The consultation on a community chapel of rest at the old Met Office will close on Friday 5th May at 5pm. We have had 3 responses to date and would encourage all members of the community to get in touch with their thoughts and comments. Collecting responses from the community is an extremely important factor in making decisions regarding facilities that are going to be used by the community of Tiree. You can submit your comments in a variety of ways, either by giving us a call, writing an email, commenting on social media posts or even writing a letter. Anonymous responses will also be collected and collated. 

For a number of years now there has been discussion within the community about the perceived need for a chapel of rest facility. At a recent meeting between Tiree Community Council (TCC) and Tiree Community Development Trust (TCDT) it was agreed that TCDT would investigate renting the old Met Office at Tiree Airport with a view to using it as a community chapel of rest facility. A 3 year pilot project was proposed and has been costed out at approximately £15,000. This includes investing some money in decoration, fixtures, fittings and furniture to make the space fit for purpose as well as general running costs and rent for the 3 year period. Points to note are:

1. This would be purely a Chapel of Rest – a comfortable space for the coffin to lie and family/friends to visit prior to a funeral – and can not include a Police Mortuary due to security issues.

2. Tiree currently does not have a Police Mortuary following the recent closure of the former facility at Tiree Airport.

3. At present coffins will normally lie either at home or in Heylipol Church (Church of Scotland) or Baugh Church (Tiree Baptist Church).

4. Following the recent renovation of Baugh Church, Tiree Baptist Church has made a commitment to make it available to the whole community as a chapel of rest, which would take priority over any other planned activities in the church building.

We would like to hear from you. Have you been in a situation where your family/friends would have benefitted from a Chapel of Rest as described above? Please get in touch to let us know if you think this is a good use of community funds.

Please contact a member of staff at the office by calling 220 074 or emailing admin@tireetrust.org.uk

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