Vivarium - Vivarium Trust co-housing

A chance to meet Maria Brenton

Vivarium features in Scottish Government Strategy

The Scottish Government in its paper, "Age, Home And Community: A Strategy For Housing For Scotland's Older People: 2012 - 2021", specifically cites Vivarium Trust as a case study.

You can read or download the document from the Scottish Government web site here

UPDATE AND MEMBERS SURVEY – NOVEMBER 2011

Members of The Vivarium Trust have all been sent a report on recent activities and progress and a request for feedback on members’ intentions and commitment.  The background report covered:

-    details of recent progress
-    an outline description of our proposed Co-Housing development
-    some financial facts and figures
-    feedback on our discussions with a bank who is interested in supporting us

With this information now available, members have been asked to complete a questionnaire to indicate their level of support for the project, their preferences for various options (tenure, finance, etc.), and crucially their level of commitment both to becoming residents in the new development and to making a financial contribution to the project.   The results of the consultation will guide future decisions by the group and will also be used in further discussions with the bank and with other interested parties.  The consultation will be completed in December 2011.

Any non-members who would like further information on current progress and future plans are invited to contact the Chairman of The Vivarium Trust, Hugh Hoffman, on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 01337-831403.

Scottish Parliament Communities Conference

Vivarium Trust Steering Group members will be attending the third Communities Conference to be held at the Scottish Parliament on Saturday 29th October.

Overview

The Communities Conference is aimed at local, community based, voluntary and charity sector organisations and other civic groups. Importantly, we aim to engage with local groups who do not normally appear on the parliamentary radar. The aim of the conference is to ‘skill-up’ people from local communities and to encourage and empower them to engage meaningfully with their MSPs and their Parliament.  

The focus of the conference is very much on practical advice and guidance for parliamentary engagement – looking at what works and what doesn’t. Speakers and workshop facilitators will include MSPs, successful campaigners and journalists, as well as Parliament staff whose remit is to facilitate and develop engagement opportunities. More information about the Communities Conference can be found here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/education/CoCo2011.htm

The 2011 conference follows on from similar conferences in 2009 and 2010, and will have the same title: ‘Understanding and Influencing Your Parliament’. The first two conferences were very successful and both were attended by over a hundred representatives from small community groups and voluntary sector organisations from across Scotland. This year we anticipate around 150 attendees.