From next Saturday, Boxing Day, most of Scotland will be subject to Level 4 measures, which is bad news for many rural enterprises. The only businesses allowed to stay open will be essential food stores and restaurants/cafes who are operating take-away services, petrol stations etc – more details here.
This is a severe blow for tourism accommodation, retailers, personal services and many other business sectors. We hope to hear that more financial assistance initiatives will be announced this week and will let you know the details as soon as practical.
Other updates for this week are:
Brexit Checklist: 10 low cost, low risk actions that companies can take now to prepare for Brexit, from reviewing the potential changes required, to checking in with suppliers, to the new rules for trading with the EU and third countries. Read it here.
Connecting Scotland Winter Support Package: The Scottish Government is opening up the Winter Support Package — designed to address social isolation and loneliness through the provision of devices and connectivity — for applications from any organisation that can identify older and/or disabled people who are eligible and can support them. Find more information here.
The Corporate & Insolvency Governance Act 2020: Continuing restrictions mean that an SCIOs ability to hold general or members’ meetings in person (where this is specified in the constitution) is limited. These regulations allow SCIOs to use remote methods, such as video conference or phone calls, to hold meetings with their members if needed and have now been extended to 30 March 2021. Find out more here.
Travelknowhow Scotland Free Virtual Workplace Travel Planning Workshops: These workshops are designed to support organisations to develop a workplace travel plan, as well as providing help with navigating the many schemes, funding opportunities and active and sustainable travel behaviour initiatives that are available across Scotland and in their particular region. There are limited spaces available at each of the virtual workshops, so if you are interested contact info@travelknowhowscotland.co.uk and they will confirm the dates and times of the workshops happening in your area. Or find out more here.
Highland Good Food Conference: A great event for anyone who cares about where their food comes from and would like to learn more about the production and distribution of a local sustainable food chain in the Highlands and become part of a movement helping to contribute towards our NetZero carbon targets. It will take place online over 5 Monday afternoons in Jan & Feb 2021. Cost for the 5 sessions is £50. Booking information can be found here.
Net Zero/Circular Economy Register: A list of business and organisations in the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) who are interested in the NetZero targets Scotland is aiming to achieve and would like to be part of the discussion on how communities and business sectors in the Park can help is being compiled. Anyone interested in NetZero and circular economies is asked to email taniaalliod@cairngorms.co.uk with their details so they can be added to the database.
Community Owned Asset Register for the CNPA: This asset register will be used to create an interactive map that will be used on the CNPA website. It will show the community-owned assets throughout the Park and help promote Park facilities. Most importantly, it will highlight the variety of community-owned assets in the Park and connect communities who may be thinking about asset transfer with those who have already undertaken projects, so they can benefit from the experience of those who have gone before. Please email taniaalliod@cairngorms.co.uk to find out more.
We wish you all the best for what remains of the year and we’ll see you in 2021.