Annual Gathering 2023

Glen Garry Community Hall, Invergarry – Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th September 2023

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Please have a read through details of the gathering below before ordering.
If you have any further questions then please get in touch.

If you’re new to RS and our gatherings, find out what it’s about here…

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The 2023 Reforesting Scotland Gathering has now been finalised and open for bookings. We’ll be filling in one of the big gaps on the map of previous Gatherings, with our first ever trip to the Great Glen. The venue will be Invergarry and the dates will be Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th September – a little earlier than our usual date.

We’ll be based at the Glen Garry community hall in Invergarry. The venue is accessible by public transport with regular buses from Inverness, and by train to Spean Bridge wth regular onward buses. We have held the price of the gathering itself to last year’s prices to help with tight budgets.

It is an exciting area with lots to visit. Loch Arkaig has a community tree nursery and forest restoration. Dundreggan has been managed for many years by Trees for Life and is the site of their brand new Rewilding Centre. Jeremy Leggett’s experiment in rewilding as investment is up the road at Bunloit, while Invergarry itself has community forestry, woodland croft developments, deer management challenges and a pioneering seed stand for aspen propagation.

What’s Included

Weekend tickets include all events at the Gathering which will start on Friday afternoon with the Buildings Tour, followed by dinner and evening sessions at the Glen Garry Community Centre. There will be a range of speakers, practical workshops, visits and tours over the weekend to choose from plus a ceilidh on Saturday night. The event is fully catered and the Gathering finishes after lunch on Sunday.

Programme

Friday

10:00 Buildings Tour (an informal tour of interesting sites en route to the gathering – download itinerary)
16:30 Registration open, Glen Garry Community Centre
18:00 Welcome talk – Hector Rodgers welcomes us to the area
18:30 Dinner
19:30 Icebreaker, Soapbox, social time & informal music session

Saturday

08:00 Breakfast at the village hall
09:00 Registration starts
10:00 We’ll kick off with a morning talk from a local reforesting project
11:00 Choose from a range of site visits, walks and workshops (see below)
17:30 Back at the village hall we’ll have two pre-dinner talks on a theme of deer management
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Ceilidh & raffle

Sunday

08:00 Breakfast at the village hall
09:30 AGM and RS projects roundup
10:30 We’ll have a range of practical craft and skills workshops, plus any other discussion sessions which members may wish to lead. Volunteers to suggest and lead workshop sessions welcome!
12:00 Plenary – feedback from visits and workshops
13:00 Lunch
15:00 Departure

Saturday Visits & Workshops

We have some great visits and workshops lined up this year. A booking form to choose your preferred option will be sent out a week before the gathering to attendees.

• Dundreggan Tree Nursery & FLS aspen seed stand
• Besom broom making with Green Aspirations Scotland
• Bunloit Estate – rewilding and community engagement models
• Loch Arkaig community woodlands, tree nursery and landscape collaborations
• Urquhart Bay woodland & Trees for Life Rewilding Centre
• Foraging with Kirsty Wallace
• Glengarry Community Woodland

Sunday Workshops

As is traditional at the gathering, workshops for Sunday can be spur of the moment and suggested by attendees over the course of the weekend. They can be discussion based or practical. We already have a few lined up such as:

• Tree seed collection & treatment
• Meadow and woodland ground flora establishment & management
• Making artists charcoal
• Making wood roofing shingles
• Showing of the film “Clear on Deer”, & discussion

Accommodation

We have pre-booked rooms in the Saddle Mountain Hostel (5 min walk to community centre) and the Great Glen Hostel (5 minute drive to the community centre) which can be booked below. We have a range of different room types including private and shared dorms. The prices below are per room for the whole weekend (Friday and Saturday night). Beds in shared dorms are per bed for the weekend.

Camping (tents & campervans) is available at Faichemard Farm (25 min walk / 2 min drive).

There are plenty of B&B and hotel options in Invergarry to choose from too.

Pricing and Rates

We offer a range of pricing options for members and non-members. If you can, please consider paying the supporter rate as this really helps us to keep the cost of the gathering down. The concessionary rate is for students, unwaged etc or anyone who feels they cannot afford the standard rate.

If you are not a member, then you can purchase membership at the same time as your tickets to access the members price.

Children (under 16) do not require membership. Children under 5 are free.

Weekend tickets include all meals from dinner on Friday to lunch on Sunday. Day tickets include lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. All meals are vegetarian and a simple continental breakfast will be served in the hall from 8-9am. We’ll have plenty of breaks for tea, coffee and cake. There is no bar at the community centre so BYOB.

Further Information

We will send out a registration form to all attendees a month before the gathering to give you further information on the weekend as well as pre-booking visits and workshops you wish to attend.

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