Gathering - "Crofting: A Tradition for the Future"

Saturday 23rd November: Main Gathering "Crofting - A Tradition for the Future"

Actively sustaining community: yesterday, today and tomorrow!

The recently release “Value of Crofting” report highlighted what we already knew, that crofting is needed more than ever in the current climate. We believe that, with the right support, crofting traditions of sustaining local communities, retaining young people, enabling access to land, and nature-friendly, local food production can offer solutions to modern problems of depopulation, affordable housing, food security and climate & biodiversity breakdown. However, these are challenging times and changes in policy do not always support the small-scale in general, or crofting in particular.

Our Annual Gathering will weave together the traditional and the modern, the inspirational and the practical - much as crofting does itself - to define a resilient model of modern crofting and to set out what is needed to sustain this into the future.

"We want to reconnect with what unites us as crofters and restore the fire in our bellies to champion and sustain crofting communities in the modern world".  Jonathan Hedges, Rogart, Chair of SCF

"Crofting has played such an important role in sustaining the Highlands and Islands until now and I believe it is critical to our futures, so I am really excited to be attending the Gathering and being part of discussions about how to make that a reality." Megan MacInnes, Applecross, Panel Speaker

• Main Gathering: 9.30am to 5.30pm, including lunch

Ticket prices: Individual Member £20; Individual Non-member & Community Organisation (per attendee) £40;
                        Other Organisation (Public and Private Sector) £75 (per attendee).

• Evening Entertainment: from 7.00pm

Drinks reception, sponsored by North Uist Distillery, followed by Gathering Dinner, 7.45pm and music with Seumas Smith, Ian Alex MacDonald and Billy MacKay.

Ticket price: £35 per person

***For full Saturday programme and menu click on this link.***

Friday 22nd November, 2024: Crofting and Community Landownership: Past, Present and Future

This year, we are also hosting an event in collaboration with Community Land Scotland's Linn an fhearainn / 100 Years of Community Ownership programme. 

This event will be both a celebration of 100 years of community ownership of crofting estates in the Western Isles, and a solution-based conversation about how the relationship between crofters and community landowners can be strengthened going forward, for the benefit of both.

• 10.00am to 3.30pm, including lunch

Ticket price: £15 per person

***For full Friday programme click on this link. ***

Accommodation

Please note that, due to limited funding, we are not able to cover the cost of attendees accommodation.

However, the Cabarfeidh Hotel is offering a limited number of discounted rooms for attendees. You will need to book directly with them. Explain that you are with the Gathering when you make your booking. The reduced room rates at the Cabar are £135 single occupancy of a double room, per night, and £165 double occupancy of a double room, per night. Breakfast is an additional £15 per person, per night. 

For alternative accommodation options in Stornoway please click on this link. 

Bursary

Thanks to sponsorship from Polycrub, we have some funds available for bursary for those who are finding cost to be a significant barrier to attendance. The fund is primarily for those in the Western Isles. Please contact Donna, our Chief Executive, on donna@crofting.org.

Please be assured that future gatherings will take place in different locations throughout the crofting counties to widen the opportunity for attendance.