18/11/2025 CD Architects’ model of our proposed Waterside Community Hub was the exciting highlight of our monthly meeting.

And at the end of the month came news of a very generous donation from AIS Vanguard. Huge thanks to them!

• Meanwhile, we’re preparing a presentation for GRACE Sharing Time at the EDVA office (18 Townhead, Kirkintilloch) at 12 o’clock on Wednesday 3 September. We’re enormously looking forward to networking with representatives of local support and recovery services there and councillors, and sharing our news. Thank you, GRACE.

Responses to the Three Wishes survey have begun to come in from Weaver’s Brae, Fauldhead, Woodilee and Waterside – these will help shape a Local Place Plan. A very high proportion mention the need to demolish Waterside Miners Club and build a community hub.

Here’s a selection of those wishes:

• A thriving community centre with meeting rooms, mother and baby groups
• Community cafe. Space for youth club and arts groups
• A centre open to use for clubs/classes both children and adults
• A community and wellness hub for classes and workshops at affordable prices
• A cafe to meet other members of the community
• Local activities for all ages
• Better youth opportunities
• Demolish the old miner’s club and replace it with a modern, purpose-built community hub. Add a pavement for pedestrians to the currently dangerous Old Duntiblae Road.
• Safe space for young people to gather
• Youth zone to support youths not being on the street
• A small hall where groups could meet regularly
• More affordable activities for children in our community
• Something constructive and meaningful for all young people – primary to 20 years old
• History and story of the place to be on display
• Be nice to have a community hall/ venue where you can drop in for a lunch or drink. Something like an upgrade to previous welfare club.
• A space that can be used/hired for exercise based activities and classes (indoor and outdoor)
• A community space. Could hold exercise/dance classes, tool library and repair cafe

14/06/2025 Kirkintilloch Gala Day, with prizes galore on the Waterside Community Hub stall amassed by team member and tombola queen Heather Stalker, with a little help from friends and family as well as the hub team

June 2025 Funding research and applications ongoing. Trustees’ Annual Report nearly completed

31/05/2025 By end of month, just under 200 Gartconner Primary School children have returned ‘Three Wishes for My Community’ cards, providing invaluable information for both the Waterside Community Hub project and the area’s Local Place Plan

21/05/2025 Useful meeting with CISWO (Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation). Funding and other help likely to be available in the future.

May 2025 Funding research and applications ongoing; complete water rate exemption secured

21/04/2025 Easter Monday means fun: duck race, orienteering, Eco-Museum rock trail, Easter bonnet competition, bring-your-own-boat race and a massive raffle (with prizes generously provided by local people and businesses), organized by the charity.

The day wasn’t all about fun; there was fundraising too: Lisa at Archie’s sold 568 ducks, bringing in £1,136 for the hub project. The raffle brought in a further £633, and generous local coach company LA Travel donated £100. So the total for the day was a whopping £1,869.

Enormous thanks to everyone who took part and contributed, bringing us a step closer to our goal of building a community hub.

For more details about this community fun and fundraising event, see https://watersidecommunityhub.co.uk/ducks-and-boats-to-water/

15/04/2025 At the charity’s monthly meeting, last-minute details of the 2025 Waterside Easter Duck Race were finalized.

29/03/2025 Waterside Miners Charitable Society hosts a walk around the Eco-Museum of Scottish Mining Landscapes Route 50, the ramble around the relics of Waterside’s mining history plotted by local historian, photographer and now walk leader Edward Z. Smith with the help of Matt Wilson and the Eco-Museum’s Catherine Mills and Aileen McFarlan. For the online version of the tour, see https://www.mining-landscapes.org/route/50

16/03/2025 Ducks all sorted and numbers checked for the 2025 Waterside Easter Duck Race, taking place on Easter Monday (21 April), with all profits going to the Waterside Community Hub project

13/03/2025 Confirmation comes from Clear Business that 2023-2026 charity exemptions for water charges are being applied

03/03/2025 CD Architects sends image illustrating current plans for the hub, revised in the light of feedback from both Planning and potential stakeholders

12/02/2025 Reigart erect security fencing around the former club and demolish dangerous outbuildings at the back.

Stage 2 of demolition is still on for next winter, when the bats have flown. All the charity’s efforts will now be focused on fundraising to raise the remaining £50,000 needed to complete this.

07/02/2025 SGN find that their gas disconnection is already complete, so the work planned for next week is not now required. We’re further on than we thought!