2025 Clan Sinclair International Gathering, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland

Greetings Clan Sinclair Association USA Members,

A 2025 International Clan Sinclair Gathering is being planned for Friday, 25th July - Tuesday, 29th July, 2025 in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland!  The hosts of the 2025 Gathering are The Rt Hon. the Earl of Caithness, Malcolm Ian Sinclair, and The Rt Hon. Viscount Thurso, John Thurso.  The inclusive price for the trip per participant is not yet available, but is forthcoming.  Confirmed trip participants will be responsible for their own transportation to/from Thurso, Caithness, payment of rooms, and any transportation, meals or incidentals not included in the stated inclusive price per person. A very important detail is that CSA USA has been given 40 confirmed spaces which are allocated to USA CSA members. We wish that all USA members who wish to participate would be able to participate in the 2025 Gathering, but regretfully this may not be possible due to the already overwhelming interest in the trip in our other Clan Sinclair international organizations. As soon as we have more detailed information, we will provide it to the CSA USA membership.  Communication to you will be by email, postings on our CSA USA website and in Yours Aye.

We would now like to receive advanced interest commitments for this trip from our members. We will begin the USA reservation process now with these guidelines and in this order:

•  Participants MUST BE current members in good standing of Clan Sinclair USA.  It is our hope for this trip that we can include as many CSA members and different family groups from across the country as possible.  With this in mind, if you are planning a large extended family or group trip to Scotland, it is recommended that you book your own special family/group trip at a different time. 
•  Participants should be fairly certain that they are committed to the timeframe of this trip before asking to be placed on the USA List of interested participants.
• Prior to April 1, 2024, email the Clan Sinclair Secretary/Treasurer at [email protected]  with your name (and the name of your spouse/significant other/other CSA member traveling with you if applicable)  to be placed on the USA List of interested participants.  Please also include your best phone contact number. Names will be added to the USA List in the order in which they are received and verified by the date and time of the receipt of your email.  Previous Clan Sinclair Trips have filled quickly!  Please do not call the CSA USA President or Secretary/Treasurer by phone with this requested information. After receiving an email with a request to be placed on the USA List, the Clan Secretary Treasurer will contact you by return email to let you know your message was received.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
• The CSA USA President, Tom Robinson, and the CSA USA Secretary/Treasurer, Mary Raye Casper, will be responsible for the USA List for the 2025 International Gathering in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland.  Please do not contact Viscount John Thurso or our Chief, Lord Caithness, to ask to participate in this trip.  Requests to be placed on the USA List which are not sent directly to the CSA USA Secretary/Treasurer will not be honored.  We wish we could include all USA members that want to go on the trip, but there is only a limited and specific number of people that can be accommodated on the transports and at event facilities in Caithness, Scotland.  Therefore, anyone not on the verified list of attendees from the USA can’t participate in this Gathering by making their own arrangements in Thurso nor can they add on to the scheduled 2025 Gathering events and tours. 
• As soon as the number of trip spaces which are allocated to Clan Sinclair USA (40) are filled, we will be in touch by email with those on the List that fulfill that allotment for payment of the stated fee per person.  The remaining names on the list will then become our “Wait List”, and any openings will only be filled from the names on this List.

 
In the event that a verified USA trip participant or participants must drop off the list due to extenuating circumstances, please contact Secretary/Treasurer Mary Raye Casper as soon as possible to let her know of your cancellation. Please do not “transfer” your spot on the list to another person as it will not be honored. Newly available spaces on the trip will be filled from the Wait List only and only by the action of the CSA USA President with the assistance of the CSA USA Secretary/Treasurer.

We want to make our procedures for this trip as fair as possible for all members!  Please contact us for questions, and we will keep you informed as 2025 Clan Sinclair International Gathering information comes in!
 
YOURS AYE,
Tom Robinson, CSA USA President                                     [email protected]
Mary Raye Casper CSA USA Secretary/Treasurer     [email protected]
 
 
2025 International Clan Gathering – Friday, 25th July – Tuesday, July 29th.
The following schedule is currently proposed for the 2025 Clan Sinclair International Gathering.  The schedule provides confirmed participants the opportunity to plan additional days of touring before or after the planned dates in Caithness. This will be a slightly different format than previous Gatherings so that you have more time to do what you want to do. The idea is for us to meet in Thurso, Caithness rather than Inverness. To get from Inverness to Thurso, one can either catch a train, a coach or hire a car.

Currently the draft itinerary is:
Friday 25th Evening Reception & Welcome
Saturday 26th  Halkirk Games
Sunday 27th AM Church Service
                             PM Clan Meeting
 Monday 28th Visit to Castle Sinclair Girnigoe
                             Gala Dinner (formal)
Tuesday 29th  Depart