Village hall transformation like no other

Furnace Community SCIO plays an important role within the local Argyll village community. It owns and manages the village hall and runs a range of community events throughout the year.

A number of grants totalling over £60,000 from the An Suidhe Wind Farm Community Fund have helped the SCIO turn an ageing village hall and village shop into a vibrant modernised hub for the local community. The new welcoming environment has also resulted in more local residents attending events including many more young people.

Over the past few years, they have received grants allowing them to add a small extension to the hall to accommodate a meeting room and a bar so as to offset the loss of the village pub. Combined with replacement windows, new seating, a hot water cylinder and acoustic panels this much-needed funding has transformed the building. The latest grant, of £12,500, will enable repairs to the rainwater goods and re-painting of external and internal woodwork.

The new extension has become the new village Social Club. The replacement windows have improved the appearance and comfort and are helping to attract a wider cross-section of the community with younger people getting involved in activities like carpet bowls! A monthly bingo session now fills the hall and brings people in from a wider area.

"The new acoustic panels in the hall have made a great difference. We can now hear the dialogue so much better during the film nights, and even meetings are a lot better". She also said that her husband has really appreciated the new hot water system in the kitchen for when he has to do the washing up after events" 

 

Margaret Miller, village hall user

Keen to improve the area outside the hall, volunteers cleared the undergrowth which enabled the village to hold a ‘Big Village Picnic’ to celebrate the Queen’s Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games in 2014. They had to borrow picnic benches from the Forestry Commission for this event. However, a grant from the An Suidhe Community Fund has paid for new concrete benches and a permanent brick-built barbecue. It is hoped that the development of this space will enable the community to hold more outdoor events in the future.

Funding has also played an important role in improving accessibility to the hall from the Queen Elizabeth cottage housing scheme, home to 45 residents. Lighting and improvements to the footpath have made access to the hall much safer for local people as well as children using the playground and playing field.

Further grants have funded other improvements such as a loop system at the hall for the hard of hearing. Microgrants have helped local groups purchase a new set of bowls and run taster sessions for Zumba and Yoga. A projector for the Combined Operations museum has enabled them to take their story to other interested parties such as old folks homes and the British Legion. The camera club also received a grant to help create a permanent exhibition of ‘Furnace Past and Present’ in the new hall.