A COMMUNITY centre in Irvine has been gifted to the people it serves.

North Ayrshire Council handed over Fullarton Community Centre to a group of volunteers at an historic ceremony on Saturday, November 16.

Fullarton Community Association now owns the building and surrounding land at the site in Ayr Road.

Members of the Community Association paid a token sum of £1 to acquire the 40-year-old property from North Ayrshire Council.

It’s the first time such a transfer has taken place between a community group and the council.

The handover to chairwoman Donna Fitzpatrick, depute chairwoman Katie Frew and treasurer Annmarie Frew was the high point of a day of celebration at the centre.

Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet Member for Community and Culture, and Councillor Ruth Maguire, presented the volunteers with a giant key and a container of soil as symbolic representations of the transfer of property and land.

The rest of the day’s activities had a fun and fundraising theme as the new owners began working towards their long-held vision of creating a complete new building on the site.

From now on, members of the Community Association will manage the centre for themselves, allowing them to bid for vital finance from sources like the Big Lottery Fund and the Climate Challenge Fund.

A new community centre will cost around £1m but will provide Fullarton with a modern facility that will accommodate a wider range of groups and events, as well as attract greater funding opportunities.

North Ayrshire Council will support the community association with ongoing grants which next year will amount to £27,000.

The existing centre was erected in the early 1970s by local volunteers as a temporary building with an anticipated lifespan of 30 years. However North Ayrshire Council has helped to prolong this with careful and timely maintenance.

The move towards transferring the centre was initiated by the community association around 10 years ago.

Volunteers were confident that they could not only run the place satisfactorily but could promote it further with the help of organisations like Fullarton Church, Loudoun Montgomery Primary School, West College Scotland, Marress Sports Club and Irvine Burns Club. The next step was to compile a business plan.

North Ayrshire Council carried out a survey to find out the views of residents, calling at some 2,000 households in the process. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of a community takeover and this signalled the start of serious negotiation over the future of the centre.

Donna Fitzpatrick, chairwoman of Fullarton Community Association, said there was a real buzz about the place.

Donna, who runs the newsagent’s shop in Fullarton, added: “This has taken a lot of hard work by both the previous committee and the present committee.

“But we’re here, we’ve made it. I just wish we had been at this stage years ago.

“The centre is busier than ever and the only limiting factor now is the size of the place. We are over the first hurdle but must keep up the momentum if we are to build a complete new centre on the site.” Councillor Alan Hill said: “A considerable effort has gone into this project to date, both by the council and the local community and I am delighted that we have managed to get to this stage.

“I have been most impressed by the commitment of those involved in the process and have no doubt that with Donna and her team on board, the people of Fullarton will be seeing significant progress on this project very soon.

“There can be no doubt that the best place to manage and run local facilities of this type is from within the local community itself. After all, Donna, Katie and their team know the people and the community of Fullarton better than anyone.” Pictured above is Cllr Alan Hill handing over the key to Ruth Maguire, Katie Frew, Donna Fitzpatrick (Chair, Community Association) and Anne-Marie Frew.