STEWARTON INITIATIVES

AIMING TO MAKE STEWARTON A BETTER
& BRIGHTER PLACE FOR ALL

Gill Sherry

I must admit, I’m somewhat surprised when my Zoom call connects with Adam Lyon. The Treasurer of Stewarton Initiatives is much younger than I expected. From my experience, most people involved in community-led charitable organisations are ‘of a certain age’ so the surprise is a pleasant one.

I begin by asking what encouraged him to join Stewarton Initiatives (SI).

“I was 16 or 17 at the time, but I’ve always just been one of these people who likes to get involved in the community. I want to see my town do well. I’d been in the scouts and done local drama… and I already knew a couple of folk who were involved, so I just decided I wanted to get involved.”

Adam has been part of the SI team almost from the start. It was set up in 2016, initially to lead the creation and delivery of the town’s first Community Action Plan. This saw additional litter bins and seasonal flower baskets positioned throughout Stewarton.

“We also helped to administer funding for shopfront improvements through the Scottish government’s Place Based Investment Programme.”

In addition, the charity held a celebration night for Rose Reilly, the former footballer, and arranged for the local sports centre to be re-named in her honour.

As a registered charity, Stewarton Initiatives obviously relies on funding, but the majority of their income is actually received via their own Community Lottery.

“People were telling us that certain local groups and organisations were struggling for funding, and we wanted to come up with a way to raise money for them.”

After speaking with other local community groups, the Stewarton Initiatives Community Lottery was launched and so far it has raised over £100,000, around half of that going to the various winners, the other half being split equally between the charity’s own projects and grants for other community groups.

Twenty-five different groups have benefited since its inception, as well as the individual winners. Subscribers each pay £5 per month with the winner receiving over £1,000, and the second and third place winners receiving £100 and £50 respectively.

Around £700 per month is raised from SI’s twenty-five per cent, which is enough to fund its own projects, with a further £700 reserved for other community groups. There are occasions, however, when it’s necessary to apply for additional grants.

“We’ll hopefully get a grant soon to put solar panels on the Hub. We don’t have a regular grant stream, we just apply as and when we need it. We don’t want to take the grants away from other folk who might benefit from it more.”

The Community Hub he refers to was officially opened in March 2024 and was funded entirely by the charity through grants and self-funding.

“It wasn’t really one of the priorities of the Action Plan,” Adams admits, “but there was a piece of ground at the cross which we’d already done up. There were huge trees and the roots were pulling up the pavement, and it was dark and dingy, so we started work on that. We asked the council to cut the trees down, fix the paving, and install new benches and planters.”

But there was still space for something more, a small area with so much potential.

“We saw the idea of a small Community Hub. Most of the community spaces in the town are huge buildings that people are paying a lot to rent, so we decided it would be a good thing to have a focal point.”

It took a number of years to draw up plans, secure planning permission and raise the funds, but eventually the Hub was opened and available for use by groups, charities and individuals for the benefit of the local community. If you’re interested in renting the space at the Hub, you can do so for a small donation of £5 per hour, provided you meet the relevant criteria. Please get in touch via www.stewartoninitiatives.com.

Looking ahead to 2026, what else do Adam and his fellow committee members endeavour to do?
“It’s getting the next Community Action Plan sorted. It’s overdue now, so we’re trying to get people to fill out the survey to say what they like, what they don’t like, and what they want to see happen. We need 40% of households to respond, which for a town this size is quite significant. That’s our aim for the year, so we can create a new Action Plan.”

They would also like to commission a mural at the cross area of the town.

“We’d like to try and continue to improve the area a wee bit and to pay tribute to a couple of well-known people or well-known things. On top of that, maybe create an art or history trail around the town.”

The committee is certainly not short of ideas, but would still encourage more people to get involved.

“We’re always looking for more people, especially younger folk, to come and help out, not just to get them on board but to share their views. We want to progress the town for the younger folk who are coming through.”

In the meantime, Adam is setting a fine example and despite working full-time, remains committed to Stewarton Initiatives and its team.

“We have a good group on the committee who all dig in and do their bit. We share the load quite well.”

They’ve certainly done well to achieve so much. They must all be very proud?

“Stewarton is a very community-orientated town. It’s all about the community ethos. When you look back over the years, we have done such a lot, and building the Hub was no mean feat. That’s definitely the best thing we’ve done. It re-invigorated the town centre space, so it’s really good.”

For more information, please visit
www.stewartoninitiatives.com.