10 January 2025
Work is due to complete on a community hub in Newton Mearns being built by the charity Retail Trust, thanks in part to funding from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund which awards grants to help save and restore vital community spaces.
Three disused spaces and a community café within the Retail Trust’s Hugh Fraser Retirement Estate have been fully refurbished to help create the new facilities and replace an existing community hub at the estate’s Crookfur House that was at risk of closure.
This will more than double the former hub’s capacity to allow the Retail Trust to cater for more than 1,000 local people a year, with a range of new activities and more support for those most at risk of isolation and with long-term health needs.
New solar panels and upgrades to the building’s heating, ventilation, windows and electricity will also help to save more than 18 tonnes of carbon emissions a year as part of work to protect the long-term future of the centre.
The project has been backed by a £200,000 grant from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund while other funders include The Hugh Fraser Foundation, the bp foundation, East Renfrewshire Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, B&Q Foundation, NEXT and Dobbies Garden Centres.
Lawrence Coen, managing director of property and supported living at the Retail Trust, said: “We are grateful to all our funders and partners who have got us to the stage where we are now getting ready to open our new community hub for the first time.
“We are looking forward to providing a real lifeline to those most at risk of isolation or with long-term health needs in East Renfrewshire and this is only possible thanks to the brilliant support we have received to make our plans a reality.”
More than 120 people currently live on the Hugh Fraser Retirement Estate, one of five supported living estates run by the Retail Trust for people retired from the retail industry, or who are in the care of someone working in or retired from the sector. The charity also works with more than 200 retailers to protect their staff’s wellbeing.
The project is being delivered by construction company Clark Contracts.
