20 March 2025Stenness Bingo - Fri 21 March 7.30pm start
All welcome to join our Bingo session tomorrow evening raising funds for the Stenness Outdoor Community Space.
Lots of amazing prizes very generously donated by local individuals and businesses including a £100 meal voucher as the 1 flyer!
Over 20 raffle prizes.
£15 entry includes books, flyers and supper. Kids separate price
We will have a licensed bar serving wine, beer, cider and soft drinks.
Come along for a fab night out and help us raise money for the playpark!
19 March 2025Stenness Community Association AGM - Thurs 20 March
Stenness residents are welcome to join us for our AGM tomorrow night in the Community Room at the Hall:
01 March 2025Stenness Spring Fayre Sun 2 March - crafts, cafe and more!
Our Spring Fayre is tomorrow and we're looking forward to seeing you there - whether you just fancy a spot of lunch, browse the craft sellers or have a go in the craft room - we'll be there between 11am and 3pm!
24 February 2025Community Conversations Tue 25 Feb - Why should I attend?
In relation to our Community Conversations event tomorrow, Tue 25 February, the Community Association in particular is keen for folk to come and have a look at the draft Local Place Plan and see if they think the aspirations in it are a good fit for Stenness. We’ll also have reps from our Outdoor Community Space project (SOCS) unveiling the design for the renovation of the play area for the first time which we’re excited about after hard work fundraising, consulting on what the bairns wanted and spending quite a bit of time working on the equipment selection and so on.
The SOCS project will also have a concept design to get folk's thoughts on for the wider community space that we intend to develop at the back of the hall, which at the moment is basically a blank canvas with lots of potential and needs folk’s feedback on what elements they like or would change.
WHY SHOULD I ATTEND?
By turning up, even if you just want to understand what might be planned a bit better, you’re demonstrating that you care and are interested in what goes on in your community, be it in Stenness or wider.
You don’t need to feel that you’ll be under pressure to give your views either, if you just want to come and find out more about the topics on display, that’s great, even showing an interest in that way is really helpful.
You’ll also be able to take away email addresses for the main groups involved so if you like to take a spell to mull things over before you ask questions or put forward your views, you can get in touch to share those in the days after the event. For most of the topics presented on Tuesday night, this won’t be the last opportunity you get to give your views, but it probably is your best chance to speak to multiple folk at one time. Future feedback might be invited online via a survey or suchlike, which doesn’t give you that same opportunity to ask questions and gain a better understanding.
WHAT'S THE POINT - NOTHING SEEMS TO CHANGE?
We’ve all heard about grand plans for this and that, when nothing actually happens (sometimes because of funding, sometimes politics gets in the way, and so on) but to be honest if folk don’t turn up to events like these, don’t put forward their views and comments and feedback when they have the opportunity then we can’t demonstrate that there's any strong feeling for or against an idea. You can’t really assume that folk like or agree with that you’re doing if you’ve not got any evidence to back that up.
22 February 2025Community Conversations Tue 25 Feb - What to expect/Who is it for?
Hopefully you've seen our other posts, the advert in the Orcadian or possibly a poster about our Community Conversations event on Tuesday 25 February. Over the next couple of days we want to share a bit more information to help encourage you to attend 
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
Once you’re in the hall, you’ll see different stalls set out about each of the 6 main topics being covered at the event – Stenness Local Place Plan, Stenness Outdoor Community Space project, Stenness School Travel Plan, Orkney World Heritage Site programme, draft management plan for the Heart of Neolithic Orkney and Sustrans discussing a potential path network.
Each stall will have maps, copies of the draft plan or design depending on what stage they are at and some friendly faces willing to try and answer questions you might have, or explain something in a bit more detail.
We’re also going to have a central seating area with tables where folk can grab a hot drink and a biscuit and sit to read through things in more detail or have more lengthy discussions as needed.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
It's for anyone interested in the topics being discussed; obviously there’s a few things like the Stenness Local Place Plan that will be quite specific to Stenness residents but other matters such as the Orkney World Heritage Site programme, and the potential path network Sustrans are looking at, will be very relevant to folk across Orkney. All the ideas are about making positive yet sympathetic changes to make things better for local folk.
We all know from experience that often people think that they don’t know enough about something to comment, so its not worthwhile going, but the Community Association would like to try and dispel that and reassure folk that they don’t have to have done a lot of homework in advance – if you want to read up beforehand, that’s great, but you can just as easily come to see what information we have to share with you.
15 February 2025Stenness residents invited to sign up for the digital SCA newsletter
For the past two years, the Community Association has issued a newsletter listing the regular events on at the hall, promoting special events coming up and items that might be of interest to Stenness residents. We've done this by post, addressing to 'the occupier' of the homes in the parish but obviously this costs a wee bit to administer.
To help us keep the costs down, if any Stenness residents would be happy to receive the newsletter via email, we'd be very grateful if you'd fill out the 4-question form linked below to provide your details so we can send you the digital version and take your address off the postal list.
12 February 2025Residents encouraged to attend “Community Conversations” in Stenness
A collaborative effort to increase community engagement in Stenness will take place on Tuesday 25 February from 2pm to 8pm in the Stenness Community School Hall.
Led by Stenness Community Association, the Community Conversation event will bring together Stenness Community Association, Orkney Islands Council, Historic Environment Scotland and Sustrans to discuss key projects and opportunities in the area with residents.
The format of the event involves individual stalls attended by representatives of each organisation set out in the hall, with a central area where attendees can sit and have more in-depth discussions and a refreshment.
This combined event aims to:
- Reduce “consultation fatigue” and make community engagement more accessible.
- Collect comprehensive feedback across multiple initiatives.
- Strengthen the understanding of the needs and aspirations of those who live, work and/or visit the area.
- Encourage a joined-up approach to planning, infrastructure, and connectivity.
Key topics include:
- Stenness Community Association sharing the draft Local Place Plan for comment.
- Stenness Outdoor Community Space project unveiling the Stenness playpark renovation plans and timeline for the first time and gathering views on the feasibility design of the outdoor space.
- Orkney Islands Council and Historic Environment Scotland discussing the Orkney World Heritage Site Programme and the opportunities this brings. This includes looking at a path network between the village and the World Heritage Site, and a potential Orientation Centre.
- Orkney Islands Council with information on the development of a School Travel Plan for Stenness that is looking at how children travel safely to and from school.
- The first chance to comment on the new draft Management Plan for the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. Historic Environment Scotland and OIC are consulting on a ten-year framework to guide its protection and management.
- Sustrans are completing work to assess the feasibility of an active travel route from Kirkwall to Stromness. The aim of this route will be to allow for safe walking, wheeling and cycling. They are keen to find out where local people would like to be able to walk, wheel and cycle, as well as any opportunities to help make a traffic-free route a reality.
Secretary of Stenness Community Association, Barbara Scollay, emphasised the importance of participation:
“This event is a fantastic opportunity for residents to shape the future of Stenness. It’s a chance to voice opinions, share ideas, and collaborate on ways to improve our peedie yet strong community. With so many key projects on the horizon and many organisations involved, I would highly encourage anyone interested to come along and participate to help keep the views of our community at the centre of any plans and initiatives.”
For more information, please contact stennessca@gmail.com or send Stenness Community Association a message via their Facebook page.
