Edinburgh residents rally to create park community hub as Colinton Crowdfunder hits halfway mark
Community rallies to transform historic coach house at Spylaw Park
A historic coach house in an Edinburgh park is being brought back to life - and locals are being asked to help get the project across the finishing line.
The Spylaw Coach House, part of the historic Spylaw House estate, built and occupied by 18th-century Edinburgh industrialist and philanthropist James Gillespie, had sat under-utilised as a storage space for many years.
Now, local community charity Colinton Village Enterprise has led a £1 million project to convert it into a vibrant new hub for the area, complete with multi-purpose rooms and a café for Hub users, park visitors and Water of Leith walkers and cyclists.
Once the currently under construction Hub opens, rooms will be available to hire for yoga and wellbeing classes, community meetings, workshops and private events, alongside a café welcoming visitors to Spylaw Park, as well as users of the Water of Leith Walkway.
The £50,000 Crowdfunder is now live and the campaign has hit the ground running, with two offline donations already bringing it close to the halfway mark.
Lorraine O’Shea, chair, Colinton Village Enterprise, said: “Colinton Village Hub will be so much more than a building, it will be a place where neighbours meet, friendships form and the community can come together.
“We've worked incredibly hard to get here, but we can't finish this without the people it's been built for. Every donation, whatever the amount, brings us one step closer to finishing the build and opening the Hub.”
Colinton Village Enterprise is being supported by Democratic Finance Scotland, a programme delivered by Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS). Democratic Finance Scotland supports communities to raise money locally to take ownership of important community assets and run democratic, community-led businesses.
Katie Little-Sadler, democratic finance development officer at DTAS said: “Colinton Village Hub is exactly the kind of project that shows what community finance can achieve.
“When local people invest in something on their own doorstep, they’re not just raising money, they’re taking ownership of their community’s future.
“The early momentum on this crowdfunder tells you everything about how much this hub means to the people of Colinton and we are delighted to be working with them to bring their vision for a vibrant community space to life.”
Spylaw Park is a much-loved local green space, with a popular playground for children and an array of trails for cycling and walking. It also hosts the charity’s biennial Art in the Park event and is close to the striking Colinton Tunnel, home to Scotland’s largest heritage mural - which celebrates the history of the local community in immersive and vibrant artwork.
The building has been designed by local architect and Colinton resident David Moore of MDA Studio, with works carried out by Rollo Developments Ltd.
Lorraine O’Shea concluded: “With the support of the local community, we hope to have the construction of Colinton Village Hub completed by the end of the year. Every penny donated makes a difference and will see us bring this vibrant space to life.”
You can support the Crowdfunder at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/colintonvillagehub