Support for Badenoch Storyland Sessions — Wildland

The organisers of popular Badenoch community heritage, nature and arts evenings, Storylands Sessions, have received a gift from Wildland to help part fund a new series of events throughout 2022 and into 2023.

Run in collaboration with Badenoch Heritage by local award-winning writer, Merryn Glover, and Hamish Napier, a local landscape composer, storyteller and music tutor, the Storylands Sessions provide a platform for showcasing, developing and nurturing traditional local arts while exploring Badenoch’s history, environment and community.

A donation of £750 from Wildland has been provided to help enable the Storylands Sessions team to arrange more community events in summer 2022 at venues including the Ptarmigan Dome at Loch Insh Watersports Centre in Kincraig and the library in the Badenoch Centre, Kingussie.

Cairngorms Connect, of which Wildland is a founding member, previously provided financial support to Hamish Napier. Funding of £18,000 enabled the composition of a one-hour suite of music in celebration of the local landscape, flora and fauna, in his album, ‘The Woods’. The album featured some of the finest folk musicians in Scotland, won ‘Album of the Year’ at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2020 and was performed at several sell-out concerts throughout Scotland including Celtic Connections 2020 festival and last month at Boat of Garten Community Hall.

Hamish Napier commented:

“Wildland does excellent work in habit restoration and local ecology. It is very heartening that they are also keen to support the local community through helping to fund the series of Storylands Sessions events. We are excited to invite locals and tourists alike to come and perform at our open mic nights, and for the audience to experience the buzzing ceilidh atmosphere of a live community event once again.”

Wildland’s Director of Conservation Thomas MacDonell said:

“Providing practical support for culture and the development of social, education and leisure opportunities in our local communities is vital to the work Wildland does. We’re therefore delighted to gift this initial support to Merryn and Hamish to hold more ‘Sessions at Kincraig and Kingussie this year, which we hope will be an ongoing success.”

Merryn Glover added:

"The Badenoch area is rich with stories of people and landscape and we are delighted to be drawing from this heritage in the Storylands Sessions, building on ancient traditions to foster new, exciting creative work. We are very grateful to Wildland for their contribution that helps us to take the Sessions forward.”

For more information on Badenoch Storyland Sessions please follow the link here