Happy Birthday HSCHT!

HSCHT’s 20th Anniversary Conference Dinner and Event

HSCHT organised a Conference Dinner and Event in conjunction with their AGM to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Dinner, Drinks and Donnie Munro

The Conference Dinner was the first of the two events. It took place on a Thursday evening, at the Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel in their Windsor Suite overlooking the bonnie scenes of the River Ness. The dinner was kindly sponsored by Ralph Ogg & Partners.

The evening commenced with a captivating speech by Donnie Munro, Director Development, Fundraising and the Arts at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Donnie discussed the importance of affordable housing, the housing difficulties in rural communities and the exciting new Kilbeg village development. HSCHT is working in partnership with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Highland Council and the Scottish Government to deliver the next phase of the new village in Kilbeg. Earlier this year the first two houses were completed and the second phase plans will be submitted shortly.

Once Donnie concluded his speech, he picked the winner for the Gin Afternoon Tea prize kindly donated by the Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel, which was won by our very own David Fraser. Dinner was then served and followed by a race night, with the proceedings of the race night going to charity.  
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This is the first Conference Dinner HSCHT have organised and it was great to bring our team, board, community members and businesses together in an informal and relaxed environment.

Donnie Munro and Ronnie MacRae at Conference Dinner

The Main Event 
The Conference Event and AGM was held the following day at the Inverness Townhouse Hotel.
HSCHT were very lucky to have several organisations to sponsor different aspects of the Conference Event. Triodos Bank were the main sponsors and Graeme Galloway from Triodos attended the Conference Event to exhibit and take part in the Welcome session on behalf of Triodos and contributed to the Strontian Community School Building session.
HSCHT would like to thank all the organisations who sponsored our Conference Dinner and Event. The sponsor list is as follows:

• Main sponsor – Triodos Bank
• Delegate Bags – CDMM
• Delegate Badges and Lanyards – Marine Harvest
• Delegate Pens and Notepads – Lochaber Housing Association
• Conference Dinner – Ralph Ogg & Partners
• Commemorative Booklet – Albyn Housing Society, Scottish Land and Estates, Lochalsh and  Skye Housing Association & Pentland Housing Association

 
 
 The Conference Event had several guest speakers covering a range of topics:

• John Laing – HSCHT Chairperson,
• Graeme Galloway - Triodos Bank
• Di Alexander – First CEO of HSCHT
• Drew Hendry – Scottish National Party
• Julia Campbell – Coigach Community Development Company
• Stewart Nicol – Inverness Chamber of Commerce
• Graeme Galloway - Triodos Bank, Susan Hunter - HSCHT & Jamie McIntyre – Strontian Community School Building Ltd.
• Hamish Trench – Scottish Land Commission
• Ronnie MacRae – CEO of HSCHT

The Conference Event provided an opportunity to update people on current housing and community news. It gave people an insight into the work undertaken by HSCHT and other community groups and provided a networking opportunity for people in an array of industries. 

Second half top table from left to right: Stewart Nicol, Ronnie MacRae, John Laing, Hamish Trench, Graeme Galloway, Jamie McIntyre and Susan Hunter

New Capabilities  
The Conference Dinner and Event provided a great opportunity to look back on and celebrate the last 20 years but it was also a great chance to announce some of HSCHT’s new initiatives. This included the launch of the Self Build Loan Fund and the Dr and Mrs J. Steven Faulds Fund, two new and unique funds that HSCHT are administering. Both funds aim to encourage and aid self-build projects across Scotland.

For more information on the Self Build Loan Fund look here: www.hscht.co.uk/scotland-self-build-loan-fund.html 

For more information on the Dr and Mrs J. Steven Faulds Fund look here:
www.hscht.co.uk/dr-and-mrs-j-steven-faulds-memorial-fund.html 
 
Reflections
HSCHT would like to thank all sponsors, guest speakers, exhibitors and anyone who attended the 20th Anniversary Conference Dinner and Event. Both events proved a great opportunity for networking, discussion and celebrations.
HSCHT would also like to acknowledge that the Conference Event ran over schedule slightly during the second half and would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to any of our attendees.
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Feedback
If you attended our Conference Dinner or Event, we would love to hear your feedback to help us improve for future events.
You can do so by completing our short online survey: hscht.polldaddy.com/s/hscht-s-conference-dinner-event-feedback
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