a celebration at Dreel Halls. It was a wonderful evening, and even our volunteer Committee and Honorary Patrons were able to relax and enjoy the evening.

The AIA is part of the East Neuk Youth Network and participated in the 2023 Spring East Neuk Family Learning Roadshow in Crail. In the summer of 2023 we were delighted to welcome back the Fèis Rois Ceilidh Trail’s talented young musicians for a fantastic evening of traditional music at Dreel Halls. We also took part again in the November Bowhouse Food Market, selling home-made seasonal apple crumbles and raising much needed funds for the AIA. 

In 2023, Julia provided support to and partnered with a wide range of community groups and individuals, including Anstruther Skatepark Group, Dreelside Woods Community Asset Transfer, Anstruther & District Allotment Association and Dreelside Park Upgrade. Towards the end of the year, Julia also carried out a community survey about the Anster Community Development Project, which has provided invaluable evidence for planning, monitoring and fundraising. 

Hall use saw a healthy uplift in 2023, and our thanks must go to AIA Trustee Alan Stewart, who is the face of Dreel Halls for our hall hirers. Dreel Halls currently hosts a wide range of regular activities, including exercise groups and musical rehearsals, as well as private celebrations. All current events and activities in the AIA’s programme can be found on the website and Facebook pages.

In 2023 we received financial and in-kind support from, among others, The National Lottery Community Fund, Fife Council, St Andrews University Community Fund, Community Kist, Norah Webber Trust, The St Andrews Ball, William Stewart, East Neuk Tabletop Games, Balcaskie Estate, Bowhouse Food Market, James Aird & Sons, Anstruther Co-Op, Morrisons St Andrews, Amazon Smile, Climate Action Fife and Anstruther’s many local businesses, who support our events and activities. We had almost 100 paying members this year, who believe in the AIA’s work and want to support us to continue with it.  In 2023 we were selected as one of the Co-op Local Community Fund’s supported charities, and members of the Co-op can select us as their chosen cause, increasing the amount of funding we will receive.  The Trustees would like to extend thanks to Julia on behalf of the AIA members. Julia works tirelessly, and always cheerfully, to support the community to make things happen. She has transformed the AIA over the past three years, enabling us to offer around 11,000 engagements with people between 2020 and 2023 through the Anster Community Development Project, and we are delighted to be able to retain her for another three years thanks to funding from FIRNS and The National Lottery Community Fund. We would also like to thank those who use and value our home, Dreel Halls, ensuring it remains relevant and vibrant.

In the year ended 31 December 2023 there were receipts of £19,892 (2022 £19,426) from regular events and donations and £40,713 (2022 £26,882) received in restricted grants. There were unrestricted payments of £25,618 (2022 £27,914) on charitable activities together with a further £44,846 (2022 £31,029) from the restricted fund.

We are delighted to introduce Sophie Palmer, our first AIA Youth Leader. Sophie is a familiar face to many AIA supporters as she has been volunteering with us for the last 12 years. In this new role Sophie is keen to develop a youth section to support young people with volunteering and their wellbeing in the community:

‘I have been helping out at the AIA since I was in P1 (12 years ago!). I really enjoy helping people and having things to do. I value the opportunities that the AIA have given me and the connections that I’ve
made while volunteering. Volunteering for the AIA has given me a reason to get off my phone and out of the house while also making new friends, improving both my mental and physical wellbeing.
Alongside helping with the AIA I have volunteered as a prefect and a wellbeing ambassador at Waid Academy which allows me to support the teachers and students around the school. I have also become better at public speaking as my work with the AIA has involved me giving talks to members of the public at events like Doors Open Day. Through volunteering with the AIA I have become more connected with the whole community as I’ve had the opportunity to be educated by them while helping out at Anster Nichts and educate them through Doors Open Day, as well as getting to talk to them at events and learn about their lives and interests. I am currently developing a youth section for the AIA to support young people with volunteering and their wellbeing in the community.’

You can find out more about AIA volunteering for young people aged 12 – 25yrs here. If you have would like to get in touch, please email our community development worker, Julia Priestley on julia@anstrutherimprovements.org.

You can view the latest Dreel Burn newsletter here.

The popular craft group, Dreel Crafters, now meets twice a week on Tuesday evenings and Thursday afternoons

The National Lottery Community Fund has confirmed a further three years of funding, a total of £133,373,  for Anstruther Improvements Association (AIA) to continue our successful Anster Community Development Project (ACDP). The project was set up with Lottery funding in 2021, at the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic, and enabled us to employ our first member of staff, a community development worker. The project has broadened the range of activities and events that the AIA offers, as part of our vision to support a thriving and resilient community. The project is directly responsible for attracting additional funding of more than £500,000 to the area.

We launched the initiative during the pandemic, responding to local need with a new early years group for first-time parents who were unable to access any other support at the time. After the pandemic, the project focused on rebuilding the AIA’s former programme and growing it further, so that it now includes a monthly community cinema, an evening lecture series, regular coffee mornings for all ages and two weekly craft groups. These are alongside bigger annual events, such as the AIA’s popular duck race at Easter and Vintage Day in October. These and other events and activities provide over 100 volunteering experiences for local residents, enabling them to share or develop skills and connect with others. Volunteers are also at the heart of the Dreel Burn Project and the Shelled Wall Project, both community-led initiatives that were established by us as part of the ACDP. 

AIA Chair Christine Palmer said: “With this grant The National Lottery Community Fund is recognising what the Anster Community Development Project has brought to our community in its first three years. We are enormously grateful to the Fund and to the National Lottery players, and excited to take the project forward over the next three years, building on our success.”

We have issued a plea in local media for donations of shells to save an East Neuk listed building. Thousands of dog whelks are needed in order for us to restore to its former glory the decorated shell wall of a neighbouring property overlooking the Dreel Burn. 

The gable wall was originally elaborately covered with shells by the slater, Alexander Batchelor, who also decorated the well-known Buckie House just across the road. The building is an important part of Anstruther’s heritage, the wall has been slowly deteriorating over recent years and is currently in a very poor state. We require permission from the owners of the adjoining building to undertake much needed restoration work. To date no relatives of the late Mr and Mrs Wallace, who lived there, have come forward. We are asking that anyone with information regarding the property owners get in contact by emailing julia@anstrutherimprovements.org.

AIA Trustee, Elizabeth Riches said: “We need many thousands of small white dogwhelks for our community-led restoration project, an objective which will take some time to achieve. King Charles expressed considerable interest in our local shell-covered buildings while on a visit a few years ago and was particularly pleased that local children were involved in collecting shells for the Buckie House restoration. If you can help us in any way, either with information about the Wallaces, or by collecting dogwhelks for us, the AIA would be most grateful.” 

We have placed a collection box at the terrace to the rear of Dreel Halls where members of the public can donate shells they have collected. You can also contact us via our Facebook page for the Dreel Shelled Wall Project.

Look out also for our regular family-friendly Buckie Treasure Hunts on local beaches, with the next event at Castle Beach, Anstruther on Saturday 27th April at 10am.

The results of our Anster Community Development Project Survey are in and you can now read the full report, prepared by Julia Priestley, the AIA’s Community Development Worker, and volunteer Sarah Bradley.

The report can be read and downloaded here.

The survey will provide the Trustees and Julia with information on where to take the Anster Community Development Project next. It is also a really useful evaluation tool for the AIA and the project’s inaugural funders, The National Lottery Community Fund. Finally, it provides evidence of impact as the AIA tries to get the next stage of the project funded.

Date: 20th March 2024
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Dreel Burn and Dreel Halls

Quack quack!

Here we go! We will be launching 1,000 rubber ducks into Dreel Burn and cheering them on as they race to the finish line!

You can sponsor a duck at shops in town (look out for a duck in the window) for £2.

Brilliant prizes to be won – you’d have to be quackers to miss it 🙂

Weather permitting, prize giving will be from the terrace at the back of Dreel Halls. All funds raised from the race go to the AIA for our events and activities and the upkeep of the halls.

https://www.facebook.com/events/822378812938150