Our Story

In 2025 we received funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to run a village based photography project with members of our scout group.

The aim was to teach our members about ‘photography’ and to take a series of images in and around the village that would be published into a large format book. Copies of the book would be circulated to the local library, schools, care homes etc.

Our Group

We are a registered charity overseen by a Trustee Board of volunteers. We have over 60 members and adult helpers in our group. The Beaver section (6-8 years old) meet on a Monday evening. The cub section (8-10.5 years old) meet on Wednesdays, and the scout section (10.5-14.5) meet on a Thursday. We have a partnership agreement with the Explorer section (14.5-16 years old) who meet at the local community garden.

The Kit

All of the camera kit we have used for the project has been either donated or loaned. One highlight was the Olympus TG-6 camera which allowed members to experiment with underwater photography. Other kit included Canon EOS 450D, 550D and x cameras, with kit lenses (x to x mm). Supported by Education Scotland, our Beaver section were able to experiment with green screen recording using the photos that had been take.

The Project

All of our sections have taken part in photography evenings, photographic walks around the village and had the opportunity to obtain their Photography Badge. Members had the opportunity to spend a day at the Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, taking part in a photo walk and capturing images for the project. A highlight, as you can see from the gallery sections, was an image of West Calder at sunrise, taken by a cub scout at 5.30 am. Many thanks to Kieran, a student at West Calder High School, who used his photographic expertise to help out with a cub scout photo evening and the photo walk at the zoo.

The Community

This website was set up to keep parents and members of the community aware of the project and its progress. All local businesses were mailed information. Annie’s Orphans, a charity on Main Street, has promoted the project on it’s information section on its window. A display of images is on show at the West Kirk Church Hall, along with information sheets. An information stand at the Community Centre open day promoted the project.

The Photographs

Our members are currently ‘voting’ on the images that should be published in our book – there are over 300 of these, with the selected images being uploaded to this site. Those images were taken by members, volunteers and parents, with some being submitted by local people. They are also evaluating a selection of books to decide what format should be chosen for the final publication.

June Update

The clock is now ticking on our publication. We aim to get the order in for our publications at the end of the month.