Sonas group has gone from strength to strength

Mar 1 2013 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express

At the beginning of 2003, eight curious students rolled up at a new Gaelic class in Paisley.

A decade later, the Sonas Group has gone from strength to strength and has just celebrated its 10th anniversary by staging a successful open day.

Beechwood Community Centre, in Shortroods, Paisley, acts as their HQ.

And the group’s secretary, Anne Bowie, is thrilled that Sonas is continuing to grow after all those years.

She told the Paisley Daily Express: “It all started for Sonas at the Disability Resource Centre, in Love Street, with Morag Law, from Reid Kerr College, acting as tutor.

“The language topics were selected from the Gaelic TV programme Speaking Our Language and, at the end of the first year, a presentation was staged by students.

“It just snowballed from there and we now have 20 members on our register, which is the maximum we can take.”

Paisley woman Anne joined Sonas – which means happiness – six years ago because she wanted a better understanding of her father’s Gaelic roots.

She said: “It was the perfect class for what I was after. There were Gaels on my dad’s side and I wanted to try to learn the language.

“It’s certainly not as easy as I thought it would be but I love it and I’m so glad I took the plunge.

“It’s very difficult and slow moving but it’s a nice language and we have a great group.”

The group is of mixed ability, with both disabled and able-bodied members.

Ten years on from the start, there are still members from the Disability Resource Centre who attend.

In 2004, the group won the prestigious Gaelic Learners prize at the Scottish Adult Learning Partnership Awards.

The following year, due to increased numbers, Sonas split into two groups – one of them being a beginners’ class.

In 2006, members staged a special show – Saying Yes, No Worries – at the Disability Resource Centre.

Then, in 2007, Sonas took on full responsibility for all aspects of their organisation, including securing funding.

They welcomed their first community members and took part in a concert as part of the Star Soweto project.

By now, Sonas was firmly established in the community and, in 2008, they began outreach work to raise awareness of Gaelic in Paisley.

The group went into the recording studio in 2009 to produce a CD – A Ceilidh With Sonas – which helped to raise hundreds of pounds for Paisley’s ACCORD Hospice.

The disc was produced by former Thingummyjig TV star John Carmichael and starred several guest performers.

In 2010, Sonas took their outreach work to several Paisley primary schools and were runners-up in the Provost Awards.

Last year, the group participated in the Renfrewshire Witch Hunt project and are already preparing for the national Mòd, which comes to Paisley later this year.

For more information on Sonas, call 0778 843 0713 or send an e-mail to sonasforall@btinternet.com