A march to protest against the closure of Castle Toward has been planned to take place prior to this council meeting, join us at 1pm in Dunoon on Saturday the 30th to show the council that we will not stand for the Castle being lost for future generations.

• Start Time: 30 January at 13:00
• End Time: 30 January at 16:00

• Where: Dunoon Band Stand (by the CalMac terminal)

Please, bring your friends, family, neighbours, drums, whistles, foghorns, leghorns. We can’t let the council get away with this.

As a theme, we’ll be wearing blue to match the current seagull logo of the Castle, so if you can wear something blue.

Castle Toward is one of the most important educational facilities in Scotland. Disgracefully it has been closed by Argyll and Bute Council since the 13th of November.

Join the fight to save Castle Toward!

Throughout this period attempts made to purchase this unique facility have been thwarted by the Council.  The under-handedness of the Council must be highlighted, to be challenged.  This is no more apparent than in the most recent sequence of events regarding fire safety precautions and the Council stalling over the action required and requested by Actual Reality, which has brought about the recent closure.

The following pages detail the way in which the Council has contradicted itself throughout the period in question, how it has caused intentional delays in the attempts at progress made by Actual Reality and the Castle Toward Trust, and the way in which deception continues by denying the public information it is entitled to.

• 1996 – 1998: The Beginning of the Problems
• 1998 – 2003: The Lease Debacle
• 2003 – 2004: The Intended ‘Disposal’ of Castle Toward
• 2004 – 2005: The Proposed Disection and Sale of the Grounds
• 2005 – 2008: The Obstacles in Negotiations to purchase
• 2008 – 2009: The Unacknowledged Bid to Purchase
• April – November 2009: The Steps To Closure

Please Sign the Petition

Please help the campaign but please only sign once. Signing multiple times throws doubt on the validity of this petition.

For 60 years Castle Toward has played host to music, drama and arts groups from across the country as well as operating as a very successful outdoor centre, changing the lives of countless numbers of children along the way. However, since 1996 when Argyll & Bute Council took over as landlords of Castle Toward as a result of the reorganisation of local authorities they have been determined to sell it.

In the latest twist they are using an inspection of the castle which identified some repairs needing done as an excuse to close Castle Toward down and claim it as an unaffordable luxury.Worst of all this is all being done behind closed doors.

We are looking for people involved in the arts at all levels to show their support and sign this petition, whether you are a professional, amateur or a supporter.

Please sign this petition if you yourself have been to Castle Toward or anywhere similar, if you know anyone who has, or even just if you believe in the value of these type of centres. If you feel you can make a comment explaining why you’ve signed it that would also help.

Please show your support and stop Argyll and Bute Council ending 60 years of music, drama, acting, learning and most importantly the fun and the experiences that children get at Castle Toward.

Please Sign the Petition

If you want to show your support for Castle Toward we urge anyone who can make it to Dunoon on Saturday 30th January 2010 to come along to that meeting and show Argyll and Bute council the level of support that exists.

If you cannot make it along please email or phone South Cowal Community Councillor, Elizabeth Carey. She will record and report the numbers who could not make it. This is just as important as getting there. It’s all about people power now.

Email:  elizabeth@carey13.plus.com or Phone:  013469 870 360. If you get her answering machine, just leave your name and number, and say you wish her to record your opposition because you are unable to attend.

A march to protest against the closure of Castle Toward has been planned to take place prior to this council meeting, get more information on March to Save Castle Toward

Castle Toward until it’s recent closure was as a residential training centre operated by Actual Reality giving children all over Scotland the chance to enjoy such activities as kayaking, orienteering, high ropes as well as access to all local wilderness and hill walks.

As well as an outdoor education centre, Castle Toward has been used for many years as as a residential centre for young musicians and artists, helping Scotland talented youngsters realise and develop their potential.

If you as a child did not visit Castle Toward you will almost certainly have known someone who did, maybe your dad, your daughter or even your grandmother. Many generations have enjoyed Castle Toward and we must now fight to ensure that our children and their children can also experience this unique learning centre.

Add your support now. Visit the “Save Castle Toward” facebook

Argyll & Bute Council have relentlessly pursued an alternative agenda for Castle Toward, designed to achieve the voluntary exit of its operator so that the authority can claim to be legitimately pursuing alternative uses for the estate.

In pursuit of this outcome, Argyll & Bute council has misled members of its own council and had faced-down opposition from the other authorities it was in partnership with.

Health & well-being, team working, confidence and affective learners, music and drama, sport and environmental education do not feature in the vocabulary of this exercise and neither, it seems, does ethical, moral, trustworthy, integrity, fairness, justice, public service, transparency or vision.

The options are:

Roll over and let these inglorious people succeed, or,

Rise to the challenge of overcoming their disagreeable goings on.

• Sign the online petition to save Castle Toward
• Join the Save Castle Toward Facebook page

Let other people know about this situation, facebook has done well to alert those people who use facebook, but the majority of the country do not actually have a facebook account and even less use it regularly. Alert those people to Castle Toward’s plight and at the very least ask them to sign the petition

• Tell anyone you think will care about Castle Toward

We are up against powerful people who genuinely do not care about Castle Toward. So, the magnitude of our opposition has to be seen everywhere possible – we must make an impact.

If you are free on Saturday 30th January 2010 then you can make your voice heard in opposition to the closure.

• Attend the public meeting at Innellan Village Hall Saturday 30th January 2010 - Get more details

Send letters and write emails to people who can help change Argyll and Bute’s money grabbing attitude. We will be adding some details of the Argyll and Bute counsillors who are responsible for deciding the fate of Castle Toward.

• Send letters / emails to Argyll and Bute Council
• Send letters / emails to your local press
• Contact anyone with influence

Most importantly – do not let Castle Toward go quietly!

If you have any more ideas, add your thoughts on the facebook page or add a suggestion below.