Dufftown Community Centre – Fit for the Future

Since taking on full community ownership of the centre in 2020, the committee has managed to make it a going concern with sufficient income from hall rental to cover core costs (primarily energy, insurance and cleaning). DCC has carried out improvements with support from this Fund and others - installing insulation, new boiler and LED lighting with an award of £19,207 in 2020, and upgrading toilets and storage in 2021 with an award of £27,506.

The 2023 award marked the completion of planned improvements and transformation of the facility.  As a result energy bills have decreased and hall usage and hires have gone up.

Committee member Amanda describes the work done and the impact of the project:

We used the grant money to get a new sports floor in the hall, new flooring in the lobby and also in the kitchen and lounge area. The floor in the hall has made such a difference to the groups using it. Not only is it better for sports etc but it looks clean. We also painted the hall which has totally transformed it.

The soundproof panels have made a big difference, you can now have a conversation even if the young people are playing sport and shouting. We got the lobby roof lowered which then became a storage space with an easy access ladder. Doing this not only gave us a much-needed storage space but will help with lowering our heating bills. We also painted the lobby, so it looks brilliant with its new flooring. The lounge area has carpet tiles and also looks fantastic. 

The beauty of the tiles is if there happens to be a large stain we can just change the required tiles. 

We also had another grant which was just short on getting our kitchen replaced so with your top up this was achieved. Since we have had our improvements, we have managed to get three new user groups which has helped keep our numbers up. I feel that this is because the centre is more inviting with its new look.

Further spin off benefits have been more volunteer input and other facility improvements:

During the project the volunteers rallied together and gave all the areas a paint. This made the whole project complete and totally transforms the centre. The centre is well used and is fit for purpose for the future. As long as we have regular user groups, we will continue to be a vital part of the community. We successfully applied for a micro grant to put electricity in to the garden so that we could offer that area to users all year round. We have just had internet installed into the building which mean we can get an app to control the heating which will make it more efficient and help the user groups deliver their activities. We will also be able to offer Wi-Fi to people that wish to use the centre for training etc.

There has been a lot of positive feedback from users of all ages.

The local Beaver Scouts leader reports:

We have been using the community centre for a number of years. Before the upgrades the centre was dated. The biggest improvement for us as a user group is the flooring and soundproofing that has been upgraded in the hall. Having 16 children between the age of 5 and 8 things could get very noisy and the echoes before were deafening when they would be playing and doing activities however this has been greatly reduced by the flooring and soundproofing panels that have been fitted.

 

The community centre now has a welcoming feeling and is a pleasure for us to run our group from. The newly refurbished kitchen is hygienic, bright and allows us to do cooking with our group which they love. Having access to two toilets is also a huge benefit as when we use the community centre for sleepovers it gives space for our young people to change in privacy which is important. The improvements to the space outdoors mean that we can access the garden even in wet weather due to the covered area which has also been used on several sleepover events we have ran. Overall the community centre improvements have been welcomed by us as a user group and the parents of the young people we cater for. It is fresh, bright and very welcoming for anyone who wishes to use it.

And from slightly older residents:

The B.A.L.L group are really pleased with the new floor for our activities. Keep fit is much easier now the floor is nonslip and even our games we play have improved because the floor does not have an uneven slope.