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Friday 21 November 2025

Welcome to Community, your Dumfries and Galloway community bulletin. 

We are always keen to hear of any positive stories about things that are happening in your community and would like to feature them in Community. Please email us at communitybulletin@dumgal.gov.uk and one of our reporters will get back to you.

Dumfries and Galloway Youth Awards 2025

On Thursday 20 November, Easterbrook Hall hosted the seventh annual Dumfries and Galloway Youth Awards, celebrating the incredible achievements of young people across our region. Fully funded by the National Lottery and the Young Game Changers Fund, the event showcased talent, dedication and community spirit.

The evening opened with a vibrant performance from In Step Dance Group, followed by inspiring stories from finalists shortlisted from over 130 nominations. Awards were presented across ten categories, recognising contributions in sport, enterprise, arts, volunteering, equality and youth work. Highlights included Club 180 Junior Darts League winning the Sport Award, Building Futures Galloway taking Young Enterprise and Business, and Ribbons Ginnelly receiving the Culture, Arts and Entertainment Award before being named Young Person of the Year 2025 by live audience vote.

Other winners included Max Heughan (Young Volunteer), Connor Armitage (Unsung Hero), Stranraer Young Leaders (Equality and Diversity), Guild of Gaming (Group of the Year), Haylie Crosbie and Callum Meier (Youth Worker Awards), and Lifetime Achievement recipients Paul Chisholm and Dave Bleasdale.

‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service Comes to Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway proudly is to host a ‘Together at Christmas’ Community Carol Service at St John’s Episcopal Church, Dumfries, joining communities across the UK in this special initiative supported by The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales. Inspired by the Princess of Wales’ Westminster Abbey service, the event celebrates kindness, connection and the power of community.

The service will bring together 260 invited guests, including volunteers from organisations such as The Food Train, D&G Blood Bikes, Befriending Project, Mountain Rescue, cancer support groups and Alzheimer support networks. Couples marking milestone anniversaries and centenarians also joined the celebration, reflecting the theme of love across generations.

Local schoolchildren will help decorate the donated Christmas tree, and the programme features performances by Dumfries and Galloway Youth Choir, the South West of Scotland Piping and Drumming Academy, young musicians and Young Burnsians, showcasing local talent and heritage.

The service will celebrate the incredible individuals and organisations whose acts of kindness strengthen communities across Dumfries and Galloway.

Budget Consultation 26/27 – Just a Few Days Left to Have Your Say

There are now only a few days left to take part in Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Budget Consultation 26/27, which closes at midnight on Sunday 23 November.

The consultation invites residents to share their views on a range of savings and income options required to help close an anticipated £35 million funding gap over the next three years. Like councils across Scotland, we are facing rising costs and growing demand for services, making early and open engagement essential.

There are several ways for people to get involved:

• Online survey – the main way to submit views.
• Budget Challenge simulator – explore how savings and income options affect the overall budget.
• Easy Read consultation summary and a plain-text version of the survey, available on the council’s website.
• Paper copies and assisted digital support at local libraries and Customer Service Centres.

All feedback received before the deadline will be analysed and shared with councillors ahead of the Full Council meeting in late February 2026, where the final budget will be agreed.

Thank you to everyone who has already taken the time to participate.

£500,000 Boost for Community Projects Across Dumfries and Galloway

Thirty-five community projects across Dumfries and Galloway are sharing almost £500,000 through Round Four of the Scottish Government’s Community Led Local Development (CLLD) Fund. The latest awards include £414,409 for capital projects and £83,537 for revenue support, helping local organisations deliver vital services and improve facilities.

Projects funded range from initiatives tackling poverty and isolation to schemes promoting sustainability and community resilience. Examples include Newstart Recycle in Annan, which received £5000 for its Free Baby and Toddler Project and £1550 for a Free Mobility Equipment project, supporting families and vulnerable individuals. YMCA Dumfries secured £30,000 to upgrade its community kitchen, aiming to reduce food waste and provide free and subsidised meals. SHAX was awarded £5000 for its “Making a House into a Home” project, providing starter packs for people moving into independent living.

Funding priorities for 2025–2026 include supporting community facilities to achieve net zero, addressing the cost-of-living crisis, reducing inequalities in rural areas, and enabling local place planning.

The fund is administered by Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway.

Essential Road Repairs Set for C6n

Emergency repair works are set to begin on the C6n road near the A701 junction leading to Ae Village following a recent river embankment slip. The work is scheduled to start on Monday 24 November and is expected to take around six weeks, weather permitting. Work will pause over the festive period and resume in the new year, with completion anticipated in January.

The repairs include stabilising the river embankment, reinstating the road surface and improving drainage. To carry out these essential works safely, the C6 route will remain closed to all through traffic during the project. Local and emergency access will be maintained from the A701 junction to the nearby row of houses, but there will be no through route. Traffic will be diverted via C4n, C3n, and A701 in both directions.

Bus services will continue using alternative routes and waste collections will operate as normal. Forestry operations are not expected to be significantly affected. Winter gritting routes have been updated to include the full diversion and inspections will be increased to keep roads safe.

We appreciate your patience as we complete these vital repairs to protect the road and surrounding area.

Night at the Museum

Join us at Dumfries Museum this Saturday for two exciting events. Whether you love hands-on making, exploring new skills, or gazing up at the stars, there's something here to spark your imagination. The events are free with no need to book – just drop in and have a go.

Make Your Own Christmas Felt Ornaments

10am to 3pm

Use felt shapes, buttons, ribbons and simple hand-stitching to make unique tree decorations. Ideal for older children and anyone who wants to try some gentle stitching.

Stargazing at Dumfries Museum

6pm to 8pm

Step into an evening of astronomy like no other:

• Look through real telescopes with local astronomers to guide you.
• Discover why our museum is known as The Observatory.
• Get up close with historic telescopes.
• Hear the incredible story of Robert Waland, the Dumfries hero whose telescopes helped map the moon.

An atmospheric night for star-gazers, families, science lovers, and anyone who enjoys a sense of wonder.

RBCFT Film of the Week

The RBC Film of the Week is a French black comedy How to Make a Killing, currently showing in the UK as part of this year’s French Film Festival 2025.

The film is titled Un Ours dans le Jura in France, which translates is “a bear in the Jura” (a department in eastern France). A bear launches the action of the film, indirectly causing the deaths of three characters, but remains peripheral to the story, other than comments by various locals that there are no bears in the Jura.

When Michel swerves to avoid a bear on the road while driving in the Jura mountains and crashes into a stationary car, killing its two occupants, he and his wife Cathy (RBC favourite Laure Calamy) discover a stash of banknotes amounting to 2 million euros in the trunk of the car. Given the precarious state of their finances they decide to keep the money. When the local police chief Ronald and his team begin to investigate the deaths, Michel and Cathy go to increasingly desperate and absurd lengths to cover their tracks.

Director of the film, Dubosc, who also stars as Michel and co-wrote the screenplay, has clearly been influenced by the dark comedy of The Coen brothers, particularly Fargo, but in no way is his film simply a pale imitation. The characters and situations that occur in a small village where everybody knows each other feel authentically French.

Every scene is beautifully written and played, with the comic timing of all the actors judged to perfection. Calamy shows what a gifted actor she is, but the whole cast is excellent throughout.

This review was adapted from ParisUpdate online. How to Make a Killing is screening at the RBC on Monday 24 November. We’re really looking forward to it.