Hello Friends and Neighbours!

You may know that we have a Facebook Group – the Caerlaverock Community Isolation Support Group. Catchy! We set it up prior to Lockdown back in March 2020, primarily to help people out practically – shopping, firewood, collecting prescriptions etc.

As time has moved on, there has been less need for specific isolation help, so we’re repurposing the group as Caerlaverock Neighbours!

facebook.com/groups/caerlaverockneighbours

We have changed the settings so that it is now a private group – this means that ONLY people that have joined/ join the group can see what other members post (it’s not open for public viewing).

Why do we need this when we have the Caerlaverock Community Association (CCA) Facebook page?

  • As well as being private, a ‘group’ – as opposed to a ‘page’ – allows members to post directly into the group (without having to go through page Admins). That’s the big difference.
  • Help during hard times is still at the heart of the group – nobody should feel stuck/ alone/ helpless. This is the place to ask for and offer help.
  • To keep other neighbours up to date with chat or interesting/ helpful stuff – especially those not online. Not all this makes it onto the CCA page.
  • We hope that people will start using Caerlaverock Neighbours as we go into winter – with the darker nights creeping in – and further Covid restrictions looming.

What can it be used for?

Offers of help
Help needed
Keeping in touch/ chatting/ connecting with other locals
Talking about what’s going on
Recommendations
Question and answers
Free stuff to give away
Personal sales and wants
Baking/ plant/ book swaps etc (restrictions depending)
Lost and Found pets
Sharing events (such as they might be right now!)
Activity ideas for kids and adults
Anything else that is relevant (local, family friendly, useful, helpful, ‘neighbourly’)

If you have more ideas – join the group, and post!

New member will have to answer a few questions before joining (to weed out potential bots/ trolls etc.) And we’ll compile a few member guidelines/ rules along these lines:

General rules of decency and consideration apply.
Whilst there’s no ‘going through the admins’ to post, the group will still be monitored to keep things neighbourly.

For clarity:

Please be courteous at all times!
– Offensive comments will be removed, and persistent offenders blocked

Please respect the safety and privacy of all group members
– Never disclose your, or any other member’s, full address or dates/ times that you/ others will be away from home

Members should reside within Caerlaverock itself, or volunteer/work here
– This will help keep the administration manageable and help keep posts relevant.

We want to encourage local business recommendations
– Local companies can advertise / share a business on this group but only once a month please

Please do not name and shame individuals or businesses
 – If you have a bad experience please contact them directly. This group is not the place for disputes.

This group will be great for giving away and/or selling items to our community
– The final decision on who the item should be sold or given to is the sellers/givers who should manage this outside of Caerlaverock Neighbours using private/personal/direct messages (PM/DM)
– No MLM/ pyramid selling/ network marketing.

Please don’t post political/ religious discussions or deliberately provocative opinions in the group
– Use your own Facebook page for this.

And finally – it’ll only work if it is being used! Give more than you take :)