CHAIRMAN

John Parker

Tel. 07970 568425

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

Martin Harris

Tel. 07720 823364

SECRETARY

Allan (Mac) Black

Tel. 07512 022949

TREASURER

Duncan Pickard

Tel. 01334 870203

TALK CONVENOR

Graeme Hogg

Tel. 01334 653043

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Jim Lawrence

David Martin

Maurice Shepherd

David Sinclair

ASSIST. TALK CONVENOR

Bill Bowman

TALK RECORDERS

Jim Lawrence

Tony Miklinski

Brian Murray

Graham Pirie

MEMBERS PAGE

To access the MEMBERS page enter your password in the box above

...........................

Wednesday

25th February 2026

10.00am

'Sherlock Holmes'

Presenter - Colin Moore

Club News

Secretary email: macblack.author@gmail.com

Considering the abysmal weather there was an excellent turnout for the meeting on 11th February in Castlehill Hall where Chairman, John Parker, welcomed our speaker for today, David McNeil.

Secretary, Allan Black, informed the meeting that a closer link was being established with Cupar Ladies Probus. A visit was planned for the near future by their President and Secretary to one of our meetings, followed by our Chairman and Secretary visiting one of theirs.

The position of Deputy Chairman has been filled by member, Martin Harris, with immediate effect.

The club was pleased to welcome a visitor and potential new member today, Charles Bradbury.

Our speaker, David McNeil, lives in Kirkcaldy and his talk is entitled ‘Literacy in Scotland’. This talk is as a result of a collaboration between the National Literacy Trust and the Grand Lodge of Scotland. It is an initiative seeking to raise awareness and inspire positive action within our communities by tackling the challenges associated with low literacy—a matter that affects not just reading and writing, but also essential communication skills such as listening and speaking.

Would you like to join us?

New members will be very welcome, so, if you know of someone who is retired and looking for something to do on Wednesday mornings, please encourage them to make contact with our Secretary or, to pop-in to one of our meetings. 

Our next meeting will be on 25th February and there will be a talk by one of our own members, Colin Moore, entitled ‘Sherlock Holmes’.

Literacy in Scotland

David McNeil began by quoting the ‘7 Cs of 21st Century Teaching and Learning in Modern Education’ (September 2024) as being...

Critical Thinking; Creativity; Collaboration; Communication, Information, and Media Literacy; Computing and ICT Literacy; Cross-Cultural Understanding; Career Learning and Self-Reliance.

The advantages of being able to read, write, speak, listen and communicate enables the person to be empowered and to navigate the world. Poor vocabulary leads to mental health problems in adults as they cannot properly fill in job application forms leading to unemployment.

It is a sensitive issue as adults are seen as role models for children and failure in adults can affect the child’s performance in the education arena.

The Literacy Trust has addressed these areas by giving boxes of books, pens, jigsaws and games etc. to libraries, child care centres and community hubs. The idea is the child gets into a routine where bath-time is followed by the adult reading a book to the child before bedtime.

The Scottish Government has issued thousands of Baby Boxes which contain soft toys and a first soft book which has a mirror at the end so that the baby identifies themselves with the book and thus every other book in their hands. If your district has a community bookshelf, offer to read stories to various groups and donate books to other different organizations.

Finally, you should recommend books you have read for others to enjoy in book clubs and writing groups, as well as recommending the National Literacy Trust website.

An appreciative vote of thanks was given by Maurice Shepherd.

Brian Murray