St Patrick's & St Catherine's Shotts

14/06/2026

More important info 🚗

IMPORTANT BURNTISLAND INFORMATION FOR TRIP #100
It is “Trip Week!” and with that comes lots of important information in the build-up to the big day on Sunday the 21st of June 2026.

For all the car owners / drivers:
Please be very mindful where you park your car. Be very wary of local parking restrictions! Double yellow lines! Resident’s access and emergency vehicle routes!
The summer season has begun in the town of Burntisland and that means an influx of visitors to the Fife town.
In response to this and to control traffic and parking there are Council traffic wardens deployed in the town (even on a Sunday).
Due to the numbers expected to travel from Shotts we truly hope that there will be a lot of common sense and an amount of leniency given on Sunday 21st of June 2026.
If you plan to take your car it may be an idea to display that you are in the town for the trip, something as simple as the Picnic Group Centenary Badge may be all that you need.

On Sunday 14th of June 2026 there will be a pop-up shop in the parish centre after 11.00am mass by fabulous occasion and items such as car air fresheners will be available to buy and display in your car.

May the parking angels be watching over us all!

14/06/2026

Important Trip Info ⛺️

It is “Trip Week!” and with that comes lots of important information in the build-up to the big day on Sunday the 21st of June 2026.

For 100 years Trip goers have been taking equipment with them to help them and their families on the day – Warm weather clothing, Wet weather clothing, Snow suits, Umbrellas, Parasols, Wind breakers and now Tents & pop-up Gazebo’s.

With the latter in mind we need to remind everyone of their duty of care to one another as part of our agreement and licensing with Fife Council.

The trend of taking gazebo’s to the trip has grown for many years and has added to the visual site of our “tented village” wherever the trip is located that year. In recent years they have added much colour and great shelter when weather has been poor. These temporary shelters though can have a danger if not properly secured and so we ask that you all look take appropriate measures to make sure you gazebo is properly secured for you, your family, your trip neighbours and everyone on the links that day.

The links is a wide open space with almost no shelter from the elements. Being situated on the coast it is subject to fast changing weather and wind conditions.
To properly secure a pop-up gazebo, attach at least 15 kg to 20 kg of weight to each leg and add downward-pulling tie-downs. Anchor straps must always attach to the main steel framework, never the fabric canopy or its eyelets, to prevent tearing in strong winds.
Anchoring on Soft Ground (Grass, Dirt, or Sand)
Drive in Stakes: Drive 30 cm or longer heavy-duty spiral anchor stakes deep into the earth, angled outward away from the gazebo's footprint. Apply Ratchet Straps: Use a Heavy Duty Tie Down Kit to run a heavy-duty strap from the top corner of the frame down to the anchor stake. Use Leg Weights: Supplement stakes by strapping soft-standing weight bags (filled with sand or gravel) around the base of each leg to prevent lifting.
These are basic tips supplied by gazeboshop for anyone using a gazebo or tent . For your own make & model of enclosure you should follow your manufacturer’s instructions.

SPECIAL NOTICE: The links park has a very busy railway line running along-side. As each train passes by it creates a back draft which can easily lift items off the ground and on to the railway line. Should you decide to locate your gazebo/tent on the links park alongside the railway line then please take special care and definitely use anchor weights and tie-down straps to add the security and protection you may require - Please Take Care.

We are a very welcoming & helping parish, school and community.
Not everyone attending will have been to “The Trip” before so if you see anyone requiring, assistance, help, shelter and advice please keep up our St Patrick’s Shotts traditions.

Fortis In Fide.

13/06/2026

Parish Bulletin - Sunday 14th June 🙏

12/06/2026

Why not come along to the Parish Centre tonight at 7.30pm and enjoy the band concert - FREE entry 🎺📯
St Patrick's Parish Centre
Shotts St Patricks Brass Band

06/06/2026

TRIP #100 Update - The "Adult" Train!:

St Patrick's Picnic Group currently have 2 main objectives.
To provide the children of our school & Parish with a summer trip to the seaside and a gift with a "guest" at Christmas.

These objectives, for decades, have been funded from many great sources but by far the biggest, is our totally committed "Weekly Sweep Membership".💚

The play about "100 years of The Trip " "Trains, Weans & Water Pistols" Told us of the huge numbers who used to attend our fantastic Trip excursion. Sometimes the huge numbers travelling required 3 Trains! And those of a certain age will remember it being 2 Trains for years & Years!

For a long time now though, it has been 1 train, and that has been split between the Children and the Adults.

For a number of recent years people have commented on how the class numbers are down.😪
We are absolutely delighted that this year those numbers have risen significantly.

On a single train though, that has a knock-on effect on how many adults can then safely, travel on the same train.

With around 450 eligible sweep members and a maximum of 130 adult train seats available!! this was never ever going to be easy!!
To ensure a fair and impartial allocation process, a ballot was called for.
All eligible sweep members who indicated their participation were entered and drawn.

We offer our huge congratulations to those who have been successful and we offer our sincere best 'wishes to those included in the draw but who have not been successful this year

While we would like to be able to provide a certain ticket to every sweep member who applied, the limited number available unfortunately makes this impossible.

We thank everyone for their patience & understanding while this ballot process was carried out.

Notifications have now gone out to those who were successful.
And sincere commiserations have gone out to those who did not get what they were looking for.

Every single person who was unsuccessful in the first ballot was then
re-drawn for a position on the waiting list.

If your circumstances change and you no- longer require a train ticket then please let us know so your ticket or your place on the waiting list, can be offered to the next eligible Sweep Member.

Thank you so much for your continued support
Spiritually, physically & financially.

Trip #100: Burntisland - Here we come!
Fortis In Fide

🚂🎺🥁🎶💚❤️

06/06/2026

Parish Bulletin - Sunday 7th June 🙏

02/06/2026

Update - Adult Train Tickets:

Thank you to all of the sweep members who have replied to our message regarding adult train tickets and apologies to those who for whatever, reason never received the message when it was sent out.

We have made an attempt to secure a bigger train but for various reasons this will not be possible.

At this time around 70 sweep members have not replied to us, but from the number who have, we now know that a ballot will have to take place.

If you have not replied then please do so quickly as you only have a few hours left to do so.

We hope after the secondary school kids registration tomorrow night to know how many tickets we can offer out to sweep members and to get the ballot done as quickly as possible so we can let you all know if you have been successful or not.

Thank you very much 💚 ❤️

01/06/2026

Volunteers needed.

30/05/2026

The Holy Trinity 🙏

30/05/2026

Info re a charm bracelet found in the carpark a few weeks ago after a funeral Mass.