A COMMUNITY trust in a Scottish coastal town is attempting to take a historic church into local ownership.
The Troon Community Trust has until September 30 to “stump up” £200,000 for Troon Old Parish Church before the Church of Scotland puts the category B-listed building on the market.
Mike McMillan, the Trust’s communications officer, spoke with The National about the group’s ambitious plans.
“My wife and I moved to Troon around the time a public survey was done, just before Covid reared its ugly head, and one of the big issues that came from that – aside from education and health – was that people were very interested in having a sort of community hub”, McMillan explained.
“We wanted a place where our children, teenagers, adults, everyone really, could have a local opportunity to participate in things in Troon rather than having to get on a train to Glasgow or wherever.”
Whilst Covid restrictions put plans on hold for a few years, around 2023 the Trust caught wind of rumours that the Church of Scotland was set to put the parish building up for sale.
McMillan described it as being in a “prime location”, situated on the seafront and facing the South Ayrshire Council building.
“It’s in adequate nick," he said of the 129-year-old church. “It’s not necessarily in perfect shape, as most 100-plus-year-old buildings are if a church or charity owns them, but we decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up.”
With only a few months of exclusive buying rights, Trust members are worried that the parish – an “architecturally valuable” and sentimental structure within the community – may end up in the hands of developers who would turn the building into a pub or flats.
“No offence to them whatsoever, but Ayrshire doesn’t need another Wetherspoons”, McMillan joked.
While the Trust had applied for funding grants from the likes of the National Lottery and Architectural Heritage Fund, McMillan noted that funding from these sources tends to cover the costs of maintenance and renovation – not purchasing property.
“There’s a large amount of money typically available for organisations who have an old church or building of some sort, but that tends to be to renovate, to make sure the roof stays on, do stone repair work and electric work”, McMillan explained.
“But there isn’t any money available, especially with the elections coming up next year, for the actual purchasing of the church. So now we’re in a situation where we could probably get the money we need for renovations over a 10-year period, but we haven’t got the money that’s required to buy the building.”
The group are considering asking the Church of Scotland for an extension on the September purchase deadline, but have said that if the sale falls through any significant donations will be returned to those who contributed.
McMillan said: “It’s up to the Church [of Scotland] and if they come back with a no on September 30, then we don’t want anyone to feel like they’ve been taken advantage of by the Trust.
“We don’t want to just pocket people’s cash. The reality of it is that we are looking to fulfil the request made in 2019 of establishing a community hub. The church is just the place we’ve designated as our first choice.”
When asked what the next steps would be if the deadline extension doesn’t come to fruition, McMillan said that there wasn’t much of a “plan B” and that the Trust would take a break and reassess what the next steps for a future hub would be.
“We just felt that the church was too important to too many people; so many families in Troon have had weddings, funerals, all kind of life events there and it’s very personal to them”, McMillan explained.
“So we made the decision, very consciously, that it would be wrong to say ‘hey, thanks for contributing to the hub!’. No, they were contributing to have their church live on.”
The Troon Community Trust has currently raised around £12,000 towards their target through a range of fundraiser events and a crowdfunder.
Those wishing to donate can do so here.
