The Low Port Centre (LPC) has been transferred from West Lothian Council to St John's Church through Community Asset Transfer that involves the transfer of a property asset from the council to a voluntary or community organisation.
Heather Begarnie, LPC Chair of Trustees, collected the keys to the Centre from West Lothian Council earlier this month.
Heather explained: "We first viewed the Low Port Centre in December 2020 and there are times when we wondered if this day would ever come. Many people have worked very hard over these years and it is now amazing to have the keys and the opportunity to bring the Low Port Centre alive again. Thank you to West Lothian Council for all they have done to support this project and make the building compliant."
It is now 'full steam ahead' with phase one of the refurbishment work and a team of volunteers, as well as contractors, will be working to refurbish the main hall ready for use in the coming weeks. The volunteers working on the refurbishment are primarily from St John's Church, which has been instrumental in getting the project to this stage. St John's Church will also be using the Low Port Centre for their church services and for office space. It is anticipated that the Centre will be reopened for community groups to use within the next couple of months.
Speaking about the refurbishment work, Andy Clark, LPC Project Lead, commented: "We're so excited to be starting refurb work at the Low Port Centre. Very soon we'll be able to reopen and welcome community groups and businesses from across the region."
Leader of West Lothian Council Lawrence Fitzpatrick said: "This is great news for the community and we wish the LPC the best of luck in taking this project forward. The group and the council have worked in partnership to ensure that the asset transfer of Low Port Centre has the best possible chance of being successful. Community Asset Transfer provides an opportunity for third sector organisations to take on the running of local facilities and to access sources of external investment funding that is not available to council.
"We will continue to work with the LPC to help publicise their facility."
There are rooms available for community groups and businesses to use on an hourly basis and the Low Port Centre are keen to hear from any community groups that might be interested in using their facilities on a regular basis. If you would like to enquire about hiring on a weekly basis contact: info@lowportcentre.org
The Low Port Centre website is now live and you can find information on how to hire a room, the opening times for the Centre as well as other helpful information about the vision of the project there: www.lowportcentre.org
