Reminder of the EF AGM on Monday 11th 7-9pm in the Universal Hall and online.
It’s a momentous time for Ecovillage Findhorn CBS. (We are buying Part 1 and Part 2 well within the next two weeks)!

We’re thrilled to invite you to the upcoming AGM on Monday, 11th November, from 7-9pm in the Universal Hall.

This is your opportunity to help shape the new Board, ask questions, celebrate both our community’s and outgoing Board’s achievements, hear the exciting news, and contribute to the vision of our community.

🕡Registration Opens at 6:30pm

Please arrive early so we can register everyone promptly. We aim to begin on time and wrap up by 9pm, when the Phoenix Café opens for post-AGM refreshments—a chance to continue our celebrations together!

Please note resident members can only vote in person, in the Universal Hall, or via proxy (email anni@ecovillagefindhorn.uk), so attending in the Universal Hall is strongly recommended.
If you’re only able to join online, you can join here.

🙏Thank You for Engaging in the Nominations Process!

Over 300 individual nominations were submitted, resulting in 20 members receiving five or more nominations!

Thanks to your enthusiastic support, we have 8 incredible candidates this year, each dedicated to the future of EF. They’ll each share their vision during the AGM, and you can also find their candidate profiles here.

☑️ Appointment Process

To best serve our community, we have two parallel processes for Board appointments:

• Resident Members: As per our rules, resident members will vote for resident members in person. If you’re a resident member unable to attend in person, you’ll need to appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf. Please fill in this form by midnight on Friday, 8th November, to designate your proxy, who will receive and complete your ballot.
• Contributor/non-residential Members: For the first time, we’re offering contributor members the chance to “voice” for their fellow contributor candidates via an online poll. The top two who get over 50% are co-opted to the Board. This helps our non-resident members have dedicated Board representation and inclusion. And the two non-Resident candidates are fabulous!

🔗 Helpful Links and Info

Check out our AGM webpage for additional details, including:

• Candidates – The eight candidates who are eligible for your vote/voice
• Financial Report – a full look at the past year’s finances
• Meeting Agenda – all items we’ll be covering during the AGM
• Voting process – The full details on the process for resident and non-res members

Join the AGM Online Here – for contributor/non-resident members or those who have a proxy.

With so much to celebrate and more ways than ever to participate, we hope you’ll join us and make your voice heard.

Whether it’s in shaping the future Board, or indeed our community, or bringing your thoughts on our collective journey, your participation makes a difference!

Thank you for your ongoing support and energy. Together, we’re creating a bright future for EF!

With blessings,

Tessa (on behalf of the EF Board) 🦄

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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Dear EF Members,

We’re thrilled to share highlights from our recent AGM, which took place on Monday, November 11th, in the Universal Hall. It was a wonderful evening full of connection and celebration, and we are excited to announce our new board members!

Welcome to the New Board! 🫂

We are delighted to introduce our new board members:

• Sue Dominey
• Fabio Villani
• Rog Coulson
• Mari Hollander
• Rupert Davis
• Paul Bendall

This year, we introduced a new poll process for contributor/non-resident members to make recommendations to the board, allowing for wider engagement and skill base. Howard Davies and Anne Skene received the needed support, and pending approval from the new board, we will welcome a full board of eight!

We look forward to their guidance as we move forward on our journey together, and we wish each of them all the very best!

Celebration of the Year 2023-2024! 🥳

We, the CBS, and you, our members, have worked hard and engaged together really well this year. Thus we’ve created a wonderful presentation celebrating our progress and milestones, big and small! It is available by clicking here for you to see and celebrate with us!

Heartfelt Thanks 🙏

This AGM couldn’t have come together without the efforts of many:

• Anni Broadhead and Robin Alfred for facilitating a warm and seamless evening
• Anna Kovasna for holding the online space and online polling
• Sue Dominey for creating a beautiful altar and assisting with registrations
• Eveline Rodenburg for verifying member status and due process
• Tessa Brock for guiding the “Celebrating the Year 2023-2024” session
• Katharina Kroeber for assisting with registration and vote counting
• Hanna Morjan for leading celebration and blessing through dance
• Rudolf van Brederode for tech support
• Sara Wilder for opening the Phoenix Cafe, post AGM, to continue the celebrations!

And to all staff, contributors, volunteers, previous board, and of course all our members, we extend our heartfelt gratitude, with a special mention to our co-chairs of the board: Mari Hollander and Rupert Davis, who’ve lead our organisation with such skill and hard work—we couldn’t have done this without you all! You are truly the heartbeat of this community.

Transitions on Our Team 🔁

We would like to acknowledge and thank our outgoing board members, Anni Broadhead, Tessa Brock, and Anna Kovasna for their invaluable contributions to our board.

• Anni Broadhead has stepped down from the board due to other commitments, but will continue to serve on our Advisor team and as Company Secretary.
• Tessa Brock has stepped down from her board role due to other commitments, but will stay on as staff, focusing on communications (including the newsletter) and member/subscription relations.
• Anna Kovasna has also stepped down due to time constraints, yet she will continue to support us in an advisory capacity as her schedule allows.

We are deeply grateful for their dedication and ongoing support, helping to keep our community strong and connected.

Stay Connected: Conversation Cafés 🗣️

Join Sue Dominey for more in-depth conversations about our new board, the AGM, and anything Ecovillage Findhorn! Meet us at the Phoenix Cafe/UHall Upper Foyer, on:

• Thursday, November 21st from 10:30am – 12pm
• Thursday, November 28th from 10:30am – 12pm
• Thursday, December 5th from 10:30am – 12pm

Community Birthday Celebrations 🎉

We look forward to celebrating with everyone during our The Park Ecovillage Findhorn community birthday! For a full schedule of activities, click here.

Join us Saturday for Community Unity! We’ll revisit our Priority Aims from last month’s poll, affirm them, and explore how to bring them to life. Don’t miss this important conversation! Click here to see more.

Special thanks to the NFA and team—Annie Crawford, Gordon McAlpine, Karen Grant, Manda Stretch, Sabine Kawano, and Sue Dominey—for making this celebration possible!

Let’s continue celebrating and building this vibrant community together! Thank you, each and every one, for your support and contributions.

With blessings,

Tessa 🦄
The Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Team

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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Dear Members and friends of the community –

As of 16.55 on Monday 18th November we all, the community, via Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society, became the owners of both Part 1 (Guest Lodge, YP, Bunkhouse, Village Green, Solum (FoD Green), Phoenix shop building, mobile home land, long let caravans, bungalows and Yurt) and Part 2 (Universal Hall, Biomass boiler, Skylab – ex Big Sky, laundry and the associated land).

Wow!!!!!

It seems rather fitting that the day after the 62nd birthday a new beginning has been initiated. If we make it another 62 years that will be 2086!

Sue D, Sara W and I met with John at NFD to collect the keys yesterday morning.

Thank you for everyone’s support and care along the way, and especially thank you to our 75 or so community 5% bond subscribers, lenders and donors; as well as all of you who are subscribing members – as your community-wide financing is what has made this possible. It takes a village …

Thank you to Mark Anderson and the FF Trustees, and back a year ago to Terry, who we worked very closely with last winter to get this idea accepted, that it is time for the community to own and run itself and that will be in the best interests of all parts of the community, including the new FF SCIO, and helping all of us have the most positive impact we can in the world, collectively.

The new Board is bedding in – we have made a couple of formal decisions already – co-opting the brilliant non-resident member selected nominees – Howard Davies and Anne Skeene (great choice non-residents!); and extending the 5% bond close date to the end of the year, as people are still wanting to join in with their investment.

Our new bookings system should be launched within a week using “Retreat Guru” thanks to the absolutely tireless work of our (all under 45!) team of Sara, and Josephine on the educational and Lodge retreat side and with Josephine, Howard, Tessa developing a seamless system for everything else via Beacon in a mighty 3 week push. Visiting teachers are already booking up the Lodges as a whole.

Howard has been doing sterling work on understanding and getting the Biomass boiler and systems fully up to scratch as well as surveying our buildings and getting them fixed up before anything deteriorates further, particularly the Guest Lodge and BunkHouse. He will be reaching out to community so we can keep money in the local economy if possible in terms of the building and maintenance contractor work needed. Great selection community – with his 95% stamp of approval from the non-residents!

In keeping with getting jobs to local youngers: Sam Shohet will be helping us with gritting around the YP, Lodges and Universal Hall as well as keeping the grounds (and grass roofs) nice and tidy on the Village Green; and has already cleared a fire hydrant so it can be used with Howard’s engineering eye noticing the safety need. NFD have also kindly offered to help during the transition. Between the two we should have community well supported although I just saw the gas bottle decision which means something else to solve.

Mari has been working incredibly hard these last four weeks (and last 12 months!) to make sure we are properly insured, which we have been since Monday when we exchanged; wading through hundreds of pages of legalese for both insurance and conveyancing. Mari is now away until the 7th or so of December. Mari deserves a massive, massive thank you from all of us, in my opinion!

I am writing to you from the Guest Lodge where Sara and I are testing things out (discovered a flooding shower on day one!) as well as using it as the day office for now as we get all the mobile homeowners signed over from their old contracts to their new ones with us the community under the lead of Sue Dominey, Eveline and Rog C. We are checking with Sue to see if she wants to hold the Open cafe on Thursday morning, here instead of the Cafe, just so you can all look around! (We have teabags – you might want to pick up coffee to go from the cafe first!!)

Rog C has picked back up the bye-laws work that we didn’t manage to complete last year from Larry and Maria’s work and when we have something for you to discuss/amend/approve/reject – we will let you know.

Fabio and I will meet today to benefit from his tremendous TSI Moray and other charitable knowledge as we look to accelerate our OSCR approval.

Lisa H and I met yesterday to discuss the YP building coming to the Family and Children’s group either as a part-time or a full-time lease; certainly to try it out and see what works; and that is very exciting to be able to support children and families here, who are the lifeblood of the future.

I was sorry to miss all the excitement of the birthday and I hear in particular the young GEN Europe guests brought a wonderful energy to the place.

Sara and I are keeping the retreats pricing very affordable on the Lodges, as mentioned in the community presentations in May – as low as £20 per night for people sharing the very large twin rooms during the winter (non-holiday) period; with pricing changing with the peak or not nature of the season. we are keeping it simple with three choices of short retreat (4 or 3 day or combined as a 7 day) and one longer spiritual residency option (28 day). The 4-week longs are £750 during non-peak parts of winter and if you share a twin with a friend it means you can stay here for £375 all in a month – not bad – and as we used to do in LCG with 3 to a room! The lodges create community simply through their shared living spaces and shared cooking together opportunities.

The retreats start on Mondays and run through Fridays (4 day) or the following Mondays (7 day). 3 day-ers run from Friday to Monday morning. We aren’t doing any nightly type bookings, just our retreats or residencies.

It will be great to start to bring life back to the Central Area and our retreat guests will be using the Phoenix shop and cafe for their food so the local economy will start to be supported again that way too.

For now, we will be keeping things very self-directed and lightly held; there is so much educational, non-denominational spiritual inquiry and nature immersion possible, simply through our already existing community offerings and rhythms; our “scratch and sniff” eco-campus; and our stunning natural landscapes.

So – if you have friends or family who might benefit from a experiential study visit, with a stay and explore of the eco-village and the land here, learning about our ways, and enjoying the spiritual practice aspects of community, mainly self-directed, please stand by to put the word out to your networks.

We expect to have community members come in and share with guests about various aspects from eco to spiritual, the past to the future, once we get going; and to help hold and orientate very lightly at the start of the retreats, as a gentle host and background support.

It has been a long, and at times tough, year to get us to this place but when I received the message from Brodies, our lawyers, at 16.51 and then Mark Anderson a few minutes later, I found myself sinking into my armchair by the fire, in a kind of daze, that we actually pulled it off. Rather than race to NFD to collect the keys I just took some time to go within, say thank you, and enjoy the moment.

However, we certainly should have a community party soon to celebrate the buy-in! We did what we set out to do!

Thank you everyone for everything and for Grace and Spirit and other deeper less visible forms of support. This work for me has felt aligned from the get go to the deeper calling of the founders and the land here.

The next six months will be about getting the organisation well set up structurally and operationally, with paid workers, and running efficiently financially so that we start to achieve what we set out in the Bond Information Document and the community presentation earlier in the year.

The 3 ways you can help –

1) get the word out to your networks about our retreats once we launch – our charitable impacts are in no small part achieved by getting people here to have the community practices and land experience

2) please do subscribe – it is still only 25% of our membership who subscribe and your £5-£20 a month makes a huge difference to our ability to employ people; which in turn helps us achieve our financial plan goals quicker and stabilises and regenerates the Park, as NFD pulls out of some of its various services

3) keep sending us all love – and where you hear any difficult / anxious type talk steer people back to Common Ground, faith, enthusiasm, positivity and supporting this effort which takes all of us!

Warmly,

Rupert

Executive Co-Chair

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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Dear EF Members,

We are delighted to recap a monumental achievement: the properties are officially in community ownership!

The Properties We Now Own

We’ve included photos for everyone to appreciate the incredible assets now under our stewardship.

Part 1 includes:

The Youth Building
The Guest Lodge
Doris’ Bungalow and Garage
Moonlight Eco Mobile
The Bunkhouse
The Phoenix Shop
The Village Green
Static Long-Let Caravans near the Phoenix Shop

Part 2 includes:

The Universal Hall
The Laundry Shed
Big Sky (ex-office/storage)
The Singing Chamber
The Biomass Boiler
The Field of Dreams/Solum Green

This achievement is a testament to what we can accomplish together, but it comes with the great responsibility of managing and maintaining these properties.

Support the Work That Supports Us All

Have you been enjoying celebrating all we have done together so far?🙌😄

Then consider being a subscriber. We are committed to ensuring these assets flourish for the benefit of everyone and this has only been possible with the efforts of our dedicated staff, purchasing of software, legal fees and others essential costs. Only 25% of our membership are subscribers. By subscribing for £5, £10, or £20 per month, you enable us to care for these properties, employ skilled, hard-working staff, and continue offering retreats, events, and community services. Please click here to donate.

Please spread the word and encourage your networks to visit and support Ecovillage Findhorn. Together, we can create a sustainable future!

Community-a-Buzz at the Around the Village Green! 🐝

The Village Green Area and surrounds has truly become a hive of activity and community spirit this week! If you thought we’d be slowing down now that we’ve completed the buy-in, you’d be mistaken! Things are only picking-up!

Highlights include:

Sue’s Conversation Café: Over 25 people joined for the Convo Café yesterday in the Guest Lodge (and over 30 dropped in during the day) – sharing stories, ideas, and laughter with three or four of our board members present and celebrating that it’s now under community ownership! *See picture below!*

Family & Children’s Group Meeting: A wonderful session yesterday focused on the Youth Building and family projects that will benefit everyone, complete with clear care plans to bring these ideas to life.

Creative Touches: Community artists are starting to adorn the Guest Lodge walls with beautiful artwork, adding a personal and inspiring touch to the space.

Grounds Beautification: We’re looking forward to holding community group projects to beautify the gardens and grounds, and painting of the buidlings, following the meetings we’ve already had on this.

Maintenance in Progress: Our hardworking team is addressing various maintenance needs across the properties and grounds to ensure they are safe, welcoming, and functional.

Booking Momentum: Our booking system is almost ready for release. We’ve already been asked for bookings by retreat and workshop organisers.

The energy and engagement from the community are palpable, and we are so grateful for everyone’s contributions. From hands-on projects to sharing in the joy of ownership, the Village Green Area is truly coming alive as a space for connection and collaboration.

Let’s keep the momentum going and continue to build a space we can all be proud of. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey! 🌱

Conversation Cafés: Join Us! 🗣️

Please join us for the next Conversation Cafés coming up!
The next conversation cafés will happen in the Universal Hall Upper Foyer unless otherwise stated; as we may well like to enjoy one of the many beautiful spaces we now collectively own! 😊

Upcoming sessions:
Thursday, November 28th, 10:30am – 12pm
Thursday, December 5th, 10:30am – 12pm

&Let’s continue building connections and discussing what’s next for our community!

Welcome to Our New Board Members 👋

The new Board is settling in, and we’re excited to officially welcome Howard Davies and Anne Skene, following the poll results from contributor/non-resident members at our AGM. Their expertise will strengthen the team as we move forward.

We’ve already been putting new Board Member, Howard, to work, as he’s been helping us unblock the drain in the Guest Lodge! Go Howard! 🙏👍

A Wonderful Community Birthday Celebration 🥳🎇

Last week’s Community Birthday was a truly joyous occasion. It was heart-warming to see so many people in such a celebratory mood, coming together to mark our shared journey.

EF Board Member Mari and Team Member Tessa were thrilled to join the Community Aims session on Saturday, where Mari shared the exciting announcement that the buy-out was imminent. Together with the community, we supported the creation of working groups to help bring the aims into reality.

The birthday culminated in a delightful cake and tea party and a heartfelt evening sharing. A big thank you to the NFA and team for organising such a memorable event. We look forward to supporting many more moments like this in the future—our community is worth celebrating!

Thank you, Hugo Klip, for the lovely photographs.
1-3: The Community Aims event.
4: The tea and cake celebration where Annie C gives a speech!

Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we’re shaping a thriving, vibrant future for our community. And if you think EF CBS is worth supporting, please do so here.🤝

With blessings and deep gratitude 🙏,

Tessa 🦄

The Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Team
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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First In-Person Board Meeting & Ceremony

On Sunday, December 1st, we will hold our first (mainly) in-person Board meeting, marking an exciting milestone for our community. This meeting will follow a small ceremonial ritual, including the handover from FF Trustees to EF Directors, where we’ll tune into and out of the column of light.

YP Building: A Shared Space for the Whole Community 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

We’re thrilled to announce that the Youth Building (YP) will now be managed by the Children & Family Group, representing our collective community. This will be a shared space for family use and other community events, with a 50/50 split between the two. Ideas are flowing—there could be anything from a soup kitchen to a tea break social space, and even an evening cosy hangout. We’re investigating wood stove insurance to ensure we’re fully covered to create cosy (and less expensive!) space that way.

All of our buildings have costs of course, and so NFA will be covering those while C&F, with the help of EF, does some fundraising (and rents out to community members at a very affordable 12.50 per hour or £75 a day). Watch this space!

We love the idea that a group of community members adopts a building to care for it – YP is the first, but we imagine that we could have “Adopt a Building” for each one – and anticipate lots of fun work projects getting the YP spick and span and well-used again.

Images of the dance green and exteriors of the Youth and Children’s Building, and the Guest Lodge, being enjoyed last Sunday during Bless Dance.

Guest Lodge Updates 🏡

We’re overjoyed to share that we now have a coffee machine in the Guest Lodge!

Additionally, Sara’s Dad, Jimmy, made the long journey from Edinburgh delivering new organic sheets and towels for the Lodge, and even crafted some shelves with his own two hands. A true family affair! Thanks Jimmy! Sara and Linda (new homecare team) are working hard to stock up the Guest Lodge, ensuring it’s ready for future bookings. You can see the pile of towels and boxes that will make the space feel even more inviting!

Energy & Maintenance Updates ⚡

Howard and Rupert had a productive meeting with our friendly gas man, Eric, to fill up the Guest Lodge tank, and they’re keeping an eye on how much we use in the colder months. (Next time, we’ll be sure to capture that moment with a photo!)

Howard and Ken are also taking meter readings for all the buildings on the park this Friday, keeping everything in check for the season ahead.

Howard, our Board member of many talents, is also setting up the building and maintenance team out of several talented community members, to be on call to start fixing up the buildings keeping the money in our circular economy. The very first project will be sorting out two deteriorated Bunkhouse windows. (Howard once ran a sash-window building company!) He also has Forres fire-engine team coming out to familiarise themselves with the BioMass boiler, so look out for some handsome uniformed hero selfies soon! 🚒

Community Engagement 🫖🤝

Dear mobile homeowners, caravan home renters, and long let renters (of the newly transferred land), we invite you to tea with us!

Sue, Rog, and Eveline will be hosting two tea party – meet and greet sessions, for the mobile homeowners and tenants, providing a chance to say hello, answer questions, and help set up new standing orders to ensure the community stays solvent, thereby nurturing our circular economy and keeping everything running smoothly.

These informal drop in sessions are Friday 29 November 4.00-6.00pm and Saturday 30 November 2.00 -4,00pm at The Guest Lodge on The Village Green.

Building good relationships, and easing the transfer of land/site agreements and rental agreements, is of vital importance to us. Paper invites will be posted to your mailboxes soon as well. Looking forward to meeting you there! ☕💌

Conversation Café 🗣️

And don’t forget our next Conversation Café on Thursday December 5th, 10:30am – 12 noon at the Phoenix Café Foyer/ Universal Hall Upper Foyer!

Winter Preparations ❄️

A big thank you to Jen at NFD, who is organising the gritting of the Universal Hall and Village Green paths to protect everyone from icy slips. And Howard is coordinating all things biomass and infrastructure with NFD and THA to keep things warm and functional.

Financial Health 💸

We are happy to report that we still have a decent amount of funds in the bank after covering some substantial legal fees, thanks to the incredible generosity of our investors, loaners, and donors!

Looking Ahead 👁️

Next week, we will launch a new initiative aimed at getting as many people from our global community to sign up to the community database, visit our website, book stays, purchase bonds, and/or become global subscribers. It’s a huge step in growing our reach and strengthening our community.

Also, initial educational bookings for next spring and summer are starting to pour in from both community focalisers and outside teachers—proof that our vision is expanding and being embraced far and wide! We are in discussions with Moray Council to make sure we have the right paperwork for these activities; which we are hopeful will be treated in just the same way they were for FF in the past.

We’re incredibly grateful for all the energy, support, and dedication that each of you brings to our community. Together, we’re building something truly special. Thank you for being part of this exciting journey! 👍

With blessings,

Tessa 🦄

The Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Team
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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The champagne is chilling, the marshmallows are ready, and we’re rolling out the welcome mat—because this community knows how to throw a housewarming party!

📅When? Saturday, 14th December
📍Where? Village Green
🕐Time?

• 12:30pm – Bless Dance
• 1:30pm – Toast on the YP Patio (bubbles included!)
• 4pm – Wrap Up

Here’s what’s happening:

🛋️ It’s a housewarming, so let’s tour the house!
Come and explore the Guest Lodge, CYP and Village Green— some of our newest community-owned gems. And hey, why not bring along a gift? Plants are the perfect housewarming vibe! (And we’d love to beautify the spaces!)🪴

🔥 Bonfire Magic
Get your marshmallow sticks ready for roasting over the fire (we’ll have some for sale). Bring some snacks with you too, if you like.

🍷 Mulled Wine & Apple Juice
Warm your hands and hearts with these festive delights, available for purchase in the Guest Lodge.

🎵 Music & Dancing
We’ll have some live tunes! If you play an instrument, bring it along, and let’s turn up the joy. 💃

👨‍👩‍👧 Special Invitation
We’d love to see:

• Families and kids, especially as we aim to strengthen ties and create more opportunities for young people to enjoy the CYP building.
• EF Mobile home residents & tenants, Universal Hall team members, and everyone who treasures our community spaces.
• And of course, all our amazing bondholders, subscribers, and supporters—this party is for YOU!

🎟️ The Big Raffle!
Subscribers, this one’s for you! Everyone contributing £10/month or more by Friday, 13th December (midnight) will be entered into a prize draw. It’s our way of saying thanks for keeping this community humming. Prizes will be announced at the event!

👉 Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here: ecovillagefindhorn.uk/donate

This event is all about celebrating community ownership—a HUGE milestone for us all. Let’s dance, toast, and revel in what we’ve accomplished together!

See you on the Village Green! 🥳

Tessa 🦄 and Sara

on behalf of Ecovillage Findhorn CBS

Dearest EF members and supporters,

We are thrilled to share the special ceremony, held on Sunday 1st of December, that marked the spiritual blessing and transfer of the land and assets from the Findhorn Foundation Trust to Ecovillage Findhorn CBS.

Held in the Universal Hall Sanctuary, beautifully led by Katherine Collis, a member from 1971, the ceremony gave thanks to all who came before with sharings of gratitude from those present.

This was followed by tuning FF Trustees out of the Column of Light followed by tuning the EF Board in. A map and a master key were placed on the altar to symbolise the transfer.

The blessing symbolises our shared responsibility and commitment to carry forward Findhorn Foundation Trust’s legacy with care, for the good of the whole.

The blessing group in the Universal Hall Sanctuary, left to right: Rog Coulson (EF), Paul Bendall (EF), Anne Skene (EF), Mark Anderson (FF), Francine Rietberg (FF), Rupert Davis (EF), Sue Dominey (EF), Kathy Tyler (FF), Fabio Villani (EF).

Board Updates 📝

The board has voted in officers and has been actively reorganising to focus on key areas:

• Mari Hollander has stepped down as Co-Chair to concentrate on subcommittees, particularly the Universal Hall. We thank Mari for her leadership and look forward to her continued contributions.
• Rupert was nominated by Mari for – and unanimously voted in as – Executive Chair.
• Anne Skene and Paul Bendall were unanimously voted in as Deputy Chairs.
• Rupert wishes to step down from Chair by June 1st.

We wish them all the best of luck in their leadership roles and thank them for their service.

Subcommittee Overview ⭕
To ensure smooth operations and shared responsibilities, the following subcommittees have been established:

1. Assets & Compliance: Biomass, Buildings, Engineering, Fire/Health & Safety Compliance, Infrastructure, Maintenance, NFD, THA Liaison – HD
2. Board Nominations/Staff Recruiting – RD, Board
3. Community:
   • Landlord/Shared Community Buildings – MH
   • Mobile Home Owners/Renters – SD, RC, PB, ER (staff)
   • Relations (People) – SD
   • Relations (Organisations, Groups) – MH (PPG, NFA, etc.), RD (Colci, THA, NFA, FF, etc.), HD (NFD, THA), JS – staff (C&FG, EC)
4. Communications & Marketing:
   • External (Digital, Website, PR, Strategy) – HD, RD, TB (staff)
   • Gov Relations (Moray Council, Scotland, HIE, OSCR, UN) – RD, AS, FV
   • Internal (Member Engagement; Community) – SD, TB (staff)
5. Finance:
   • Management – PB, RC, ER (staff)
   • Investment & Fundraising – RD, PB, RC, FV
6. Governance – FV, RC, PB
7. Legal, Insurance – PB, MH
8. OSCR Application – FV, RC, MH
9. Moray Council Relations – AS, RD
10. Tech/Digital – HD
11. Universal Hall – MH, AS
12. Wellbeing, Healthy Culture, Values, Team Care – SD, FV, AS

This structure ensures a robust and transparent approach to community governance. LPP and SLF will be added to this list in a future meeting.

Moving Forward Together 🤝

Anne and Rupert are in encouraging conversations with the deputy chief of Moray Council and other key stakeholders on economic regeneration and sustainable development.

Additionally, the EF board has been working hard, and in close conversations, with the NFA, FF, and key stakeholders, including Gordon, Patrick, and Mark Anderson, to ensure the LPP report is submitted with a unified approach and for the benefit of the entire community.

These partnerships pave the way for a thriving future while honouring the community-led vision at the heart of our work.

Join the Celebration 🥳

Housewarming Party! 🎉💃🏘️

• When: Saturday, 14th December
• Where: Village Green
• Time:
  • 12:30pm: Bless Dance
  • 1:30pm: Welcome Toast on the YP Patio
  • 4pm: Wrap Up/ End

Celebrate the community ownership milestone with us! Activities include house tours, bonfires, live music, marshmallow roasting, mulled wine and apple juice and more! You’re welcome to bring a housewarming gift of a plant to brighten the Guest Lodge.

🥇 Prize Draw – Subscribe to Win! 🏆
Subscribe at £10/month or more by Friday, 13th December to enter our prize draw, which will be announced at the event! Subscriptions help fund essential operations, so your support is greatly appreciated.
🙏 Sign-up at ecovillagefindhorn.uk/donate to become a subscriber today! 🖊️

Spotlight on Josephine Schwab (staff member) 🔦

We’ve been getting a lot of questions as to who this amazing ‘Josephine’ is, who is working for us, so we thought we should share a little more about her 😊

Josephine is a former member (2017-18) of Newbold House recommended to EF by Christoper Raymont. After Newbold she emigrated to Germany, but as of late last year she has returned to the Ecovillage with her young daughter, and they are now living in Forres. Josephine is currently studying a master’s degree in Global Diplomacy and, aside from her multiple work streams with EF (including Education, Ops & Research), also works part-time at Drumduan School, in Business Development. In the past, she has worked in volunteer development for the Moray food bank; programming for the music and ideas festival “HowTheLightGetsIn” (30,000 attendance); and also with the Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association. Her community experience spans 15 different communities across four countries. She sits in the Education Circle for us and is the link to the Children and Families group, helping land them in the Youth Project building!

Join Us for Conversation Cafés! 🗣️

• Where: Upper Foyer UH/Phoenix Cafe 🦜
• When:
  • Thursday, 12 December, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
  • Thursday, 19 December, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

These sessions offer a heart-centred space for conversation, deep listening, and shared hopes for what we can manifest together. Sue Dominey, together with some board and team members, will be there to answer questions and explore key topics like the Local Place Plan, maintaining our assets, Cullerne Gardens, volunteering, and more.

All are welcome—come with curiosity, compassion, and blessings for the Ecovillage Findhorn community.

As we honour the passing of the ‘spiritual’ and ‘managerial’ baton, and embrace our shared role as custodians of this land, we are excited to continue this journey together. We look forward to coming together at the housewarming party to celebrate, connect, and bless this new chapter as a united community. See you there! 👋

With blessings,

Tessa 🦄

On behalf of Ecovillage Findhorn CBS

The Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Team
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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Dearest EF Members and readers,

It’s Friday the 13th! Perhaps why this newsletter is so texty, my apologies! But, in many cultures, the number 13 is considered a symbol of good fortune and new beginnings, so let’s embrace the positive energy! Here’s to a lucky and prosperous Friday the 13th! 🍀

Listening and Aligning on the Local Place Plan (LPP) 👂🎯

We’ve been working diligently to listen to community feedback and gather expert input on the Local Place Plan (LPP) to ensure it aligns with our community’s needs and desires, and reduce some key concerns we have heard repeated by several of you. Along with other key organisations like NFA, we are feeding this back to Marilyn & JR, who are working hard on revisions. Your voices matter!

To uphold our mission of community consent, and actively strengthening relationships with key community groups, including the NFA and THA (who we are working with on this), we plan to release a simple poll to members focusing on the most challenging aspects of the LPP that have consistently come up. This should ensure every voice gets a chance to be heard, and the process is aligned with our collective vision, so the final LPP submitted is a great one.

We want to recognise and deeply appreciate the hard work the LPP working group has conducted so far, their dedication, and the progress they’ve achieved. Together, we aim to make this a plan that resonates with and supports the community now and in the future, one genuinely focused on community benefit, environmental best practice, and Park affordability (not least to support attracting youth back here and give us under 40-s somewhere to stay!)

Financial Updates: Thank You! 👍💸

We’re pleased to report that the community’s income is flowing in as expected, with rental standing orders from the Phoenix Shop, Universal Hall, mobile homes, and caravan residents now successfully transferred. This positive momentum, thanks to the support of many, not least the responsible renters (thank you so much for being helpful!), keeps us on track to meet expenses; as well as helps us start to catch up with deferred buildings maintenance, pay for all the insurance types we need, pay for HOCO, pay the start-up team readying the Lodges and Retreats launch; and last but not least – saving toward the buyout bonds repayment. In total over £8,000 a month is now coming in with the vast majority of it being recycled straight back into the local economy here.

Shout out to our board and team! 📣

A special thank you to our expert board member Fabio Villani, whose experience and leadership continue to be invaluable, especially for his diligent work submitting answers to OSCR’s questions this week.

From addressing gritting maps and working collaboratively with FF, THA, and NFD; to fixing a biomass boiler leak, just today, Howard and team and our suppliers continue to be hard at work solving practical issues that make a difference. Thank you all!

Website Relaunch 💻

Our website relaunch is coming soon, with the opening of bookings into the Lodges & Retreats, via the sweetly-named and highly recommended “Retreat Guru” software and with improved links to foster stronger ties with the educational workshops calendar from the VisitUs website, as a well as Links page featuring all the other community organisations.

Thanks Seb, Sara, Josephine, Howard & Ellie for sterling work this week! Check it out!

We are delighted to announce that Viv will be stepping back in to help with the longer term solve of the multi-website issue – working closely with both EF and NFA! We are so happy to have her back on this important topic!

Upcoming Community Conversations 🗣️

We’re creating heart-centered spaces to honour, listen, and connect as a community. Mark your calendar for these upcoming Conversation Cafés in the Upper Foyer UH/Phoenix Cafe :

• Thursday, 19 December: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
• Friday, 20 December (Joint NFA/EF Café): 10:15 am – 11:15 am

Join us to discuss important topics such as the LPP, Cullerne Gardens, community relationships, integration, and more. Together, we’ll channel our collective energy and vision into action. We’re also introducing our new exciting joint Convo Cafe with the NFA!

Housewarming Party – Saturday, 14 December 🥳

We’ve accomplished something extraordinary together, and it’s time to celebrate!
Please join us at our housewarming party on Saturday, 14 December, on the Village Green:

• 12:30 pm – Gathering begins, bless through dance
• 1:30 pm – Toast on the YP patio
• 2:00 pm – Prize Draw for subscribers

It’s a celebration of our hard work and community spirit. Don’t forget to subscribe at least £10 per month, to enter the prize draw on the day and a chance to win beautiful, unique, artisanal prizes! Go to: ecovillagefindhorn.uk/donate to subscribe. Thank you!

Wishing you a prosperous Friday the 13th! 🍀

“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself”
“Luck is when skill and opportunity come together”
Let’s celebrate all the luck we’ve created for ourselves (some might even call it synchronicity!), and continue building our shared vision. See you at the party! 💃🕺

With Blessings,

Tessa 🦄
EF CBS Team

Ecovillage Findhorn
Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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I would like to take this opportunity to let the community know that I have terminated my contract as CC Coordinator and my last official day is intended to be 22/11/2024.

This decision has been made for personal reasons and after much reflection and heart-searching. I would like to request that people do not speculate as to what might be the underlying reason/s and to only respect that the decision is made autonomously and with due consideration, respect and regard for each and every person.

There will be folk who are surprised by this decision and so was I. But I would like to assure everyone that it is made without malice nor ill intent and with the expectation of continued loving support and service to community by the CCC.

If I were to start at the beginning and list the individual names of the people to whom I would wish to offer my gratitude I would find it impossible because there are so many and in the naming of one I run the risk of not naming another and this would not do because no matter how seemingly small or seemingly large our connection has been it has played its part in the whole and this has been very precious. I am reminded of a time that I was invited to attend a collective organisational meeting and at one point I was asked to briefly speak to something; I looked at everyone present and said that I did not see the organisational labels that each person was there to represent but I saw friends with whom I in my role as CC Coordinator had enjoyed mutually respectful, beneficial, supportive and friendly relationships with.

This has not changed.

I look forward to continuing our mutual good regard and fellowship and that when we see each other whether that is passing on the Runway, in the Phoenix, walking the dunes or indeed on the High Street of Forres that we will greet each other with open-hearted connection in mutual love and respect.

It is my hope and intention to support a smooth transition. Please appreciate this may at times be quite complex due to the nature of the supportive structures that are in place. I exhort you all to offer your continued love and support to the CCC which is a remarkable structure with you at its heart. CCC exists for you and your personal involvement is essential to it being able to continue with its vision and purpose of creating a caring community culture. All hands on deck. Raise the mainsail. Fly across the crest of the wave!

With my love always.
laura shreenan
(with due regard for the purists among us :-)  my name is intentionally not capitalised)

Dear friends

We wanted to reach out to share an update as we prepare for Laura’s departure from the Caring Community Circle on 22 November. Jane Gambrill has been working alongside Laura Shreenan for the past three years and will remain in place going forward. We hope this will help to reassure everyone that although this is a significant change, it should not necessarily impact community members and of course each of you are all still invited to make contact with the CCC to request information and support as before.

CCC Activities Update:

Moray CAB Monthly Drop-In: This will continue on the 1st Wednesday of every month at the CCC Hoose. There are 3 appointments available per drop-in. If you’d like to book to see an advisor at the Hoose, please contact the CAB on their appointments line 01343 555163 Mon-Wed 9.30-12.30.

Fortnightly CCC Information Point & NHS Grampian Healthpoint: These drop-ins will be closed for the time being. Tuesday Tea at the CCC Hoose, 2-3pm: Our weekly gathering will continue as usual, and it’s a lovely chance to stay connected and share time together. Please tell your friends and invite them to come along.

Availability at CCC Hoose: Starting 26 November, Jane will be at the CCC Hoose every Tuesday from 2-4 pm to help with any questions, support needs, or a chat.

Looking ahead, we’re planning to offer an End-of-Life Programme starting early February. This programme has proved very popular and folk attending have felt that they benefited greatly from what they have learned.

We’re also working on refining the job description for a new Caring Community Coordinator. Recruitment will start once the new structure is in place, but please know that until then Jane is here to provide the continuity and support you need.

Thank you all for your continued support, trust, and kindness. Park Ecovillage Trust is engaged and actively supporting the CCC team at this time of transition. We are truly grateful for this community. Jane and the rest of the CCC team look forward to connecting with many of you in the coming weeks.

With warmth and gratitude,
CCC/PET team

Submitted by Susie Kemp

WONDERMENT and APPRECIATION for our dear LAURA and SUSIE

It is with deep sadness that PET bids farewell to two of the most fabulous workers on any team, ever. What Laura built up over the six years she gave to the CCC is hard to acknowledge adequately in words that don’t overßow with well-deserved superlatives, but ‘simply the best’ springs to mind. Susie transformed our communications and helped us to take a step up in our proÞle and reach in the one all-too-brief year she was with CCC. Thank you.

All their support and commitment to CCC has significantly contributed to the development of the services that we have today. The passion and care that each has had for what the CCC is and what it provides is very precious to us and we will miss them.
We wish them the best in their next endeavours.

With Jane anchoring this transitional time we will continue to provide the same heart-
felt depth of response, care and community building as the CCC enters its next phase

of development and growth.

With our Love and Blessings,

Amanda Haworth
Chair of the PET Board

🕊🕊 ✨ 💕💕 💗💗 💞💞 💖💖 💜💜 ❤ 💚💚 💛💛 💙💙 💓💓 💟💟 💓💓 💙💙 💛💛 💚💚 ❤ 💜💜 💖💖 💞💞 💗💗 💕💕 ✨ 🕊🕊
The Park Ecovillage Trust Board: Amanda, Roger, Alessandro, Anni

Caring Community Circle – Personal Thoughts by Marcus Lindner

I have recently resigned from my position on the Management Team for the CCC. I did this, in large part, to open an avenue for a new group to come into place. There were other resignations as well. Perhaps you have heard the whispers that the CCC is in terrible shape. That is so very far from the truth. Although some programs have been cut back while recruiting and hiring another Coordinator, many core services continue. The CCC has been in existence for close to thirty years and has been lovingly directed by many good-hearted souls. I trust and believe that will continue.

A lot of people have asked me what happened. In response I offered my perspective making sure I included all that I said (and apologized for) that muddied the waters, so to speak. People have also asked whether or not they should continue supporting the CCC. My response to that was and is a resounding YES. There are many people who have given their time, talent and donations to the CCC…who have, most importantly, shared their love with those in need of comfort..be it a ride to the health centre, distant hospital, a friendly visit, preparing a meal or holding the hand of a person as they pass from one form of existence to another. Terri and I have donated thousands of pounds, dollars, hours, smiles and oceans of joy to the CCC and we will continue to serve as volunteers. Over the next few months we will be setting up a legacy donation as well. Won’t you join us? The question should not be about withdrawing support but about continuing and even increasing your financial and volunteering support. The times are critical indeed. The NHS, in my opinion, is in a state of disrepair and there are lonely and needy people everywhere.

I have been involved in health administration, care and housing services for seniors for nearly fifty years and I believe that the people who have been active in the CCC over the years (and especially in the last several years) have done an amazing job in creating a Best Practice in the care and support of vulnerable people in a community. We are, as we vision ourselves to be, an example to the world. This is especially true when referring to the CCC. Take pride in what you have created and help be a part of its continuation. If you would like to serve the CCC, contact Park Ecovillage Trust (PET) and the NFA and ask how you can help.

AGM, Bond, and Community Ownership of the Universal Hall Vote

Dear Ecovillage Findhorn CBS Members,

As we move into October, we’re excited to share important updates and upcoming events that will shape the future of our community. Your continued support and engagement are invaluable as we work towards securing community ownership and strengthening our shared purpose.

Annual General Meeting (AGM) – 11th November

We are pleased to announce that our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Monday, 11th November! This is a pivotal event for our community, and we encourage everyone to begin thinking about board member nominations.

We’re looking for individuals with the relevant skills, experience, and—crucially—the time (at least 7 hours a week) to actively contribute to the ongoing work of Ecovillage Findhorn CBS. Both resident and non-resident members are welcome to be nominated, as we intend to co-opt one or two contributing member(s) onto the board, selected by the contributing (non-resident) members. Further information on the skills we’re seeking, and the nomination process, will be shared soon. (We already know the skills include: Marketing & Communications; Fundraising/Ethical Finance; Legal/Risk/Insurance; Financial Management; Community Facilitation & Spiritual Holding.)

We invite you to reflect on who might be a good fit for this role, as your voice and input are key to building a strong and effective board.

Bonds: Securing Community Ownership

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has pledged or submitted their applications for the bond. However, we’d like to remind you that your bond application is not complete until the payment has been made. We understand there’s been some confusion around this, so we kindly ask those who’ve pledged but not yet paid, please to do so.

At present, our bank balance stands at £258,000, but we need to raise a total of £400,000. Together, we can secure this critical milestone in community ownership!

If you haven’t already, you can find the Bond Document and the Application Form. Let’s keep pushing forward and bring this vision to life.

Vote on Purchasing the Universal Hall (Option 2)
We are now offering the formal members’ vote on Ecovillage Findhorn CBS purchasing ‘Option 2’ from the Findhorn Foundation. This would secure community ownership of the Universal Hall and its surrounding areas, as well as the Field of Dreams Solum next to the MAC.

This vote will be a significant step towards safeguarding vital spaces for future generations. We encourage everyone to take part in this process. Please click here to vote. Thank you so much for taking the few short minutes to complete this, your voice counts!

Weekly Conversation Cafés – Join Us!
Starting this Wednesday, we’ll be holding Conversation Cafés every week from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm in the upper foyer of the Universal Hall/Phoenix Café. These informal gatherings are a great opportunity to ask questions, share thoughts, and discuss all things related to Ecovillage Findhorn CBS. A big thank you to board member, Sue Dominey, for kindly hosting these sessions and facilitating these important conversations.

We invite you to join us for a relaxed discussion and a chance to connect with fellow community members. We’d love to see you there!

As we approach these critical milestones, we are reminded of the power of our collective action. Whether through financial contributions, offering your skills, or participating in key decisions, each of us plays an essential role in securing a bright future for Ecovillage Findhorn. Let’s continue to work together in the spirit of unity and community.

With blessings,
Tessa (on behalf Ecovillage Findhorn CBS)🦄

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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Dear EF Members,

We are thrilled to announce that we have raised an extraordinary £300,000 through loans, bonds and gifts by over 60 people! This is a remarkable collective achievement, and we want to extend our deepest thanks to everyone who contributed.

Together, we’ve taken a powerful step forward in securing community ownership of our land and assets, demonstrating a strong and unified voice: We want to own our own community!

We still need to reach £400,000 to make the dream of community ownership a reality, so there’s still time to help us cross the finish line!

Rupert’s New Role: Executive Co-Chair

We’re also excited to announce that Rupert is stepping into the role of Executive Co-Chair of the Ecovillage Findhorn CBS board! Rupert has been a driving force behind our efforts, and we celebrate his leadership as we continue forward. Thank you for all your hard work Rupert!

Universal Hall Survey Results

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in the Universal Hall survey! The voting was open until October 10 at noon, both online and through paper ballots delivered to everyone’s mailbox. We received a total of 107 votes, of which 7 votes were disqualified due to double voting—thank you for your enthusiasm! This brings us to a total of 100 valid votes, with 98 saying YES and 2 abstentions.

Breaking it down further, we had 69 resident yes votes with 1 resident abstention, and 31 non-resident yes votes along with 1 non-resident abstention. This strong turnout provides an excellent gauge of support for moving forward with the purchase of the Universal Hall!

Conversation Cafes

Just a friendly reminder that our Conversation Cafés take place every Wednesday from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM in the upper foyer of the UHall/Phoenix Café. These informal gatherings are a great opportunity to connect with fellow community members, share ideas, and discuss any questions or topics related to Ecovillage Findhorn CBS. We hope to see you there!

Last Call: LPP Survey

A note from the LPP:
We kindly ask that you take a few moments to complete the LPP Economy, Education, and Enterprise Survey (linked below). Please submit your responses by October 16, 2024.

Survey link here

Thank you for your participation!

Thank you for your continued support. Together, we are making amazing things happen! Let’s keep up the momentum and continue to work toward a brighter future for the Park Ecovillage Findhorn.

With blessings,

Tessa (on behalf of EF CBS Board) 🦄

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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As the weather turns colder and the nights get longer, one might be tempted to think things are slowing down for the year, but not for us! We’re in one of our busiest times now as the deadline looms for the bonds and ‘buy-in’ of Part 1, and we approach our AGM. So welcome to our third letter of the month, where we share updates and invite you to engage in the attunement process, share in our Conversation Cafés, and continue contributing to our collective vision.

AGM Invitation 💌

We joyfully invite you to the Ecovillage Findhorn CBS AGM on Monday, 11th November at 7pm in the Universal Hall. It will be possible to view online but not vote online, you may vote via a proxy who is present in the hall.

A link for board nominations will be sent out soon, and we encourage you to think deeply about who you feel would be a great fit. This isn’t just about joining a board of an organisation – it’s about stewarding the love, inspiration, and care of our 370+ members and guiding our community towards a brighter, thriving future. Whether you feel called to step into this role yourself or know someone who would be an ideal candidate, we invite you to consider it.

We very much invite all CBS members to engage in the nominations process. Your organisation – please help to shape who will be involved at Board level. All members can nominate members to be considered. We want to increase the non-resident representation on the Board, so nominations are not just for those who live in the Park. Members who receive 3 or more nominations will then be invited to take their nominations forward into the election – so your involvement really matters! A link will be coming out soon…so now is the time to attune to who you feel might be a good fit. Perhaps that might even be you…

Conversation Cafés – A Space for Heart-Sharing 🗣️

We are excited to invite you to our Conversation Cafés, now held on Thursdays in the Upper Foyer of the Phoenix Café/Universal Hall.

As we approach the AGM, these cafés will focus on your wishes and desires for the future of EF CBS, the nomination process, and discussions on who we feel can lead us forward etc.

Bond Updates

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has contributed to our bond campaign! We have reached around £350,000 in loans and bonds for Part 1 buy-in – an incredible achievement that reflects the collective strength and dedication of our community! But we still have a ways to go, to meet our goal of £400,000 and make the buy-in a reality. Every bond purchased brings us closer to this shared dream.

If you’ve pledged but haven’t yet completed the process, or if you’re only just thinking about buying-in, please take this step soon so we can count your contribution before our deadline.

Board Updates

We were blessed to welcome board member, Anna Kovasna, in person this week. To celebrate and connect, all the board and some of our team gathered for lunch at the Phoenix Café, followed by an afternoon of reflection, planning, working and visioning at Cullerne House. The sunshine gifted us with the perfect space for outdoor connection and inspiration. This was a time of deep gratitude for our shared journey.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing profiles and reflections from current board members – some will be remaining and some will sadly be leaving. We’re glad we got to spend this time together in person and the months working together online, and we look towards the next iteration of the EF board.

Top left to right: Tessa, Sue, Eveline, Rupert
Bottom left to right: Mari, Anni, Anna

Thank you to all our members and contributors for being part of this journey and for all the ways you contribute. We look forward to seeing you at the AGM and in our Conversation Cafés. Together, we move forward, grounded in our collective strength and vision for the future.

With blessings,

Tessa (on behalf EF CBS Board) 🦄

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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As we approach the Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society’s second AGM on Monday, 11th November, 7-9pm at the Universal Hall, we warmly invite you to help shape our community’s future by nominating up to 5 board members. The deadline for nominations is Sunday 3rd November 7pm. This is an important moment, as all current board members will be standing down according to our current one-year term agreement (in the future we expect terms to be two years). Your voice is essential in bringing forward those who will steward our community into this next exciting chapter.

Current Board Member Availability:

• Mari Hollander: current co-chair, community connector (NFA link and others), and passionate and experienced communitarian: Open and willing to stand for election.
• Sue Dominey: leading on our conversation cafés and much needed all-round support: Open and willing to stand for election.
• Anni Broadhead: Not standing for election due to time constraints, but remaining as an adviser and Company Secretary, bringing her legal expertise and dedication.
• Tessa Brock: Unable to rejoin the board for next year due to full-time university commitments but continuing to support with communications (you’ll still receive your lovely newsletters!) and membership/subscription support.
• Anna Kovasna: Non-resident, undecided because of distance and time/capacity constraints. Willing to support regardless, especially with values-led governance, bringing the voice of the more-than-human world, kind and effective organisational systems, and more community cocreation.
• Rupert Davis: Undecided about standing again. Passionate about: raising ethical finance to pay for it (!); deep democratic inclusion as a way to get to unifying, truly community-backed action; returning to our spiritual roots/healthy culture; creating a new cc; recruiting a good team and creating a good team culture; EF-NFA potential merger and getting the young back here and into leadership for the future.

ALL members are eligible for nomination and we deeply encourage you to attune and think about who you think will bring skill, direction, joy and more to the new board. We include our attunement at the bottom.

Nomination Process
Click here to nominate up to 5 members, including resident and non-resident members this year! The form closes promptly on Monday, 4th November at 10am. Members with 5 or more nominations will be contacted to confirm their participation. Please Nominate HERE.

Proxy Voting
For those unable to attend in person, proxy voting will be available. Members need to fill in this brief form before the 8th November. Voting will not be possible via Zoom, thus only those in the room can vote. So be there or appoint your proxy!

Deep Gratitude!
We are deeply grateful for the support shown so far through emails, nominations, and kind words. Every contribution matters—from those stepping forward to join the board to every member who adds their voice and ideas.

Your Small Monthly Contribution Makes a Big Difference
If you haven’t yet, please consider a small standing order to help us deliver the immense work needed to achieve our goals. Every bit truly counts, and together, we make a strong, sustainable future for all. BuyMeaCoffee

With gratitude for your ongoing support,

Tessa (on behalf of EF CBS Board) 🦄

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
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Dear EF Members,

Welcome to this week’s Newsletter! With our AGM coming up in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS, it’s time to nominate and shape, not just the next board, but also the community. Thank you for your involvement and continued support—your voice and engagement mean so much as we grow together!

BOARD NOMINATIONS: Deadline Sunday, 3rd November, 7pm

Nominations are well underway, and we’re so grateful to everyone who has engaged so far!

All existing Directors standing for re-election have received the required five nominations—thank you for your enthusiastic support.

However, if you haven’t submitted a nomination yet, this could be a chance to consider other members who could bring fresh perspectives and skills to our board. Let’s create a diverse team to steward our community forward!

If you would like to nominate, please click here before Sunday, 3rd November 7pm. Every voice matters!

ELECTION PROCESS: Voting & Co-opting 🗳️

There are two ways candidates can join the Board:

1. Direct Election at the AGM (up to 10 resident members)
2. Co-opting by the new Board (never a majority; up to 4)

Resident members can “vote” at the AGM for resident candidates.
Contributor (non-resident) members can “voice” for non-resident candidates.

This will be via a poll for contributor residents to indicate their preferred non-resident candidates, out of those who received 5+ nominations. More information on this coming soon.

PROXY VOTES

If you’re a resident member who cannot attend the AGM in person, you may assign a proxy to vote on your behalf. To set this up, notify us here before 8th November with the name of your proxy, who must also be a resident member. Voting will occur in the Universal Hall, and only those present (or represented by proxy) can cast a ballot.

AGM SUPPORT: Volunteers Needed!

To help the AGM run smoothly, we are seeking several extra hands. If you’re available to assist, please let us know. Your help would be invaluable.

AGM: Event Details

The AGM will be held on Monday, 11th November, from 7-9pm at the Universal Hall. Additional information on timings, financial reports, and registration will be shared in next week’s newsletter. Please arrive early to get registered etc.

Scottish Land Fund Phase 1 Application IS IN!

We are thrilled to share that our application for Stage 1 of the Scottish Land Fund has been submitted! This significant step would not have been possible without the dedicated work of Michael Shaw, Larry Wolf, Catherine Brislee and Viv Wylde. A huge thank you to them all for seeing this through with such dedication—your contributions are a cornerstone of our community’s growth.

CONDOLENCES for Michael Bailey and Jane Rasbash 🕯️
It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Michael Bailey, who was a committed supporter of EF and lent his invaluable business acumen to our efforts. We were looking forward to his return and are deeply saddened by his departure. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his loved ones; he will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege to know and work with him.

We are also deeply saddened by the passing of Jane Rasbash, a beloved long-time member of The Park Ecovillage Findhorn and a true communitarian. Jane’s presence enriched our community immeasurably, her dedication and kindness touching the lives of so many. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and friends during this time.

Conversation Cafe 🗣️

We have one more Conversation Café before the AGM! These gatherings are the perfect opportunity to connect, share ideas, and consider who you’d like to nominate for our upcoming board elections or who you’re looking forward to voting for. Come along, to the UH Foyer, to help shape the future of our community!

Join Us on This Journey

Thank you for being part of Ecovillage Findhorn CBS. Each of you contributes to the thriving heart of this community. Please consider setting up a small monthly contribution, either via standing order or BuyMeACoffee, to support this work—every little bit counts and makes an enormous impact. Together, we are making our community’s future a reality!

We look forward to seeing you at the AGM!

With blessings,

Tessa (on behalf of the EF Board) 🦄

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn, Moray, IV363TZ, Scotland
Sign-up to support us at BuyMeaCoffee

As I explained at our community meeting last week, over the last 3 months the NFA listener-conveners have held 4 meetings with the FF SCIO and 1 meeting with the FF Trust. The purpose of these meetings has been to build a good working relationship between the 2 organisations and where appropriate to cooperate on matters of mutual interest. We plan to continue meeting regularly (e.g. every 3-4 weeks).

At the most recent meeting we agreed that it would be helpful for the NFA Council to serve as a conduit for constructive communication between the Foundation and the members of the community. This means that we encourage community members who have questions or concerns regarding the Findhorn Foundation Trust or SCIO to contact any of the listener-conveners or NFA Council members; or to bring them to the weekly NFA Council Cafe (Friday mornings at 10:15 in the Phoenix Cafe). The NFA Council will then collate these questions/concerns. And the listener-conveners will bring them to our regular NFA/FF coordination meetings and discuss what would be the most appropriate way for the Foundation Trust or SCIO to communicate responses to these questions or concerns.

A couple of examples of the outcomes of this process can already be seen in the articles from Mark Anderson and Helen Wildsmith in the Rainbow Bridge of 27th September.

The Foundation does not have the capacity to respond to all questions or concerns that are sent directly to their staff or trustees by community members; nor are they obliged to do so as an independent charity. The NFA Council and the Foundation agree that the above suggestion is a more helpful way of cultivating helpful communication and community cohesion. And we are asking if you are willing to cooperate in this?

We also discussed the possibility of holding a ritual to mark the ending of the FF Trust: to celebrate all that it has contributed to us and to the world, and to honour its life cycle. We are provisionally thinking that late November would be a good time for this, as the trustees of the FF Trust will be gathered in Findhorn at that time.

Kind regards,
Gordon McAlpine
Listener Convener

New Findhorn Association
Address: The NFA General Office, The Park, Findhorn, IV36 3TZ
Website: www.findhorn.cc

Dear Global Community,

This year, for the first time in our history the NFA is holding a “Community Gathering / Conference” from 14th-17th November, culminating in a celebration of our community’s birthday.

The idea is to cultivate unity within our commUNITY: to spend time together, getting to know each other better and having fun, to deepen our spiritual connection through meditation, group ritual and inner work, and to discuss and make decisions about current issues in the community.

The issues are likely to include community ownership, governance, priority aims, attracting more young people and families, discussion of a future community centre, and a final consultation on the Local Place Plan.

We were hoping to live-stream some of the sessions but sadly this won’t be happening now. Please accept our apology.

The draft schedule can be viewed by clicking on this link. Below is the version from 30th Oct.

The event is being organised by the following volunteers: Annie Crawford, Chris Hart, Gordon McAlpine, Karen Grant, Manda Stretch, Sabine Kawano and Sue Dominey.

In community
Gordon McAlpine
Listener Convener
New Findhorn Association
www.findhorn.cc

https://celebratingoneincrediblefamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NFD-Newsletter10-August-2024.pdf

https://celebratingoneincrediblefamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NFD-Newsletter11-September-2024-1.pdf

Welcome to our July newsletter! We are thrilled to share our news with you. This month, we celebrate our progress, and plan for the future.

Ecovillage Findhorn Conversation Café

The Conversation Café has been going well, with great attendance, and insightful comments and questions which are being harvested and fed back to the board.

We invite all our members to join us this Saturday 6th, at 10:00 am. The session, hosted by Sue Dominey and Mari Hollander, will be held in the Upper Foyer of the Universal Hall/Phoenix Café. This is a fantastic opportunity to discuss and share ideas about our community related to EF.

Thank You for Attending Community Visioning Meetings

We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who’s attended the series of vital Community Visioning meetings and the latest LPP Infrastructure meeting. Mari represented EF and Tessa represented both EF and GEN, thereby ensuring that EF was an integral part of the conversations and presentations. This aids in ensuring that our community’s needs and sustainability goals are represented and integrated into the long-term plans that will support our long-term vision and wellbeing.

Be on the lookout for future meetings as we integrate what the community has developed so far. Exciting times ahead!
Key presentations at the LPP Infrastructure meeting included:
– Ecovillage Findhorn – Update and Issues by Mari Hollander
– Global Ecovillage Network – A Common Framework by Tessa Brock
– Beyond Runway to High Street plus Traffic & Parking by JR Fulton
– Keeping Lights On & Other Utility Highs by NFD
– Living Machine Team Presentation by Michael Shaw & Galen Fulford
– Alternative Entrances: Neighbourly Redevelopment Opportunities by Ed Bichan, Jonathan Caddy, and Alessandro Daboni

A big thank you to Marilyn Hamilton and the rest of the LPP team for hosting this insightful and well-attended event, and to the Phoenix Shop and Café for sponsoring some amazing prizes!
You may check out the recording of the event by clicking on this link. [apologies for the poor quality of the recording there were some technical issues. Here is the link to the folder with all the Infrastructure Trade Fair documents.]

New Office Space for EF

We are excited to announce that we recently held our last board meeting in our new office! We are now situated in a lovely office in the lower Universal Hall. Having a physical base that feels grounded and welcoming is wonderful.

We would love a beautiful and durable sign for ‘Ecovillage Findhorn CBS’ for the door, so if anyone feels inspired to create one, we would greatly appreciate it!

Offers for Help

Vivienne Wylde has generously stepped up as our volunteer interim admin coordinator. She has already made a positive impact by working on organisational systems and structures. We are incredibly grateful for her efforts!

Michael Bailey has kindly offered to become an advisor bringing his finance, real estate investment and contract experience to help with our legal and community finance raise documents, and offer support, advice and oversight.

Thank you for your continued support. It’s thanks to your involvement that we’ve come so far together. Let’s continue to build and celebrate our community!

With blessings,
Tessa (on behalf of the EF board)

Hello Friends,

We hope you are well, and enjoying our intermittent summer.

About loans and shares

You may wonder what happened with your offer to lend money to EF. We are working hard on that in the background and getting advice from experts. We want to do it right!

Our main aim with these loans is to go ahead with purchasing part one of the package that the Findhorn Foundation has offered us.

About funds to run our basic operations

Have we mentioned that EF aims to run the basic operations and admin via your subscriptions and support donations? For all who have given annually or already set up a standing order or gone to the platform ‘Buy me a Coffee’ to contribute to our collective efforts – THANK YOU !!

At the moment we have 195 residential members and 169 non-residential members!

Of these 364 members, 12 have set up a standing order and 64 have set up a subscription via Buy me a Coffee. This represents 21% of us. Together these bring in £816 a month!

This is wonderful and thank you so much to those who are contributing financially already!

It leaves 288 members who, if they all supported with only £10 a month, would bring our monthly income to almost £3,700!

If that was the case we could:

• Finally hire a key coordinating person and an admin support person
• Cover our office rent & supplies
• Your generosity would also contribute towards the business development work, help us build up a reserve for upcoming legal advice and tasks, and help with building surveys and some needed repairs

Without contracting in a few part time paid staff, the EF Board can not readily accomplish all that we want to collectively achieve: secure the Park Ecovillage land and facilities for community benefit, with a renewal of community purpose and informed engagement.

Here is how you can help:

Buy me a Coffee is an easy way to set up a monthly subscription of £5, £10, £20 or even £100! It just takes a minute to set up by clicking here.

You can also set up a standing order with us. For information about our bank details, please contact the COIF team who will pass on your email to us.

With blessings and appreciation,

Mari and Eveline

Support us through Buy me a Coffee here!

Ecovillage Findhorn Community Benefit Society
General Office, The Park, Findhorn Moray, IV36 3TZ, Scotland
www.ecovillagefindhorn.uk

https://celebratingoneincrediblefamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ecovillage-Findhorn-CBS-August-2024-Newsletter.pdf

• a fantastic Summer Solstice Festival
• Folk Music most Saturdays 4 – 7pm – you can’t find better this side of Dublin (and having been in Dublin recently myself, I actually think many pubs in Dublin are hard pressed to bring such a level of quality)

• regular Open Mic followed by Silent Disco
• Concerts
• Book launches – the recent one with May East presenting her new book What if Women Designed the City?

• Arts exhibitions by Community members

• and now they have a Marquee on the lawn below which can be booked for events!!!

Check out their Facebook page for much more.

• Community Sharings in the Universal Hall
• Sunday Picnic/Market in the CC Garden organised by Manda Stretch

• Park Pranksters (a colourful bunch singing lusty songs at many events)
• Findhorn Ukulele Group organised by Ken Walker
• the volleyball court has seen a renewal
• Gay Taffe is blessing the CC garden with her gong baths

• Sacred Dance on a Saturday morning on the Dancing Green and Brant Bambery’s Centrepiece. Thank you to Gabriele Wosien for sending in the following poster!

It’s hard to believe it’s already June! We’ve all achieved so much in the past few months, from negotiating and finally receiving concrete buy-out options from the Findhorn Foundation, to then present to our members, and receiving affirmative votes, to setting up our bank account and website, taking on some staff and so much more, it’s fair to say we’ve been incredibly busy (and successful!) largely due to all of your support as well!

Recently we’ve also been collaborating with NFA and EF, and holding a series of thriving community purpose meetings. As we take on these assets for community ownership, we must ask ourselves: For whom and for what purpose? Who are we as a community, and what are our aims? Join us at our next meeting to find out!

Upcoming Community Purpose Meetings
June 9, 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM: Community Meeting to Translate Purpose into concrete community aims!
This event will be held in the Universal Hall and is in-person only as it is interactive and we encourage all to attend! This series of community purpose events are held in marvellous collaboration by EF, NFA and LPP! You will find more info on these crucial meetings in the Rainbow Bridge.

Community Purpose Process so Far
On May 6th, Tessa, Mari and Marilyn held the NFA community meeting using the GEN (Global Ecovillage Network) Ecovillage Design Game to assess how we are doing within the four dimensions of sustainability: economic, ecological, cultural, and social. This led to the Community Purpose World Cafe, on June 2nd, delivered by Marilyn (LPP), Tessa (EF), and Patrick Lewington (NFA), with input from Mari, Gordon, and many others (many thanks to them!). Around 80 attendees helped create some wonderfully inspired purpose phrases! The last NFA meeting on Monday, June 3rd, tested these phrases to better craft our community purpose statement with common themes emerging as: Spiritual Community, connecting with the intelligence of Nature, Evolving and supporting one another, Regenerative and Resilient Community, service to the World.

Our next meeting this Sunday, June 9th, will turn this purpose inspiration into concrete aims for NFA and LPP to take forward in their work. Please do come along!

Board Changes and Advisory Board Recruitment
We regret to announce Ian Chorlton’s resignation from the board due to family and work commitments. We are grateful for his inspired and skilled contributions and wish him all the best. We hope to see him join our new advisory board in the future. Speaking of which, we are actively recruiting for an advisory board, comprised of energetic and skilled individuals who can contribute to EF and the buyout process without the full-time commitment of board membership.

The Board would like to appoint 2 or 3 new members to join us, until our November election process. Wrigley’s have suggested that we should look beyond the Park residents for balance. We will review recommendations in our next Board meeting.

Refugee Support Initiative
We have recirculated Robin’s proposal to support refugee sponsors, as no other organisation in the community can take on this support. EF is prepared to accept a triple net lease from FF for the bungalows and make a clear agreement with the refugee sponsors about their full responsibility. We have unanimous support to proceed and will come back to the board with a sample lease and draft agreements

Valuable Meeting with Moray Council re Mobile Homes
Anni and Mari met with advisors from Moray Council about the license to permit mobile homes on the land ‘we’ will own. EF must apply when on the day the conveyancing is complete; and they reassured us that we are legal while they are processing our application. They did not imagine any difficulty, as the Park has been under license over the past decades.

Support and Contributions
Per Hansen is visiting the community this month and has been helpful to EF reviewing our assessments of building and infrastructure needs. He and his family lived in the community about 20 years ago when he was instrumental in getting the planning permission for the 3 additional turbines over the line, with Findhorn Wind Park.

EF Conversation Cafes
Sue Dominey continues the worthwhile EF conversation cafes – this week and next with Anni Broadhead. Members are invited to come along if they have things they’d like to discuss and share. The next one will be happening on Thursday afternoon, June 13th 2:30pm – 4:30pm Upper Foyer, Phoenix Cafe. See you there!

EF Taking a Short Break
As Mari and Rupert are currently away, the EF will be taking a short break for a few weeks. We’ll be back soon with more updates and progress on our community initiatives.

As we celebrate these significant milestones, we’d like to thank you all so much for being a part of this process, for your voices, votes and encouragement! Moving forward, we invite you to join us in our upcoming events and discussions, let’s keep the momentum going!
With thanks and blessings,
Tessa

Hello Community Champions ,

Welcome to this week’s update filled with exciting developments and important announcements for our community!

Upcoming Community Meetings
Mark your calendars for the following important community meetings:

• June 2, 2:30PM – 5:30 PM: Discovering our community Purpose
• June 3, 7-9 PM: NFA Meeting to Ground Community Purpose in I/We/World
• June 9, 1:30-4:30 PM: Community Meeting to Translate Purpose into clear aims for the next few years.

This community needs a purpose! And the purpose needs you! (to help create it and live it) The EF CBS, LPP & NFA have come together to design a series of events to hone in on our collective purpose. Strategic plans are required by Moray Council (via the LPP) and also by us, as EF. The plans and aims for our settlement and our community need to be nestled within an overarching purpose. Right now, we are also finding our way to collective leadership. It’s time we all stand up. It’s time to consider, are we an intentional, spiritual community?

We hope to secure childcare for June 2nd and June 9th meetings as we recognise the vital contributions of the parents as individuals and as stewards of the next generation. Please indicate your childcare needs in this form before Thursday 30th May, and we’ll do our best to accommodate you. Please do not arrive on the day without filling out this form in advance, as we may not be able to accommodate you.

New Website Launch
We’re excited to announce that our new website is now live! Although we’re still working on strategic communication and finalising some details, we believe it’s ready for public viewing. Check it out and let us know what you think. www.ecovillagefindhorn.uk

Sue’s Fabulous EF Cafe Weekly Meeting
Despite the terrible rainy start at 9:00 AM on Friday, Sue’s meeting was a success. 11 people attended, and their contributions were invaluable. This is how we build our community and open up effective communication. Thank you to everyone who participated. We’ll keep you updated with more communication cafes when they come up.

Financial Survey and Bridging Loan
As promised, we’re busy preparing the finance array. We will be sending out our survey on community financing soon, once we have legal go ahead.

Shout Outs and Updates
Jake: Huge thanks to Jake for his brilliant job with IT support, website building and strategic thinking. He’s been highly responsive and reliable.

Josephine Schwab: Josephine has done fantastic work researching the best engineering firms in the area. We’ve identified seven great companies with great references and awards. This research will help us get proper quotes and move forward with necessary infrastructure work.

Jackie Pond for her outstanding work in organising our FAQs.

Frances Powell for her invaluable support with our OSCR application.

In Conclusion
Thank you all for your ongoing support and dedication. Together, we’re making significant strides in building a resilient and vibrant community.

With love and blessings ,
Tessa (on behalf of the EF board)

Dear Community Champions,

What an exciting week it’s been for us all! We’ve reached a significant milestone that marks a pivotal moment in our journey together. It’s moments like these that remind us of the incredible progress we’ve made and the endless possibilities that lie ahead. Let’s celebrate this achievement and continue to work together toward our shared vision of a thriving and sustainable community.

1. The Vote Results!
Thanking everyone who voted and attended the vote meeting this week! This is a significant milestone for our community, with on average over 95 % of residents and contributors who voted or “voiced” expressing their support for the proposed options to buy parts of the Park. For details of the options please click here for the slides from the Community Meeting on the 24th April.

The results received through the voting form and email show a strong consensus and underscore the community’s dedication to preserving our environment for future generations.

The official results for resident votes are as follows:

• Part 1:100 out of 106 votes said yes, equaling a 94% pass rate.
• Part 2: 104 out of 106 votes said yes, equaling a 98% pass rate.
• Part 3: 101 out of 106 votes said yes, equaling a 95% pass rate.

The remaining votes were abstentions for parts one and two. For part three, there were three abstentions and two no votes.

Out of the non-residents or contributors, who have a voice but not a vote according to the rules.

• Part 1: 45 out of 47 voices said yes, equaling a 96% pass rate.
• Part 2 had all 47 voices in favour, equating to a 100% pass rate.
• For part 3, 46 out of 47 voices were yes, resulting in a 98% pass rate.

Overall, the average results for residents (96.5%) and contributors (98%) combined, equalled over 97% so we can safely say there is community backing!

This is really an amazing validation of collective community support and engagement for this step towards us owning the bulk of the Park:

153 voices and votes in total, over half of all resident members voted (an absolute majority even including those who didn’t vote said yes), and a high nineties support rate in both categories.

We’d like to gently remind our members that if you live in the Park, you are a Resident member and therefore a full-member, you have a say and a vote. If you do not live on the Park, you are a Contributor member and have a say and a voice. Please make sure you choose the right category, a few Residents didn’t, but we corrected and validated where necessary!

We extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to making this vote a reality and to all those who cast their votes, shaping the future of our community together.

2. Financial Contribution
If you appreciate the efforts we’re putting into this important work, please help us through Buy Me a Coffee or by setting up a direct debit.

With our team size shrinking and more critical tasks ahead, moving towards employing those who can commit to the work is absolutely vital.

So far only about 20% of the community have signed up to a regular contribution and it helps immensely to have your 5, 10 or 20 pounds a month support or your occasional one off donation if you can’t do 5 a month. (Warm support also accepted and appreciated in lieu of cash!). We may reduce the concession rate further so everyone can feel a part of this, no matter your means.

Link to Buy Me a Coffee here.

For Standing Order details please contact us via the COIF website – they will pass on your request.

Your support is crucial for sustaining the basic operations of our Community Benefit Society, including office tasks, insurance, legal matters, IT tech, venue hires, and more. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us move closer to our shared goals. Thank you greatly!

In Conclusion
As we reflect on the progress and challenges ahead, we’re filled with gratitude for each member of our community. Your dedication and support propel us forward, shaping the vision of Ecovillage Findhorn. Let’s embrace the opportunities before us with open hearts and minds, knowing that together, we can create positive change for ourselves and generations to come.
With blessings ,
Tessa (on behalf of the EF Board)
P.S. And a very happy Syttende mai (“Seventeenth of May”) to all our Norwegian members!

Our Community’s Website:

Dell Horler’s tireless efforts on the world-facing website, supported by Jonathan and others, are commendable. In line with her vision, Dell has initiated a domain name survey for the website, seeking input from the community. EF and NFA have been jointly collaborating on where the website fits, and it is landing in EF, to serve the whole community, as the proto whole community council develops.

Financial Analysis Breakthrough:

Mark (Chair of FF Trust,) along with Jim Simpson (FF’s Treasurer) has made significant progress on the Park’s financial analysis. This detailed work has provided invaluable insights into costs for the Park. The numbers are very significantly better than originally estimated. To ensure accuracy, we’ve formed a cost team, including Michael Bailey and other finance experienced members, who will collaborate closely on the analysis. Transparency and collaboration are key as we navigate our financial landscape. If you too have relevant skills and time and want to support, please let us know. Many thanks to Mark and Jim for some immense number-crunching and Michael for his committee leadership and service.

Park Buyout:

Rupert and Mari are gearing up for an imminent, crucial meeting with Terry and Mark to delve deeper into the potential Park buyout, with a new FF offer promised. With the recent advancements in financial analysis, which have provided more accurate figures, this discussion marks a significant step forward in the decision-making process.

As a reminder, you the members will get to decide, once we have a firm and clarified proposal. We will hold significant space and discussions for you to be heard on the topic, as part of the community’s decision process, into what will be a historic change for us all. The members are in charge!

Shared Communications with FF:

Mark and Terry have committed to supporting EF/community gaining global visibility, when FF go out to their global database and press releases with the new SCIO launch.

There will be sign-up opportunity for the EF Community database/membership/news prominent in the communications for global members, compliant with GDPR. This will start actively building the global database needed for the community to raise finance for the common vision and help kick- start communicating with guests in the future. This is vital for both economic regeneration and our purpose/impact in the world. The aim is “arm-in-arm” communications about the transfer to community.

Arts, Legal Considerations and Strategic Planning:

We’ve received legal advice regarding our constitutional objectives, prompting us to reconsider certain aspects of our operations. While there are challenges, such as applying for some types of funding, we’re exploring innovative solutions, such as establishing separate subsidiaries to align with legal requirements and optimise our impact. Legal advice is coming via the Community Housing Trust, as part of our Scottish Land Fund funding application and via top firms. We are in positive ongoing discussions with the Universal Hall and Peter, as another part of this, in terms of how best to serve and house Arts, here at the Park, to maximise community and public benefit and financial sustainability.

Strengthening Organisational Structure:

The board acknowledges the need for additional support to alleviate the strain on current members. We’re actively seeking new board members to diversify expertise and share the workload effectively. As well as individuals with time and skills we are interested in a non-resident contributor member representative, and leaders of other organisations, possibly mandated with a community vote, so we start to create unity and good communication and collaboration, per Alessandro’s excellent suggestion. If you have skills and time available to work at least a shift a week (which can be paid), please let us know – you are very welcome on subcommittees relevant to your interest, as a first, get to know each other, step.

Engagement with Findhorn Village Council: Advancing Community Initiatives

At Sue’s initiative, Rupert, Maggie LT and Sue Dominey recently had a productive and friendly meeting with representatives from the Findhorn Village Council, Findhorn Village Centre and Findhorn Conservation Company to discuss key concerns within the village community. The meeting focused on learning about village needs and feelings, updating us with the village’s LPP efforts (they are also using Collective Architecture) and their community buy out experience. In turn we updated the village with the FF and community buy out developments. We also looked at getting the right name for the outward facing website, with a name sensitive to, supported by, and supportive of, both village and ecovillage.

In the future, collaborative efforts to address housing affordability; the road coastal erosion due to climate change; and how to re-attract and create opportunities for young people in the area, will be excellent ways to work together and build a strong relationship with the village.

Infrastructure:

We commissioned, and have received, an in-depth analysis and current state of infrastructure report from Paddy, which we are sharing to relevant organisations. THA and NFD have both kindly agreed to chip in. Many thanks to both of them and to Paddy! JR is helping us and Mari is taking the lead on this for the Board, alongside JR.

Today’s Breaking News:

We have finally been approved for our bank account! Hooray.

Wishing everyone a blessed Spring time and many thanks for your continued support and engagement,
Tessa, (with backing vocals from Mari and Rupert)
On behalf of The Ecovillage Findhorn Board

Ecovillage Findhorn
General Office, the Park, Findhorn, Moray, Scotland, IV36 3TZ

Sign-up to support us at BuyMeaCoffee

It’s been a dynamic week filled with exciting updates and strong community support. Our recent meeting saw an impressive turnout, with well over 200 attendees joining us (we had 90 people on Zoom and over 120 counted present in the hall)! We would also like to thank all of our many contributors for their time and effort in making this event a success.

We’re grateful for the overwhelming straw poll responses, indicating a positive consensus to move forward with buying Medway, Village Green, and the Hall buy-out option.

Furthermore, we’re thrilled to have 9 new members sign up at the meeting!

We recognize the need for additional in-person meetings to address more complex questions and engage in further discussions, but we’re encouraged by the strong reception and promising start of our initial gathering.

Please click here for the recording of the meeting.

Please click here for the slides from the meeting.

2x £10k Pledges for Land Purchase

We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve already received pledges 2 times £10k from community members towards purchasing land and property for our community. If you wish to pledge towards this endeavour, please get in touch with Mari Hollander or Rupert Davis. For now you can contact them via the COIF website.

Clarification on Options and Decision-Making

We’ve gained clarity on the third option, which offers a free option until December 1st. This allows us ample time to decide without financial commitment until the year’s end, making it an easy decision for our members. All we need to say to FF by May 31st is “yes we accept” this option, and if we pull out by Nov 30th no charge will be incurred at all. Another no-brainer?!

Microgrid Ownership Debate and Community Involvement

There’s ongoing debate regarding the ownership of the microgrid, and we’re actively exploring solutions. We encourage everyone to join the conversation as we work towards a resolution that benefits the entire community.

Transitioning Board Members

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ross, who has stepped down due to time commitments, for his invaluable contributions to the board, leveraging his construction expertise, connections to the parent’s group, essential network links, and involvement with the LPP. We understand that balancing family and business commitments is demanding, and we wish him all the very best in his future endeavours. He has kindly agreed to stay involved in an advisory capacity on a more ad hoc basis.

Call for Bookkeeper and Team Recruitment

We have an urgent need for a bookkeeper, and we’re actively seeking qualified candidates to fill this crucial role. Additionally, we’ll soon be recruiting various teams with specific focuses, so stay tuned for more details in our upcoming newsletters. If you have skills and interests to contribute, please don’t hesitate to step forward.

Buy Me A Coffee

If you like the work that we are doing, support us via Buy Me a Coffee, where even small one-time or recurring donations greatly contribute to our cause. Every contribution is immensely appreciated and helps us continue our work towards our shared goals.

Thank You

Thank you all for your continued support and dedication to our community. Let’s keep the momentum going as we work towards our shared vision.

Warm regards,

Tessa, on behalf of EF Board