The First Steps 

February was an exciting month in Kyleakin Connections (KC). The Nice Café and Bookshop reopened after 3 years of closure, and a new project was announced. 

The project will explore how the use of Makaton and re-design of KC well-being garden can support community engagement and subsequently mental well-being. This project will actively involve the service users at KC as co-designers and collaborators in this research. It will be supported by the staff at KC and two researchers from the University of the Highlands and Islands, Gill and Megan. 

The first phase of the project is focused on relationship building between researchers, services users and staff at KC. This month I (Megan) made my first visit to KC. I was drawn to the project because of the beautiful location of KC and my passion for building stronger communities. 

On the first day of this visit, KC opened their ‘Nice Café and bookshop which have been closed for three years (as a result of COVID-19). There was an energetic buzz in the air as service users and staff prepared to welcome customers back into their café space. To encourage community members to learn and use Makaton, the Nice Café now has a Makaton sign of the day. One highlight of my trip was seeing customers learning the Makaton sign for ‘tea’ from services users and practicing it.

On the second day of the visit, the service users and staff were trialling a new digital cash till that has been purchased for the Nice Café. The tills functions are being adapted to make them accessible and user friendly for all those who work in the café. This will hopefully increase the number of service users who can manage the till from two to eight.  

At the end of my visit, we planned our first research project with the service users and staff. We developed a research question: ‘Is our café similar or different to other cafes in the area?’ and the service users selected different tasks to complete that would help answer this question.  

We are still at the early stages of this project and have a lot to learn from one another. However, I left the Isle of Skye feeling a sense of excitement and gratitude that I get to return and spend more time with the KC community.  

Written by Megan Dickson – Researcher based at University of the Highlands and Islands 

The project mentioned above is funded by the Ideas Fund.