The South Machars Community Centre is a welcoming, supportive and inspirational space within the community. The space plays host to a variety of engagement facilities, including a “ReUse” thrift shop, a commercial kitchen for cooking workshops, a community fridge and a pop-up café. Among all these facilities, the site promotes secondhand usage of products, supports local produce and advocates against food waste.
Funding is a big challenge that is overcome through many avenues to not only provide paid staff but to also put on and develop a diverse range of events. The team of volunteers lead and run different initiatives and projects that are new and exciting for the area. Encouraging people to get involved can present its own difficulties, but through communication and encouragement, attendance has become more regular.
The SMCC strives to offer a varied programme of events and options for the local community and wider support groups. These can range from encouraging better health and wellbeing during a food festival, supporting local small businesses through monthly markets or having the facilities to offer drop-in services like Citizen’s Advice, a Hearing Aid Clinic or important community engagement sessions. The amount of effort put into it by volunteers is exceptional and enables the community centre to organise and run carers’ groups, arts and crafts activities, music lessons, toddlers' groups and more.
Whether they are skilled volunteers enabling the centre to run, trained instructors delivering specific workshops, or community leaders exploring new projects: local people make the centre. Local tradespeople have been involved in the building and maintenance of the site and the installation of the new commercial kitchen. Additionally, many local charities are supported through coffee mornings and fundraising events, while small businesses facilitate the running of markets and pop-up shops. The centre works in mutual partnership with other local charities such as by providing clothing donations to causes like Wigtownshire Women’s Aid, or by collaborating with local businesses to provide workshops and community work initiatives. Just by simply reaching out to the centre with a new idea and some enthusiasm, residents receive inspiration, feedback and support to make their ideas a reality.