25-06-2025
New start for Grangemouth community hall as Falkirk Council agrees sale for £1
The hall was actually boarded up when a group of volunteers came together to save it.
A community hall that was the first to be boarded up by Falkirk Council as part of its major review of properties is making the final move into community ownership.
Just ten months ago, Beancross & Newlands Community Hall in Grangemouth was closed by Falkirk Council - to the dismay of local residents who had fond memories of parties, dances and bingo in the once busy hall.
Last week, however, the council executive agreed that the hall in Montgomery Street - now known as the Sealock Centre - should be sold to the community for £1.
Crucially, the council will also give them an enabling grant of £200,000, which will help them modernise and improve the building - including its roof and the hall ceiling - making it more accessible, user-friendly and energy efficient.
It's been a "whirlwind" time for the volunteer members of Sealock Infinity, the charity that was set up just last year to run the hall.
The new name, they say, is to make very clear that this is a new management committee, starting from scratch after the building was closed to the public.
The volunteers have had to attend meetings and training courses, write a solid business plan and work hard to get lets that are helping cover costs such as heating, lighting and insurance.
But with no money in the bank, they've also found themselves cleaning, moving furniture, painting, ripping out toilets, demolishing walls and basically anything else that needed done.
Falkirk Council has estimated that the work done over a year by the volunteers would cost nearly £100,000 if paying staff to do it, while it will also be saving annual running costs of £15,810.
In a condition survey of the building, the council has also estimated that the total backlog of maintenance would be £346,040.
"We cleared out three and a half tonnes of rubbish in the first week," says Lynne Park, who became involved when she realised the building was under threat of closure.
She knew how upset local people were when the building closed and how worried people were that the empty building would become an eyesore.
"When the boards came off - the amount of messages we got from people, they were just so happy to see it!" she said.
It's been quite a journey since last March, when Sandy Forsyth hastily called a meeting to ask who would be interested in saving the centre.
Sandy said: "We started with nothing - absolutely nothing. We didn't even have a mop!"
But the building has a large hall that very quickly attracted regular lets which give them enough of an income to cover bills, when they took on a full repair and insuring licence in order to reopen.
Bookings now include everything from Kung Fu to yoga, while regulars include Unite Scotland Kinneil Band and Forth Valley Budgerigar Society.
A smaller, bright room in the upper floor is also well used for things such as yoga classes and One Parent Families groups.
Once the diary started filling up, one of the first things the group did was install a new door entry system and cameras which allows them to control security remotely.
But they have plans to do much more.
With weekday evenings booked solid for the main hall, they want to transform two smaller rooms into a more useable space.
They also want to see more day time lets and to make the hall a welcoming place for people of all ages.
The next project will be turning a large toilet into a community cafe, with funding from Falkirk Council's community choices, while another will become a games room with pool and darts.
"It's been a huge amount of work to get to this stage," says Sandy.
While the process has been tiring and at times been frustrating they are very grateful to Paul Kettrick and the other Falkirk Council staff who helped make it happen.
Sandy also says they could not have done it without support from CVS Falkirk, which offers regular training and advice.
Their next task is to get more volunteers to help them put their plans in place and having come this far they are confident they can succeed.
"We've got lots of ideas!" said Sandy. "Getting the community asset transfer is really just the beginning!"
