Case Studies

Project Background

Logan Day Centre is a community facility owned by East Ayrshire Council and operated by a group of dedicated local volunteers under the community asset transfer programme. The volunteers are actively involved and passionate about the growth and development of the centre, ensuring that it supports all residents within the community.

The centre hosts a variety of community initiatives that range from community groups, family fun days, a community food larder and wellbeing classes. The services run by the centre are essential to the community and allow the residents to socialise, learn new skills and participate in activities that interest them. But most importantly having access to an affordable food larder is relieving the community of the financial burden that comes with feeding their families.

Over the past few years, the centre has seen demand for its services rise at a disturbing rate. They continue to struggle with the volume of requests for the food larder. With donations, in most cases, not adequate to meet demand. Items provided by Fareshare are often impractical for users which, together with the decrease in food available, is impacting the centre’s ability to maintain the sustainability of the service. Due to this escalation, the volunteers have had to devise new methods to support residents with the cost-of-living crisis. Logan was an area of deprivation before the pandemic, with few local facilities and no supermarket. Now, the cost of living crisis has increased poverty levels in the community and led to an increased dependency on the services that the centre provides.

In addition to community groups, the centre provides a warm space for residents, serving free soups and hot drinks daily, giving them access to all the facilities including the games room, pc with internet access, laundry services, kitchen and washing facilities. This encourages residents to vacate their houses for a few hours to socialise with their neighbours and have a hot soup in a safe and inviting space where they can also make use of the laundry and washing facilities without worrying about the costs that are impacting communities in Scotland and across the UK.

The village of Logan is home to 1,260 people, the public services available in the village are close to obsolete. Logan is a post-war settlement built to house miners from the surrounding area. It is considered one of the most rural locations in Scotland. Most of the residents that live in this area rely on public transport to connect them with the bustling town of Cumnock, 1.5 miles away. This is where most of the public services including the GP surgery, hospital and supermarkets can be found. Within Logan there is a restricted choice as far as shops are concerned, there is one local convenience store, a pharmacy and a fast food take away with a primary school opposite Logan Day Centre.

Purpose

As an Executive Committee Partner, East Ayrshire Council applied to the SPA Community Benefit Fund in 2021 on behalf of Logan Day Centre. The Centre was highlighted in the Cronberry, Logan and Lugar Community Action Plan, a 5-year plan which has been prepared following consultation with residents of the 3 communities, which set out the priorities for the development of the community.

It was highlighted in this plan, the importance of Logan Day Centre and the positive impact it has had on helping to address the needs in the community and its dynamic response to changing circumstances with realistic suggestions on the improvements to expand the services that it offered.

Problems/Outcomes

 
The kitchen facilities were showing telling signs of heavy usage and were not functional for a working kitchen. They also dated back to when the centre was originally opened over 30 years ago. For the only community facility in the area, it was vital that the Centre upgraded the kitchen and purchased new kitchen equipment. The upgraded facilities have allowed the volunteers to organise cooking lessons to give residents the knowledge and the confidence to prepare healthy and nutritious meals in a clean and modern space. It’s also used to prepare and serve healthy meals for residents attending the warm hub, community groups and family fun days.

A second application was submitted in February 2023 with the intention to construct a gym, due to the lack of local facilities. This was seen as having a dual benefit to the centre.  Exercise is well known to improve both physical and mental wellbeing, but also by charging residents a subsidised and affordable membership fee, regular income will bring the Logan Centre closer to their aspiration of becoming self-sufficient. The gym has been a welcome and popular addition to the centre with many residents utilising the gym facilities regularly. In addition, it has attracted new users who had not previously engaged with Logan Day Centre.

The transformation of the centre has extended into the main hall, the CBF has empowered the redecoration of the hall and the accompanying corridor with a branded wall showcasing the logo of Logan Day Centre. Seeing this transformation has impelled the volunteers to continue the improvements. They have plans to convert a disused storage room into a games room which will feature the latest games consoles, comfortable seating and two flat screen TV’s for the benefit of the youth club that they will be relaunching.