Thanks Team Bean

News filters through about the latest local business to support our Valued Volunteer scheme. The self-styled ‘Team Bean’ led by Kevin and Heather (not forgetting Monkey) at the Inverness Coffee Roasting Company have donated a generous prize for one lucky driver or walk leader: six months worth of your favourite coffee. We’re now working out a way to pick a winner, but having rejected the notion of a walking and driving race around Inverness, I think we’ve settled on some kind of Christmas raffle.

We’re really grateful to all the local business who are helping us thank our volunteers and we’re hoping a few more will be joining our scheme at the start of the new year. You can get all the details on our Valued Volunteer page on this website.

“Not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told my colleague Nicola, “It’s just a pilot. Let’s just do it and see how it goes.”

Nicola was understandably nervous because I was wrenching her from the comfort zone of her job as Transport Officer and asking her to be my co-host for a new series of video interviews we’re producing for this website. We’re calling it Ways to Wellbeing and each time we’ll be speaking to people about their own definition of ‘wellbeing’ and asking them to share the experiences that have shaped they way they live their lives now. We’re also ending each interview with a quiz based on the NHS guidelines on the five steps to mental wellbeing. One of those involves ‘learning a new skill’ so I thought I had the entire might of the health service behind me as I persuaded Nicola to become an on screen presenter.

Happily our first guest/guinea pig was a good friend of mine. Nicola Creen, fashion model, former beauty queen and co-author of a best-selling book spoke to us from her ‘Confidence Academy’ in deepest Lanarkshire. She shared raw and emotional stories about being bullied in her childhood and about the jealousy that was rife during her modelling career. But we ended with laughter as our Nicola quizzed the other Nicola about those five steps to wellbeing.

And as the interview ended I declared that my colleague was a natural in front of the camera. Her verdict was more measured.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” she said.

Well, there have been worse reviews.

Jeff Goes Downhill

Here in Inverness we have an abundance of riches when it comes to places to walk or cycle. Our Health Walkers have recently been exploring the new Torvean Park and enjoying the autumnal scenes alongside the Caledonian Canal. On the other side of the city there are various routes through the UHI Campus and there are now two footbridges across the main railway line and into the big retail park. Meanwhile, work continues on the new Active Travel Route that will take walkers and cyclists across the busy A9 via the golden bridge.

One of my own favourites - mainly because I live up that way and I can be a bit lazy - is the winding path through Inshes Park into Milton of Leys and then on into Daviot Wood. Just this month phase three of the park was opened to the public and it really is a delight. The path climbs (or plummets) through various hairpin bends and through clumps of woodland until, near the very top, there are spectacular views right out towards the Kessock Bridge and across the Moray Firth.

Even more fun is to make that climb on my electric bicycle and then enjoy the thrill of the downward ride, covering over 200 metres in less than five minutes and ringing my bell in a responsible manner of course. If you want to know what that’s like, have a look at the video above…and if you want to know more about cycling opportunities, head over to our friends at Velocity.

Jeff