A popular community hub in the heart of Paisley has reopened its doors as lockdown eases.
Management and the board of the Wynd Centre have also agreed to change its name to better reflect the work which happens inside the building.
Now called The Wynd Counselling and Conference Centre it has been welcoming back dozens of different organisations in stages over the last month, with many of them now back using the centre on School Wynd.
Centre manager, Thomas Blane said: “It is a great relief to see the Wynd back up and running again after so much uncertainty over the last 14 months. That feeling is shared with the dozens of groups that use our centre as they have been desperate to get back into the swing of things as well.”
Staff and volunteers discussed the centre with members of the public and realised that, although many knew the name and where it was located, they didn’t know what services were provided.
Thomas added: “After discussions with the board, we decided to change the name of the centre to ensure that people knew exactly what services we provided.
“Considering we have been located in the middle of Paisley since 1984, many people that we had discussions with had no idea what work the centre did for the community and the facilities that we had.
“As we have also refurbished two of our meeting rooms into conference facilities, it was decided to go with The Wynd Counselling and Conference Centre.”
The Wynd Centre is the outreach arm of Oakshaw Trinity Church opened in 1984 and, after refurbishment and expansion, the new facilities were opened by HRH Princess Anne in 2001. It was awarded The Queen’s award for Voluntary Service in 2016.
Approximately 30 organisations use its facilities, including PACE and Victim Support and has a nationally recognised and well-used counselling service for clients from five years old up to adults. Approximately 60 clients used all its counselling services before lockdown was imposed over a year ago.
