Barbour Memorial Hall in Glencaple, Dumfries & Galloway awarded significant funding from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund for exterior repair and renovation project
Trustees of Barbour Memorial Hall (SCIO), a community hall in the south west Scotland village of Glencaple, Dumfries and Galloway have secured £226,998 of funding from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund toward essential exterior repair and renovation of Barbour Memorial Hall.
A further £50,554 of match funding has been awarded by Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Coastal Benefit Fund with an additional £2,000 raised by the community through local fundraising events.
The funding package will enable extensive exterior improvements to the hall including a new roof, addition of external wall insulation and new access ramps. These works are essential to address weather-related damage and to modernise outdated structures that in their current condition are threatening future use of the hall. This will also enable improved energy efficiency of the building and provide better access for hall users.
Barbour Memorial Hall opened in 1938, built to create social and recreation space for Glencaple village and the surrounding Caerlaverock area of Dumfries & Galloway following the generous bequest of funds from a Mr James Barbour of Dumfries and donation of land by the Caerlaverock Estate. Additional funds were secured from The Carnegie Trust and through community fundraising. For the past 86 years, the hall has played a key role in the social fabric of the area, hosting countless weddings, concerts, parties, meetings,
dances and sports events. Run as a registered charity, the current committee of voluntary trustees have in recent years focused on a fundraising programme to enable urgent repair, renovation and modernisation of the hall with its ageing condition placing its future at risk.
Alice Wilson, Chair of Barbour Memorial Hall SCIO said “We’re extremely grateful to the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund and Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Coastal Benefit Fund for this funding to enable significant renovation to Barbour Memorial Hall. We would also like to thank our community for their generous support to our consultations and fundraising. With the current poor condition of the hall placing its future at risk, we’re delighted and relieved that with this funding we can now secure its future use to
continue to enrich and enhance community life in our area for future generations.”
Work will start in the New Year and is scheduled for completion by Autumn 2025. All efforts will be made to minimise disruption to current use of the hall to enable regular events to continue during the works.
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