Volunteer Appeal - added 02/07/08
The British Red Cross shop in Ellon is looking for people to give a few hours of their time to help in the shop.
There are a range of duties within the shop including: sorting and pricing goods, assisting and serving customers, designing and decorating the window and other displays.
Christopher Neave, Volunteer Assistant Manager, says, "Volunteering is an extremely rewarding way for many people to 'fill in a few hours' in the week. We've also got some great new schemes for young volunteers (16-25yrs), so they can learn useful new skills that will help with their future career prospects with the added bonus of a highly accredited certificate upon completion of a fixed number of volunteer hours. It's also worth mentioning that volunteering really makes a CV stand out from the crowd! Age is irrelevant, no experience is required, expenses are reimbursed and hours are extremely flexible - we have some volunteers who can only manage a couple of hours per week whilst we have others who help 2-3 times a week. Any amount of time given is greatly appreciated and helps to raise vital funds for the Society's work at home and abroad. We have a super team and always manage to have a laugh in the shop which helps enormously."
If you would like to volunteer or require further information, please contact Christopher or Elma at the shop or by telephone on 01358 722000 or e-mail brcellon~AT~btinternet~DOT~com
Apologies from visitellon.co.uk - added 06/01/08
Owing to security issues raised by the company who host this site, we were unable to gain access to update the site from late November. We now have full access again and will endeavour to update the site as quickly as possible with submitted details of events etc. which have been building up over the last month or so. We apologise for any inconvenience that this situation may have caused.
Click HERE to read the BBC News report on the security incident which affected the site.
New promotional Leaflet launched - added 26/09/07
Ellon Tourism Group have launched a new leaflet designed to promote the town. Delegates from Greece, Poland and Sweden - members of the SusSET project - attended the launch party on Monday along with Council officials and members of the towns various organisations.
Speaking at the launch, Christopher Neave of Ellon Community Council and Ellon Tourism Group said, "I'm delighted that we are, at last, launching the new leaflet to promote our town and its website. Both projects have been driven forward by local people for the benefit of the town we love and I am proud to have been a part of these projects."
Mr Neave went on to say, "Promoting Ellon is an important task - I feel that there is much that Ellon has to offer visitors to the North East - and the Tourism Group, with these two new and very different media have succeeded in reaching as wide an audience as possible."
The Ellon Tourism Group are calling on businesses, groups, organisations and members of the public to get involved with the group to share ideas and suggestions on promoting Ellon in the future. Further information on becoming part of the Ellon Tourism Group can be obtained by contacting Mr Neave on 01358 724557 or by e-mail at info@visitellon.co.uk
The leaflet is available to download in PDF format HERE
2008 Ellon Calendar now available - added 14/10/07
Ellon Community Council has announced that the limited edition 2008 Ellon Calendar, competitively priced at only £5, is on sale now in the following locations in Ellon -
Costcutters, The Library, S & G Paterson, Ellon Fish Shop, Frasers of Ellon, Station Hotel, New Inn, Lawrence Milne, Rowlands Pharmacy, Truly Gifted and The Ice-Cream & Coffee Pot.
The calendar has a 'Past & Present' theme with two images per month - one which shows an Ellon setting from the 'past' - the other shows the same setting as it looks in the 'present'.
 
Click the pic to view full size
Calendars can also be mailed to you in the UK or overseas (a nominal postage charge will be incurred). Should you wish to purchase a copy/copies of the calendar, please e-mail Sandra Topp at ecc@visitellon.co.uk for further information.
The proceeds from the sale of the calendars will go to the Community Council's Christmas Light's Fund. The fund is used to maintain and refurbish the town's existing Christmas light's and also to purchase new ones. The fund is also used for the upkeep of this, the official Ellon website.
Community Gift Exchange - added 09/08/07
Louis Thomson of Ellon Community Council handed over a Community Council 2008 Calendar as a small token of appreciation upon receipt of the Minutes & Accounts Book once belonging to Ellon's private Tennis Club from Davie Thomson (no relation!), owner of Daviot Emporium, Main Street, Daviot - a real aladdin's-cave of antiques and collectables. (www.daviotemporium.co.uk
)
Following the Community Council's appeal for information on the Gordon Park Tennis Club earlier this summer, Davie got in touch to say he had in his stock this wee gem of a book, which he, having lived in Ellon in his younger days, wished to donate back to the town.
This being Gordon Park's centenery year (gifted to the folk of Ellon in 1907 by Arthur J L Gordon, CMG, of Ellon Castle to mark the 21st Birthday of his son, and only child, Cosmo Alexander Gordon) it is quite fitting for the town to receive a book that was being used at the time of Mr Gordon's generous gift - though the private tennis club was not sited in Gordon Park itself, but within the grounds of 'The Willows' on Ythan Terrace.
The book is an important piece of Ellon's history as not only does it give an insight into who mixed with who and some of what they got up to in their social lives - bringing the names laid down in Ellon's history books a little more to life - it also gives us an idea of the companies that were in existance and the services/goods they supplied along with the prices of the era. The book contains the constitution and bye-laws of the club (which was established in 1896 and ran until 1927) and lists all members, including the families of local dignitaries such as Dr Andrew Fowler, Provost John Rae and the Reid family (Sir James Reid 1st Bart, GCVO, KCG, LLd was Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V), as well as noting that in 1922 while members paid £-1-1s-0d annual subscription and raised £17-10s-0d at a Cake and Candy Sale and £1-15s-0d from the sale of cut down trees, expenditure incurred by the club included £13-17s-6d to Cruden Bay Brick Company for brick dust for the court, £10-0s-0d to Great North of Scotland Railway for ashes and a total of 7s-6d for Borough and Parish Rates.
While Ellon does not presently have a heritage centre to display the wealth of history on our town, it is hoped that the book may at some point be put on display at the Library so that everyone can view it.
The present-day tennis club holds regular meetings at the tennis courts and pavillion in Gordon Park. Anyone wishing further information on the club should contact Alan on 01358 723145.
Ellon Global Footprint Launch - added 01/06/07
Following on from the very successful North East of Scotland Global Footprint Launch at Ellon's Kirk Centre in February, the follow up project is now being launched in Ellon as part of the Ellon Festival.
How big is your global footprint?
Find out by completing the questionnaire - you may download a copy HERE. The questionnaire is also being distributed at the Festival, through local community groups, the Ellon Times, at Aberdeenshire Council buildings in the town and online at the Aberdeenshire Council website.
So what is a Global Footprint?
Our homes, our communities, and our lifestyles, what we buy and consume, the energy we use in our homes, how we travel about and what we do with our waste have a huge impact on the earth's environment. A Global Footprint is a measure of this impact, it accounts for the resources we use to support our lifestyles and allows us to make comparisons with what's available and how we can change our lifestyles to make a fairer or better use of the resources available to us.
The first thing we need to do is measure the impact of our current lifestyle so we know where we can make the changes that will help make a difference. The questionnaires distributed, as part of the Ellon Global Footprint Project will help the people of Ellon do that. By completing this questionnaire as best you can you will provide the basic information needed to measure your individual global footprint. This will be a figure expressed in hectares to show how much land area is required to produce the resources and absorb the wastes related to your lifestyle. To live within the balance of the Earth's natural resources we need to find ways of reducing our global footprint to 1.9 hectares.
Individual responses will be kept confidential so please be honest!
Ellon Academy school pupils have completed the questionnaire and found that their average footprint was 4.93 hectares, while Aberdeenshire's average footprint was 5.6 hectares. The young people achieved this lower global footprint by eating more locally produced organic food and sharing transport for journeys.
So change is possible, completing the questionnaires is the first step to making these change in an informed way. As a follow up to the Global Footprint questionnaires, projects can be identified which people in Ellon can use to live more sustainably such as buying goods and services locally, or having more energy efficient homes.
For further information please contact:
Steven Gray (Environmental Planner - Projects) on 01467 628381
The Formartine Partnership on 01358 726452
Anne Laird (Sustainability Co-ordinator) on 01224 665289.
Tesco is coming! - update 19/05/07
Tesco have announced that the new Ellon store will open for business on Monday 27th August - two months earlier than previously suggested.
Tesco is coming! - added 05/04/07
Work has started this week on the new Tesco store at Balmacassie. The first soil was shifted earlier this week and it's been a hive of activity in the Balmacassie fields since then. Tesco have said that they hope to have the store open by October. We will keep you updated with developments as they happen.
NOTIFICATION OF A MILITARY FLYING EXERCISE - added 26/03/07
The Ministry of Defence have informed Ellon Community Council that a MoD flying exercise will be conducted across Scotland between 24 March and 4 April. Ellon Community Council wishes to pass on the information to residents of the Ellon area.
The exercise will involve the use of helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and a small number of ground troops.
Out of hours flying has been authorised and noise disturbance may be experienced in some locations. The groud element of the exercise will be made up by a company of infantry (approx. 100 personnel) who will deploy in conjunction with helicopter operations. Troops will carry weapons and tactical activity will be conducted as part of the localised ground deployment.
The purpose of this notice is to provide notification of military-related activity, particularly helicopter low flying and the presence of troops. All personnel involved with the exercise will be briefed on the requirement to avoid disturbance to livestock and damage to property together with the procedures for reporting incidents and complaints.
There is no connection with this exercise and that previously notified for the period 18 March - 3 April 2007.
Point of contact for enquiries and complaints -
Captain (Retd) David Smith
HQ 51 (Sottish) Dbe
Forthside
Stirling
FK7 7RR
Tel: 0131 310 4857
Mobile: 07747 791 140
Out of hours contact -
Staff Duty Officer
HQ 2 Div
Craigiehall
South Queensferry
EH30 9TN
Tel: 0131 310 2211
Flying complaints -
John Gilbert
Royal Air Force
Regional Community Relations Officer
Southern Scotland
Canonbie
Dumfries
DG14 0XF
Tel: 01387 381156
Ellon hoping to enter Scotland in Bloom - added 06/03/07
Building on their success in the Formartine in Bloom competition, Ellon is now seeking national acclaim, by entering "Beautiful Scotland" (formerly called Beautiful Scotland in Bloom).
This is a major competition and will reflect on the whole town, with categories including ornamental planting, sustainable development and biodiversity, and street cleanliness. The judges will also be interested in the involvement of businesses and schools.
The competition is designed to encourage and reward communities for the continuous improvement of their general environment, and Ellon already has a head start in this area, with the ongoing work that is done by Ellon Civic Pride, EBAG, the Friends of McDonald Park, Ellon Community Council and Aberdeenshire Council.
A meeting to form a steering group to develop Ellons entry into the competition will be held in the Station Hotel on Thursday 8th March at 7.00pm. Refreshments will be available and all are welcome to attend.
For further information please contact Graham Waters on 01358 726414.
Council DO recycle brown cardboard - added 24/02/07
Following conflicting and confusing stories in the press recently, Aberdeenshire Council have issued a statement clarifying their position on the recycling of brown cardboard.
The Council states that householders should not put brown cardboard out with their paper recycling for the kerbside collection but should take it to any of the local recycling stations around the area.
Click HERE to read the statement in full.
Funds to help train young drivers - added 12/02/07
Young drivers are to be given help with training in efforts cut the number of road deaths in Scotland, with the Scottish Executive to provide funding towards the cost of advanced driver training.
The North East has the highest fatal accident rates in Scotland for drivers aged 17 to 25 and in total 62 people died on the region's roads last year.
The Executive is funding a six-month pilot in the Moray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire areas. It will provide half the cost of advanced driver training. When this is added to local authority funding already on offer that means a £150 course could cost as little as £15.
The Executive said it was obvious that road safety messages, particularly among young people, still needed to be heard.
Story courtesy of BBC News Online
Global Footprint Update - added 09/02/07
Aberdonians are creating one of the biggest global footprints in Scotland with Aberdeenshire figures even higher!
Read more
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