Approaching 130 from Laggan to Kinlochleven to Inveraray attended our Extraordinary General Meeting on 25th April in Fort William which allowed the formality of appointing the directors nominated by the membership. The meeting also heard a report from the board on activities over the past year. A full AGM will be held around October. Following the EGM we were privileged to hear from Faye MacLeod on “Why Community Ownership?” Faye is a partner with Campbell Stewart MacLennan & Co in Portree and Benbecula, who carried out the Financial Analysis on the Rio Tinto Aluminium Estates for the Trust last year.

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Trust will be held in the Duncansburgh Macintosh Church Hall, Fort William at 7pm on Tuesday 25th April 2017. This will be followed by a Members’ Gathering with a keynote speaker and opportunity for discussion. Please note that while Ordinary members are entitled to attend and vote (or appoint a proxy), Associate and Junior members are not able to vote but are very welcome to attend the EGM. John C Hutchison Secretary AGENDA 1. Welcome 2. Apologies 3. Appointment of Directors nominated by Members Following a call for directors with a deadline on 27th

The EGM on 25th April will be followed by a Gathering when Faye MacLeod will speak on “Why Community Ownership?” Faye is a partner with Campbell Stewart MacLennan & Co in Portree and Benbecula, who carried out the Financial Analysis on the Rio Tinto Aluminium Estates for the Trust last year. She has much experience of working with community landowners in the North and West and is highly regarded across the sector. All are welcome and there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

Following a call for directors with deadline on 27th March, the following have been proposed and, there being seven vacancies, will be nominated for appointment at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on Tuesday 25th April in Fort William : • Andrew Baxter, Kinlochleven • Alex Farquhar, Fort William • John Hutchison, Badabrie • Patricia Jordan, Fort William • Flora McKee, Inverlochy • Campbell Slimon, Laggan • Ben Thompson, Erracht

As noted in our post on 6th March we are now seeking nominations for directors. In accordance with the Articles of Association, at the first General Meeting all directors are obliged to stand down and so there will be seven vacancies arising on the board. Ordinary Members of the Trust are therefore invited to be nominated as directors on the board. At the second and each subsequent AGM, one-third of the elected Directors (or the nearest number upwards) shall retire from office. Those Ordinary Members being nominated must be proposed and seconded by other Ordinary Members. Nominations for directors should

We held another series of public meetings in February, being eighteen in total since we started, including the earlier round to test community ideas. The purpose of the recent meetings, which over 100 attended, was to explain the steps that had been worked through during 2016 and to share the plan for the coming months. While we were naturally disappointed to be unsuccessful in our attempt to buy the Estate we were very pleased indeed with an outcome that gives security for the Smelter. We always saw the interests of the Trust as being less important than retaining jobs and