Copyright dailyrecord
Volunteers from a community organisation are celebrating after taking over their village hall – with plans to create a busy local hub including a cafe and soft play area. Soul of the Junction has been granted a 20-year lease to breathe new life into Carstairs Junction hall after the charitable group successfully applied to take over its running through South Lanarkshire’s community asset transfer process. They greeted the news “with the greatest of pleasure” and said: “It’s been a long journey filled with dedication, teamwork, and belief in what this building can become – a vibrant, inclusive, and climate-ready space for everyone in our village.” The hall at St Charles Avenue was one of dozens which was due to close after South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture announced plans to withdraw from the facility last year; but has since been managed by Soul of the Junction as they worked towards taking it over for the community. Local residents formed a Scottish charitable incorporated organisation last September and subsequently took over the building with support from the community fightback and renewable energy funds – and now the long-term asset transfer lease has been approved by elected members on the council’s housing committee. Now Soul of the Junction plan to convert the single-storey building into a family hub, with a soft play, cafe and space for events, workshops and wellbeing activities, with the venue already hosting community events such as IT sessions, crochet workshops and even pumpkin picking. The group said as the asset transfer was confirmed: “A huge thank you to everyone who’s supported us, from volunteers and partners to every single person who believed in the dream. The future is looking brighter. “Special thanks to some of you who supported us from the first minute, we owe it to you to a great extent!” The news was greeted by dozens of delighted comments from the local community, praising the work of the volunteer group in preserving and revitalising the hall. A report for councillors noted that the Soul of the Junction group has “individuals involved [who] have experience in commercial ventures, which indicates a good capacity to develop and implement the proposed objectives of the project”, adding: “The organisation has successfully applied for several grants to assist with overheads and capital refurbishments.” Housing committee convener Councillor Davie McLachlan said: “It’s great news that such an invaluable facility will continue to be available for the community to use. “It will bring together local people of all ages and will be the beating heart of the Carstairs Junction community, and I wish Soul of the Junction every success with such a commendable venture.” *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .
