The Highland Facilitator Team
was established a little over 3
years and in the intervening time
has transformed itself from a
simple friends and family group
into an emerging Charity, with
quantifiable evidence of success in
engaging, enabling and
empowering young people, those
with disabilities and individuals of
all ages and experiences, in order
that they in turn can determine a
positive difference on behalf of
their community, environment
and local wildlife.
However, I doubt that many if
any of you have heard of us as
we keep a low profile , simply
getting on with things. I
therefore understand that you
may feel that these are wild
claims from an organisation
which has no resources, no
employees and no centre of
operations. Yet we stand by any
and all statements made, up to
and including the fact that from
nothing and with nothing, we
have developed economically
sustainable projects with the
capacity to cascade educational,
vocational and employment
opportunities to countless
individuals across the
Highlands.
Through the use of bartering
and solid grass roots endeavour
we have secured partnerships
with organisations, groups,
registered charities and
community groups whereby our
insight, out of the box approach
to finding inspirational
approaches and solutions to
local problems and issues has
ensured our place at the centre
of multiple developments. One
of which is said to not only have
the potential to be the biggest
Community Capacity Project in
Scotland but may well be of
Global Importance.
We feel that we have served a
three year apprenticeship,
and fully understand the
requirements of our region in
terms of our environmental
and community interest in it.
Our successes are many, as
can be testified by the array
of accolades, certificates and
awards we have accumulated
in such a relatively short
period of time; they
represent recognition and
acknowledgement of a team
who understood the worth of
every penny spent, and who
refuse to compromise our
aims and objectives just
because the going is
sometimes hard.
Whether you have heard of us or not one thing we are sure of is the fact that there are not many
teams such as ours operating in the Highlands, who have been called a “credit to young people on
a global scale”. Dr Jane Goodall (2010) or “representative of whole community endeavour” Sir
John Lister Kaye (2012)
Now some of you will be sitting there thinking that’s all well and good but what is it, exactly, that you
do? And it is a fair question although a little more complicated than it seems as we are many things
to many people, depending on their individual need, the projects we have identified and the work
required to undertake them.
However we have a number of clearly defined areas of operation
Grass Roots Environmental
Endeavour....underpinning a sense
of community responsibility
through work considered to be of
public benefit such as tidying
community gardens, providing
water points during charity events,
undertaking beach cleanings,
hosting public Awareness Days,
carrying out workshops in
Schools, Colleges, Special Interest
Groups etc.
Working with individuals with
Autism and Learning Difficulties
to encourage the development of
citizenship and increase feelings of
self worth; this is a major part of
our work as we are also developing
a 4 – 6 yr post school programme
which allows them time to develop
the skills required to lead
productive, fulfilling lives. We do
this by combining environmental,
sporting and science based
activities which we hope in turn
will lead to the development of
Social Enterprises and subsequent
employment opportunities.
By identifying, developing,
implementing and undertaking
large environmental projects of true
meaning and worth we are providing
individuals across the Highlands an
array of opportunities to engage in
Citizen Science activities which
contribute to real scientific surveys
and research.
Three main projects based in this
area are
a) Bio diversity Project at Highland
Wildlife Park
b) Tree Regeneration at Allt a'
Mharcaidh (pronounced 'Alt a
Varcay')
c) Developing Project with
Cairngorm National Park regarding
their forthcoming Nature Plan.
 We are also involved in a number of
local projects such as that in Nairn,
whereby we are creating a Garden
Book for individuals with Learning
Difficulties which acknowledges
their difficulties but which does not
treat them like children.
 This project (based in one of Nairn’s
allotment areas) will run in
conjunction with our development
of a Social Enterprise whereby some
of societies more vulnerable
individuals will be encouraged to
associate plant growth and the
production of natural products such
as soap and toothpaste.
 We are a multi generational
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team who believe that all have
equal worth.
We are a registered charity with
a specific interest in those with
Autism and Learning difficulties
These are but some of the many
projects we have available for
individuals to get involved in
If you would like to volunteer,
learn more about us and/or our
projects please visit our web site
www.highlandft.org.uk
Or contact us at
highlandft@yahoo.co.uk