Summer Duplicate Bridge


If you would like to play Duplicate Bridge during the summer months come along to the Kilmacolm New Community Centre on Monday evenings at 7.30pm commencing Monday 9th May. Come with your partner or come and hope to fi nd a partner there. All welcome except for absolute beginners. Any queries phone 01505 872345


regular items


Community Transport


Shoppers free bus service... Mondays 11.45am and 1.30pm Thursdays 9.30am to 12.30pm


The bus is also available to all recognised groups within the village. For more info Tel: 872076.


Country Dance Class Monday evenings at 7.30pm in the Kidston Hall. There


are already dancers in the group from most of the surrounding villages, so a lift to class can easily be arranged. Please call Gill on 01505 842629.


Diaporama Interested in learning about putting Audio Visual


Presentations together? Please feel free to come along to the New Community Centre on the second Monday of each month. You will get tips and trick on how to take your slideshows to the next level.


church lists


 Freeland Church, Rev KN Gray BA BD. Morning Service 10.30am. Crèche, Sunday School, Lynx and Cornerstone. Evening Service 7pm Web site www. freeland.org.uk


St Mary’s Episcopal (Anglican) Church Rev Colum McGranaghan 10am.


St Machar’s Ranfurly Church Rev Suzanne Dunleavy BD DipEd. Sunday services at 10.30am. Crèche. Hearing aid loop system. All welcome.


Hope Hall, Sun 1pm Sunday School, 6.30pm Gospel Meet; Mon 6.30pm Children’s’ Bible Club, 7.45pm Bible Teaching; Fri 8pm Bible Class.


Faith Christian Fellowship Sundays at 11am in the Cargill Hall, Lintwhite Crescent, Bridge of Weir. Tel: 0800 298 4875 email: fcf@lifeonfi re.org.uk From the Bahá’i writings “If only men would search out truth, they would find themselves united.” For information and details of meetings, call Bridge of Weir 615641.


 Houston & Killellan Kirk. 1st May 9.45am Early Service: The Sacrament of Holy Communion. 11am Morning Worship.


St Fillan’s, Main Street, Houston. Sun Masses: Vigil (Sat) 5pm, 9.30am & 11am. Weekday Mass: Tues-Sat 9.30am except Thurs, 7pm. Reconciliation: Sat 10-10.30am and after Vigil Mass; Thurs 7.30-8pm. Exposition: As announced. Baptisms: 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month by arrangement. Parish Priest: Rev Daniel J McLoughlin, Dip.Th.,MA Pastoral Assistant: Sr Mary Frances Collett, RNDM (Tel 01505 613514). “Abbotsfi eld”, St Fillan’s, Main St, Houston, PA6 7EL. Tel: 01505 612046, Fax: 01505 610556. Email: parish@stfillan.org.uk. www. stfi llan.org.uk.


Houston Baptist Church. 11am & 6pm Carrick Centre Wednesday Bible Study. Please note a change of time in our evening services. For more information contact Rev D Snelson on 01505 612722. Church of the Nazarene, Houston, at the Carrick Centre, Main Street, Houston, Rev Benito Coetzee. Family services at 10.30am with full toddler, children and youth activities running concurrently with the service. Word and Table Quiet Service held from 9am-9.30am every 3rd Sunday. Visit our website: http:// houston.nazarene.org.uk


 Howwood Parish Church, Sun 11am. Rev David Stewart. MA BD MTH. Prayer meetings held in the vestry every Sun at


10am & Fri at 7.30pm, 3 Bowfi eld Way.


 Kilbarchan East Church. Services continue at 11am on Sundays during the present vacancy. Sunday School, Bible Class and the crèche meet in the halls. There is full disabled access in both church and halls, where there is also a toilet facility for the disabled and a “loop” system operates in the church. The congregation remains committed to retaining uplifting and inspiring worship, with the help of the choir. In the absence of a minister, any queries should be addressed to the Session Clerk, Fulton Dunn-704502. There are many activities, which are all featured on our very well-designed website: www. kilbarchaneastchurch.btik.com where there are many comments and photos of the numerous groups. Kilbarchan West Parish Church. Services conducted by Rev Arthur Sherratt B.D at 11am on Sundays. Crèche, Junior Church and FEWsion meet at 10.45am. Hearing aid loop system. All welcome and for tea/ coffee in the hall after worship. Midweek Fellowship on Wednesdays in the Session House at 10.30am. Please join us for tea/ coffee and a short informal act of worship. You will be made welcome at any of these services.


 St Colm’s Catholic Church The Very Rev William Canon McDade – Sunday morning family mass 10am.


Kilmacolm Old Kirk Church of Scotland (Scottish Charity no. SC009291).www. kilmacolmoldkirk.org.uk. Minister Rev Dr Peter McEnhill (01505 873174). Morning Worship - Sundays 11am, visitors welcome. Sunday School and Crèche available.


St Columba Church of Scotland. (a Scottish registered charity SC007992) Minister Rev Douglas Cranston. Sunday Worship 11am Sunday school and Little Praisers. Sunday 6pm prayer meeting followed by evening service at 6.30pm in small hall. Everyone welcome. Wednesdays at 10.30am Wednesday break in Large Hall. Visitors welcome. Gospel Services in The Scout Hall, Kilmacolm on Sundays at 4.30pm and Thursdays at 7.30pm.


St Fillan’s Episcopal (Anglican) Church Rev Colum McGranaghan. Sundays 11.30am Visitors welcome. Christmas Services:


 Langbank Parish Church Rev W McKaig. Sunday Services 11am. Short Communion on last Sunday of the month. Sunday School and Welcomers meet during


Service. Crèche available. 


Lochwinnoch Parish Church - Rev Christine Murdoch. 11am Morning Service with Sunday School and Creche. Calder United Free Church (Church St Lochwinnoch) Sunday: 11am Morning worship with Sunday School and Crèche. 6.30pm Evening Fellowship group, 7.30pm


ABC’s Teen group. Wed 6.30-7.30pm. 


Mount Zion Church Rev Andy Lunn BSc. 10.30am in Bethesda. Junior Church and Bible Class. Visit our quarriersvillage.2day.ws


website: www.


The fi rst coffee morning at the new Community Centre held by the Horticultural Society was a great success. This came as a great relief to the board as we know the importance of coffee mornings to village life. Well done to Jill Russell and all the members.


The new Library will be fi tted out in the week beginning 9th May and open for business on 16th May (fi ngers crossed).


Inverclyde Youth Services are willing to support youth provision in the Centre through to the summer. There will be a meeting for parents of p5-s6 to discuss their involvement.


McGill’s buses have announced through SPT enhanced service on the X7 and X7A from Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir to Glasgow. They also commenced on the 24th April the X5 from Kilbarchan to Glasgow. This latter service will take pressure off the former two. McGill’s are to be commended on the service they are providing and they have since October purchased 12 double-decker buses all made by Alexander’s of Falkirk, for use on these routes. McGill’s have been really good for Inverclyde and I know they have ambitious plans for Renfrewshire.


The Inverclyde Local Development Plan will come to committee on the 3rd of May. This LDP has assumed greater importance as the Strategic Development Plan for Glasgow and the Clyde Valley will be for strategy and vision and the LDP much more concerned with detail. Our only strategic site of signifi cance is the Greenock Ocean Terminal as a freight hub. In the LDP that goes to committee and then to public consultation there have been 11 suggested sites in Kilmacolm for development in the green belt, 10 for houses and 1 for a school (St Columba’s). The sizes range from 0.15 to 15.64 hectares. There are 3 suggested sites in Quarriers Village, all adjacent to the hospital. The report also contains a recommendation to extend the conservation area to part of the village centre. I chair the above meeting and I trust my councillor colleagues are sympathetic to spending the proposed £25k on refurbishing the West Glen play park.


The MUGA in Birkmyre Park has had its problems but most people agree it is an excellent facility if managed properly. To this end the crawl-hole must be removed and access restricted to the trading hours of the gym.


The road outside the Hospice shop on BoW Road needs yellow lines as irresponsible parking has caused blockages and buses and lorries have had to divert up the wrong way. Several potholes fi lled including Wateryetts and Gryffe Rd. The Pullman car park is in the budget for this year. Eventually with the help of messrs Campbell and Duncanson the lighting fault in Glebe Rd was fi xed by Scottish Power.


As chair of our Green Charter committee I helped launch national Spring Clean week in Inverclyde. I must congratulate Karen Maitland for what is the 3rd annual spring clean in Kilmacolm. There was a really good turnout of caring residents and should be applauded for their public spirit. Brian Hennan 01475 715909 will supply all you need for a litter pick and collect the bags afterwards.


The Lodge, Glebe Rd, 43rd Annual Plant Sale is on the 13th, 14th, 15th and 20th, 21st, 22nd May.


My next surgery is the 28th May 10am-11am in the Community Centre. I can be contacted- email: david.wilson@inverclyde.gov.uk; phone: 01475 741969 / 712727 and 07766 992294.


Over the past 3 years in Inverclyde schools, there has been a decrease in the 5 to 14 national assessment results for writing and mathematics, the results for reading remaining steady. This in its self is disappointing, but I am particularly concerned about the levels of attainment being so poor. For Secondary pupils for example, 39% failed to meet the minimum standard for writing and 24% the minimum standard for reading.


This seems to me scandalous – almost 4 out of 10 Secondary pupils failing to reach the minimum level of competence for writing. I said so at a recent Education Committee meeting and was surprised to fi nd the former Leader of the Council rapping me over the knuckles for using infl ammatory language. He felt that we should not be too critical because the results were due to the high levels of deprivation in Inverclyde and the results were comparable to other local authoritarians having similar problems.


Now I recognise that Inverclyde has a huge problem with deprivation. Inverclyde has the second highest concentration of deprived data zones in Scotland and has 38% of its data zones in the most deprived 15% areas. Nevertheless, I do think it is scandalous that we cannot meet the minimum standard for these basic building blocks of learning in such a high proportion of pupils.


I am not suggesting that correcting this problem will be easy, but we have to do better. 2009/10 was the last year in which the 5 to 14 Curriculum was delivered in our Primary and Early Secondary stages and it has now been replaced by the Curriculum for Excellence. Hopefully the new system will produce better results. We need to get the basics right.


40 | MAY 2011 | your LOCAL news every month - in print and online |


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