This week saw the culmination of an incredible amount of hard work by our clients Include Me 2 Club with the opening of The Hub at James McGuire Building in Barrhead. This community café, shop and art studio provides a great resource on the main street while also creating employment and training opportunities for their members and a revenue stream for the charity.
Back in 2018 our friends at Include Me 2 Club got in touch with an idea – to create a facility in Barrhead for their members to gain training and employment opportunities while giving a beautiful Listed building a new lease of life. We got really excited about the potential to help create something special from this former police station, municipal chambers and council office. The original building was built in 1902 and with the adjacent Burgh Court Hall comprises a Category B Listed building.
Include Me 2 Club engages, inspires and empowers children, young people, adults and families effected by additional support needs, disabilities, mental health conditions, challenges or barriers. They support them to be part of an inclusive community, providing places, activities and opportunities for them to lead active, included and fulfilling lives.
We initially carried out an options appraisal exercise to determine the best use of the spaces available, and set about applying for Listed Building Consent and a Building Warrant. In January 2019 Include Me 2 Club reached an agreement with East Renfrewshire Council and work could begin! From then on a flurry of activity has taken place to convert the building into its new function. The 1960s and 70s renovations were taken down to expose the original beauty of the original stonework internally.
With work carried out mainly by volunteers and local tradespeople giving their time and expertise the final building is most certainly a labour of love, with one or two surprises encountered during the works! The final result is an incredibly light, bright and bustling café with tables, worktops and benches handmade from reclaimed timber partitions, artwork by local artists and a range of handmade gifts and crafts from local businesses, and an art studio for pottery and painting. On the first floor are rentable meeting spaces and a flexible community room which can be used for a range of uses by community groups and clubs.
We are so pleased to have been part of this incredible community project! Why not pop in if you are passing for a cup of their Social Blend –
More information on the charity and the incredible work they do can be found here – http://www.includeme2club.org.uk/
