I very much enjoyed the Annual General Meeting, and it’s not often I say that about AGMs! It confirmed for me that we have so many knowledgeable and committed people who are tirelessly contributing to building a sustainable community – and we are making a difference!

Some of the key things I took away were:

• Great quality and quantity of vegetables grown on the Drygrange plots this year
• 6,000 apples picked and 2,000 donated to the Galashiels Foodbank (2024)
• Great attendance and enthusiastic participation at the Apple Day (2024) and the Solstice celebration this year
• Borders Greenway is progressing, and getting down on the floor to talk paths with primary school children was memorable
• Crop of apples and nuts at Drygrange has been phenomenal, and remembering that this was an empty field 13 years ago – what an achievement!
• Over the years, the Cycleways group has inspired, linked with and supported lots of other groups to develop cycle path networks, such as Stow and Earlston
• Max, Nigel and others have established systems and nourished EB4B to become a flagship project for AGM

For a fuller summary of what we did in 2024-25, please refer to the Chair’s report, which you can find on the website.

A note on policies:

The AGM endorsed our policies, which you can find on our website. The AGM also agreed that we should give members an opportunity to comment before the next AGM. You can do so by via our email address: [email protected]. Please mention ‘Policy review’ in your subject line and make sure you mention which of the policies your comments refer to. Comments received by the end of December 2025 will be reviewed by Trustees and submitted to the next AGM.

Looking forwards:

We’re always keen to welcome more volunteers and support new actions to promote our vision of a thriving community in a sustainable environment in Melrose and surrounding countryside. Come and speak to us if you want to join any of our Action Groups or have a great idea and want us to help you realise it.

We also continue to build our Board of Trustees to ensure we have the range of skills and experience needed to nurture the vision and grow the impact. We welcome enquiries, so if you’d like to know more, please get in touch.

Oonagh McGarry

We are currently looking for volunteers to help us with the following actions:

• e-bike change-over days, every first Sunday of the month, in Tweedbank
• organising a series of topical winter conversations
• organising conversations with young people on their hopes for a greener future

Do get in touch if you think you might be of assistance. Any commitment, however small, will be gratefully accepted.