Clackmannanshire's loss is the BBC's gain, as Stuart Hepburn, one of the Council's Writers in Residence departs to take up a role as a story consultant on River City.

Stuart joined the Council almost two years ago when he and Tom Murray became the county's first Writers in Residence.

Stuart has been professional writer and actor for the past 25 years, appearing on stage and screen all over the country, and penning such works as Taggart, Hamish Macbeth, Monarch of the Glen, McCallum and many others. He is also a lecturer in Screenwriting and Performance at the University Of the West of Scotland.

Stuart said: "Without doubt the idea of having a Writer in Residence is a good idea, it has been successful from the start. Of course at the beginning we didn't know how much demand there would be for it, but straight away at our first workshop, 22 people turned up and it's taken off from there.

"We now have about 150 people who are creative writers that we meet on an individual basis while there are even more who come along to the surgeries and events. It's made us realise that there is a need for this role because there is great hunger and enthusiasm for new writing and a lot of talent out there."

The Writers in Residence work with a wide range of people, of all ages and backgrounds, and with no experience and lots. They hold popular weekly surgeries in Alloa Library as well as running community based projects and special events.

"I'm pleased and proud to have been part of this," said Stuart. "Tom and I have made the role our own and we decided at the start to spend half our time of workshops and half on one-to-ones and it has worked. We've met with a huge range of groups from youth groups and school children to community groups and OAPs and even prisoners at Glenochil.

"At our first surgery a pensioner brought along a novel he had written in 1945. I enjoyed reading it and then he took it away and never came back - I often wonder what happened to it.

"We've met everything from an 8 year old that didn't know what a paragraph was to a writer who was looking for advice on getting an agent before publishing her 3rd novel. We've always said that we'll try to take them to the next level, and I think we've achieved that. We've taken pride in what we've done and done a professional job."

When Stuart and Tom were recruited the Council was delighted to have engaged two writers with complementary professional experience to share the role. While Stuart is a screenwriter, Tom is a poet and also writes short stories.

"We were a great match and have got on very well. I'm going to miss Tom, but this is a great opportunity and I can't do both. With the anthology being published, which has been a huge amount of work, it feels like a natural time to go. I am inestimably proud of the anthology and I think we've done a very professional job of it. And it will be about forever."

The Anthology of new writing 'Unheard Voices' is being launched on Friday 5th December at Broomhall Castle, Menstrie. The book contains prose and poetry from 23 local writers. The event also marks Stuart's final day with Clackmannanshire Council.

Stuart added: " I owe a lot of thanks to the Council. There's been lots of highs and not a lot of lows. My highlights have included holding the county's first Writers Festival last November and a publishing workshop which attracted national media attention as well as a huge turnout from locals."

The Council's Cultural Planner Kathleen O'Neill said: "On behalf of Clackmannanshire Council I am very proud of the extremely high calibre of artists we attract to work with residents. Stuart is no exception. His input has flavoured a creative future for many he met, young and old, day and night. I am one of many who will feel his absence and seek to make sure that his inspiration is not lost to Cultural Services.''
Stuart has taken on the role as a story consultant on River City responsible for redesigning it into a one hour format. The drama attracts over 500,000 viewers every week.

Meanwhile the Council's Writers in Residence programme will continue to encourage individuals and groups with creative writing interests to achieve greater confidence with their work, and an ongoing programme of workshops and events will be led by Tom Murray.

The PACE Futures Fair which took place at Alloa Town Hall on Thursday 27th November 2008 was attended by 20 newly redundant workers.

In response to the recent closure of MCA Homes, the PACE partnership in Forth Valley, ran the Futures Fair to provide help, advice and assistance to redundant workers of the firm and other newly redundant workers. The majority of those who attended Thursday's event were former MCA employees. All of those attending found the event to be worthwhile.

A range of organisations including Clackmannanshire Works, Careers Scotland, Clackmannanshire Council's Money Advice Team, Forth Valley College, Jobcentre Plus and Skills Development Scotland were on hand to offer advice on training, career options, money advice and job search support.

Following the Futures Fair the first point of contact for anyone now experiencing redundancy should call Clackmannanshire Works on 01259 226699 or drop-in to the office in 2 - 4 Mill Street, Alloa, between 1.30pm - 4pm Monday to Friday.

Over 100 people came to Alloa Town Hall on Thursday evening to hear Judy Murray, mother of Britain's No.1 tennis player, share her experiences.

Judy, who has produced two sporting champions in her sons Andy and Jamie, was speaking at the Positive Coaching Parents' Workshop which had been organised by the Council and Positive Coaching Scotland. The event aimed to help parents to learn how they can inspire and support their children through sport.

Clackmannanshire Council has a three year agreement with the Winning Scotland Foundation to deliver the Positive Coaching Scotland initiative to club leaders, coaches, parents and teachers involved in sport across Clackmannanshire.

The initiative involves a series of workshops to help people understand how sport can be used to develop young people. Thursday's information evening was organised as part of the 'parents' element. The principles of PCS are linked to the Government's development of the curriculum called Curriculum for Excellence.

Positive Coaching promotes an alternative to the traditional 'win at all costs' culture which has infiltrated youth sport. This concept was explained at Thursday evening's event by PCS Project Manager, Tommy Boyle, who is former coach to GB international runners Tom McKean, Yvonne Murray and, more recently Susan Scott.

Sir Bill Gammell the chairman of the management board of the Winning Scotland Foundation (funding body of PCS) informally interviewed Judy in front of the audience of local parents, club members and club representatives.

Judy was invited to share her views on sport and her role as a mother/ coach of two very successful tennis sons. She was very frank and open with her replies and was very clear that physical activity in pre-school children is crucial and helping to develop young people. She said that PE in primary schools was also very important to help young people have confidence and skill in sport.

Clackmannanshire has one of the most highly-regarded sports development functions in Scotland. It was the first local authority in the UK to devise and implement a Primary PE Plan and it employs a sports development team who deliver classes, holiday school programmes and coaching in schools to more than 1,500 children.

There were a variety of interesting questions from the floor, and as well as Judy,
Pat Campbell, area adviser from Learning Teaching Scotland, and Lorraine Sanda, chair of the parental involvement group, also answered questions.

The event also involved a presentation to our first Local Winning Heroes - individuals who've made a difference to kids' sport in Clackmannanshire. The recipients of the first certificates and trophies were made by Judy to Jim Shaw, Alloa RFC and Brian Jamieson, Hillfoots RFC for their services to sport.

Marjorie MacFarlane, the Council's sports development manager said: "I was delighted with the evening. It was clear that Judy has great empathy with young people and was very relaxed and chatted with them. Local clubs were invited to sign up to the principles of PCS and one the night I was pleased when six clubs signed up.

"I would like to thank all the speakers, particularly Judy and Sir Bill Gammel who made time to come along out of very busy schedules. I would also like to thank therts development staff who organised the evening and arranged for the young leaders to attend."

The Clackmannanshire Youth Football Partnership will be given the opportunity to sign up to PCS when they meet on Monday 8th December.

The Friends of Clackmannanshire Museum and Heritage Service will hold their Christmas event at 7.30pm on Wednesday 3rd December in the Tommy Downs Room, Alloa Town Hall.

This year there will be two talks - an entertaining presentation given by Andrew Skelton about his experiences of working for Historic Scotland at Castle Campbell, followed by Susan Mills on the too-little known Alloa architect George Kerr, a contemporary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose surviving work includes St John's Primary School, formerly the Grange School, Abbey National Building Society in Mill Street, designed as Mario Fusco's fondly remembered Soda Fountain Bar, Alloa Co-op Bowling Club Pavilion and the cookery school flat in the old Alloa Academy Infant School in Ludgate. There will also be some short seasonal readings and music.

A buffet supper and a fundraising raffle will follow the talks. The Friends want to encourage more people to join them, so would like to welcome anyone who has never attended one of these events before.

If you would like to come along to this event but are not a member, please contact Susan Mills at Clackmannanshire Council Museum and Heritage Service, Speirs Centre, Primrose Street, Alloa (01259 216913).

Your views on Community Service by Offenders Scheme are being sought by Fife & Forth Valley Criminal Justice Authority (CJA) by 20th December.

Lynne Elflain, Senior Social Worker with Clackmannanshire Council's Criminal Justice Service said: "We want to find out what people think about the Community Service by Offenders Scheme. We have received funding from the Scottish Government to run a small study to find out the level of awareness and understanding people have of the scheme.

"A postal survey has been issued to 300 Clackmannanshire residents and is also available online at www.clacksweb.org.uk/council/clackmannanshireconsults/ for anyone to fill in. The other three council areas under the Community Justice Authority - Fife, Falkirk and Stirling - are all surveying in the same way.

"The survey will give us a picture of people's views of the service which will help us to shape future public information about the Community Service by Offenders Scheme and potentially the types of projects that the service can be involved in.

"The perception of Community Service can vary and we want to make sure that it is not seen as a soft option but as a valuable alternative to a custodial sentence. Community Service projects can bring huge benefits to local communities as the work at Menstrie Bridge and the Delph Pond has shown."

Councillor George Matchett, Vice-Convenor of Fife and Forth Valley CJA, stated: "One of the key aspects of managing offenders is the involvement of our communities. Whether that be through restorative work, service orders or reparation. However the CJA recognises that the only way this can be achieved is by ensuring that the communities we serve know what can be done with offenders, and what it will mean to the local people. That is why I welcome this work and look forward to working with officers to take forward the future of Community Service."

Notes to editors

1. Clackmannanshire Council is an active partner in the Fife and Forth Valley Community Justice Authority and along with our CJA partners we have been successful in recently attracting funding for a Community Service Visibility Pilot Project.
2. The Menstrie Bridge project involves partnership working with Central Scotland Police and Clackmannanshire Council's Community Wardens. The former railway line is used by walkers and is also a popular gathering place, however a considerable amount of rubbish accumulates in the area. The aim of the Menstrie Bridge project is to maintain the former railway line and dispose of litter and glass, in an effort to keep the area as a public walkway that all members of the community can enjoy.
3. The Delph Pond clean up project also involves partnership working with Clackmannanshire Council's Land Services and has an environmental focus. Clearing the debris and trimming back shrubs not only makes the area more pleasing to the eye, it promotes a safer environment for children to play.