When fellow politicians seem determined to keep reminding readers of the gloomy outlook facing communities in the months and years ahead as their budget decisions begin to hit hard, I thought a bit of cheer might be good for all of us.

At the end of August I spent three most enjoyable days with youngsters and their families from Helensburgh and Lomond as they competed in the Highland dancing competition again at Cowal Highland Gathering this year.

What an inspiring and exhilarating experience, to watch our young people show such dedication, commitment and pride in representing their area at such a prestigious event.

I suppose the high point was bringing home ten trophies over the Rest down to Helensburgh and Lomond from an event that only two years ago excluded our area, but there is so much we “more mature” locals can learn from what was seen here.

The camaraderie, support and team spirit amongst the group of dancers was the envy of many observers and generated a lot of media attention and rightly so.

If we adopt this young attitude in the way we work to overcome many of the challenges facing communities and the people who live alongside us, then not only could we aim for bigger events in our square, but we could enjoy the success of a real team effort - and perhaps begin to make many other young people feel included.

Dementia Friends: One such initiative which aims to build on team spirit is about to be launched as the result of a number of us working as a steering group to see Helensburgh strive towards becoming a Dementia Friendly town.

We are a friendly town which is now more accessible than ever but for some day to day activities are difficult. Through our initiative we hope to make many areas and aspects of life that bit easier for families and individuals dealing with dementia and invite everyone to join us in working towards this goal.

The added bonus here is that this will cost nothing, no financial input is needed, just goodwill and the desire to follow our youngsters and show real team spirit, come and join us.

Team GB: I am sure we will all be cheering for Gordon Reid as he competes in Rio, supported as ever by his family who have travelled to watch the events. Good luck Gordon from all us back home.