Inverness Courier's happier highlights of 2023: September
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Some media may focus on doom and gloom but we like to share positive stories about people in our communities.
Here's a selection from September:
Highland Hospice has promised a new date for bungee jumps and catapult launches after having to postpone the second day of the event due to high winds in the Great Glen.
The event was taking place at Dores on the banks of Loch Ness and some 120 people made successful jumps on Saturday but organisers felt there was too great a risk due to blustering conditions to go ahead on Sunday.
A community garden described an 'oasis of calm' has been officially opened following the transformation of a patch of land next to an Inverness supermarket.
It has taken two years of hard work by volunteers and offenders on community payback orders to create Holm Grown next to the Tesco store in Dores Road.
More than 200 members of the community gathered to celebrate the opening of a newly refurbished play park recently.
All ages turned out for the reopening of Dalneigh Park.
“Even on the day of my C-section, I still couldn't believe that I was going to have a baby. It was just surreal, like an out-of-body experience. I felt like I was looking at somebody else's life.”
Emma and Mark Ridgers (both 33) have had a long and painful journey to parenthood – one that started in 2016 when they returned to their home city for goalkeeper Mark to sign with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
After a three-and-a-half-month break due to injury, 16-year-old Lily Kelman fought against her body to be able to compete at the 2023 Cowal Gathering Highland Dancing World Championships – an event at which she had previously won the Juvenile world championship title.
This in itself, showed Lily's drive and determination as she went on to be named reserve champion in the Junior section at this year's world championships despite having just six weeks to train and still carrying a niggling muscular injury in her calf.
Children in a city neighbourhood normally busy with traffic enjoyed the chance to let loose on the Highlands' first ever 'play street'.
Velocity Café & Bicycle Workshop and community organisation Crown Connects hosted the ‘play street’ event on Sunday, temporarily closing off part of Charles Street in the Crown area to provide a safe play space.
A local Highlands photographer 'ticks off bucket list item' after capturing two newly weds glowing under the picturesque skies in Inverness.
Inverness photographer Michael Carver was working for a young couple's wedding at Bogbain when he stumbled upon one of the world's most magnificent backdrops for any photo; the Northern Lights.
A teenager with a fear of heights bravely took on a skydiving challenge in a bid to raise awareness for other youngsters struggling with body image.
Aimee Ironside (17). from Inverness, bravely jumped out of a plane above Glenrothes despite being scared of heights, to help raise funds and awareness for eating disorder charity, Beat. At the age of 15, Aimee struggled with a range of body image issues that stemmed from various social media sites pushing particular views of what it is "acceptable" to look like as well as bad dieting rituals including food avoidance and harmful "cleanses" trending on social media.
