THE BARONY CENTRE
West Kilbride’s Creative Community Hub
Gill Sherry
I’m greeted at West Kilbride’s Barony Centre by Kay Hall, Vice Chair of the Board of West Kilbride Community Initiative. Kay has lived in the town for over 50 years and joined the Board in 2009 after retiring from her role as Head Teacher at West Kilbride Primary School.
The centre is as welcoming as Kay herself. I was expecting a cold, dreary church hall, so was pleasantly surprised by the bright, open space within the restored 19th century church. At the time of my visit, the exhibition space is hosting an eye-catching project involving local school children titled ‘Our Coast’. Adjacent to that, the gallery shop displays a range of products including pottery, silverware, fabric, original art and prints from artists and makers all over Scotland. Beyond the shop, the café offers an impressive range of home baking as well as more substantial lunch options.
Sitting down with our coffees, Kay tells me a little more about the initiative which was set up in 1998.
“It was a regeneration project. The village had 21 boarded-up shops on Main Street. It was in total decline. It was agreed during a public meeting that they should try and buy some of the derelict properties and make it a themed town. After quite a lot of conversation, they opted for crafts.”
With considerable financial help from The Moffat Trust, they invested in four old weavers’ cottages and five shops which are now home to various studios.
“We’ve now got nine studios altogether. It was a visionary Board and that’s worked out to our advantage.”
Two further studios are upstairs at The Barony Centre and are available to hire for creative workshops and events etc. Other working studios are open to the public on three days a week allowing those interested to engage with the crafters of the town.
One of main objectives of the initiative was to increase footfall into the town, but the vision didn’t end there.
“We’re now working with Visit Scotland… to show international companies who are bringing visitors to Scotland what you can do in North Ayrshire. We’ll be offering tours of the village, and craft workshops. We can feed visitors, and we’ve got this lovely venue in which to greet them. And the glen’s beautiful, of course, that’s another asset of West Kilbride.”
The Board is also welcoming a new Business Manager, Mhairi Sawyer, who is currently the Director of Glasgow Sculpture Studios.
“Mhairi is a catch! She has a national profile, and I think we are deserving of being recognised more nationally. It’s very exciting.”
And there is plenty more to be excited about, starting with the ‘Cowal’s Coast’ exhibition (an exhibition of work from artists and makers from the Cowal Peninsula) which runs from 28th March until 26th April at The Barony Centre. That’s followed by the OSA Art Exhibition (featuring work from members of Open Studios Ayrshire) from 9th May until 7th June.
“The ‘Cowal’s Coast’ exhibition has an interesting taste of the Gaelic language. Tracey Exton, exhibition organiser, will share her graduation piece, a long stretch of printed fabric which represents every lost language in the world, and Gaelic is on there. She has a Gaelic multimedia angle to share too. North Ayrshire has a commitment to Gaelic so we’re hoping to link in with the local authority and promote a Gaelic theme.”
As a community support charity, West Kilbride Community Initiative is aware that not everyone has the funds to pay large fees for exhibition space. As a result, it has a sliding scale to ensure The Barony Centre remains accessible to everyone.
In fact, Kay tells me that the many community groups within West Kilbride all work together to help one another. Groups like Age Well, the Village Hall, and Community Roots Garden all aim to be complementary. It’s clear, though, that the Barony Centre is very much at the heart of creativity, not just the building itself but those who work and volunteer within it.
“We bought the derelict church around 2005; a local philanthropist donated the money. Our first Board sold second-hand furniture which gave us a big push forward financially, and we started to apply for money from funders.”
That money paid for the restoration of the building which reflects the heritage of West Kilbride, but more changes are required to allow for growth. They are looking to improve the outside area, upgrade the kitchen from domestic to commercial, extend the café, and add two new studios, one of which will accommodate a community kiln.
Business Gateway is involved in the development plan and applications for funding are being made. In the meantime, other fundraising efforts continue.
“We’ve got a JustGiving page, also one-off donations and standing orders. We’ve had a clothes sale/swap, and the selling on of craft materials. We’re into sustainability, recycling and up-styling, so those ‘New 2 You’ events are really good.”
Fundraising is always hard, and Kay admits it’s been challenging. But it’s also very rewarding and the Board remains positive about The Barony Centre’s future.
“It still is very challenging, but every time we’ve reached crisis point people have just magically come together and the Board has got stronger. We’ve got a really great Board and they’ve got the skills to be able to turn things around.”
One of the concerns when the Initiative was first established, was the natural environment. As a result, an Environmental Group was set up and two fields were purchased in the glen. One of those fields is now an established wood, and the other is a meadow and orchard with over 80 fruit trees. The fruit from those trees is for use by the community – there’s even an apple press. In addition, they purchased a derelict quarry which now houses polytunnels and greenhouses.
“We grow plants and wildflowers in the polytunnels. We grow wildflowers for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. We’ve been growing a plant that attracts the small blue butterfly… they’re trying to lure it back to Ayrshire.”
They also link with the local school where they have 14 planters for growing vegetables.
“It’s quite a network! If somebody in the village has something, they share it with somebody else, so it’s quite rewarding.”
I notice that Kay often refers to West Kilbride as a village, but is it not a town?
“It’s a community-led town,” she smiles. “It’s a town with a village feel. The numbers say it’s a town, but it’s quite important to people that the village feel is kept.”
One thing’s for sure, West Kilbride Community Initiative certainly achieved what it set out to do. The revival of Main Street is plain to see, and the craft theme is confirmed by West Kilbride being Scotland’s first accredited craft town.
But despite everything that West Kilbride has to offer, Kay admits increasing the town’s footfall is still difficult.
“What we’re trying to do is say, ‘this is a destination; come here, we can give you a really creative day out!’”
To find out more about this fabulous craft town, including how to hire space at The Barony Centre, visit www.crafttownscotland.org.
“We’re chancers,” Kay concludes, “so we encourage every creative opportunity we can. You’ve got to be greedy for things if you want them to happen. And there’s so much going on here. I think the joint is jumping!”
