1997-1998
Much of our time and energies during the later part of 1997 and early 1998 were devoted to the campaign to save Inverasdale Primary School, which the Highland Council had been threatening to close.
At the time, the village school was the only communal facility at Inverasdale and it was felt that it played an essential part in keeping the community alive. It is difficult to attract young, economically active families, who are essential for the area’s regeneration, to a village where there is no school.
In addition to providing children with an education, the school was a vital part of the social fabric of our community and was used for a wide range of purposes by numerous local organisations.
The fear was that the closure of the primary school would turn the area into a place where the retired outnumber the families, where holiday homes outnumber permanent dwellings and where children are a rarity.
The support of our campaign, locally, nationally and internationally, was overwhelming and we continue to hear from other villages in similar situations. Inverasdale is just one of many rural primary schools that have been targeted throughout Scotland, and the outcry has been so loud, long and sustained that the Scottish Executive has sent strong messages to local authorities to look at educational and social reasons for keeping small schools open, rather than closing them for short-lived, and often illusory savings.
As a result, we noticed a change in the tone of many Highland Councillors who were unhappy about the proposals. The first test of how strongly their feelings were came on 23 April 1998 when the Education Committee met to vote on which schools should close and which should remain open. The good news for us was that, at that time, they voted to keep Inverasdale School open.
However unfortunately, [in 20??] the school was permanently closed due to lack of enrolment.
The School is now in the hands of the Wester Loch Ewe Trust, which was set up in 2015 to be the legal body for asset transfer and by the end of 2018 they had achieved full ownership of the School.
They are now developing the Old School into a Community Centre serving the series of scatters crofting settlements which stretch for 9 miles along the isolated Wester Coast of Loch ewe.
For more information about their activities: https://www.westerlochewe.com/