Coalburn Miners Welfare Charitable Society

From the 1850s, Coalburn developed as a railway settlement associated with the local coal mines. With the closure of the last colliery in 1968 and the railway closure in 1971, the village suffered from unemployment and isolation and the population declined significantly. The Coalburn Miners’ Charitable Society, which is at the heart of the community with many of the town’s population registered as members, has an important role in providing resources and leadership. An example of a community-led initiative is the One Stop Shop which houses a community shop and food cooperative, café, and a weekly South Lanarkshire Council Question & Answer Service.

Unincorporated Association with charitable status (with a trading arm – the Coalburn Miners Welfare and Social Club)

£45,500

Building, furniture, fittings and IT equipment.

The organisation was set up in 1925 to support the miners in the community due to economic and social problems that came about as a result of the demise of the coal industry. In 2004 it opened as a One Stop Shop providing services and facilities for the whole community.

Membership of the society is open to the whole community. At an AGM held each year the committee stand down but can stand for re-election for the charity and the social club.

Through being the physical hub of the community, the society is well linked to other organisations within Coalburn and provides a venue for many of them to carry out their activities including local councillors, MP’s surgery, Darby and Joan Club, Citizens Advice Bureau, CISWO (Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation) Social Worker and the Jobs Access Service.

Regularly link to the South Lanarkshire Council, Coalfield Networking, Local People Leading, SCVO, Healthy Valleys.

Activities

The One Stop Shop provides a welcoming place and a variety of community facilities under one roof for local people including lounge and function rooms for hire, conference facilities, heritage centre, community café, training and IT facilities, Charity Shop and Food Cooperative.

The society grows the local capacity of local people through a range of volunteering opportunities and the provision of access to computers and computer training.

Current services provided from the centre include Cruet’s community café,  Citizens Advice Bureau, CISWO social worker, public access computers, Local Councillor Surgery, MP’s Surgeries, Darby & Joan Club  and a free cash machine. The society also publishes a newsletter and runs a social club. The centre also houses a Charity Shop and Food Cooperative.

Developed the original Miners Welfare building as a One Stop Shop. Own and manage the facility.

We received funding from the Post Office Diversification Fund to upgrade cafe area, paint, install new cctv and new telephone system, new carpets/flooring, new kitchen equipment, photocopier and new tambour units for Post Office. We now have ‘Rug Doctors’ for hire.

Recently received funding from SLC Rural Communities Trust Fund, SLC LEADER programme and Hagshaw Hill Windfarm Trust to repair the outside fabric of the building. This involved new roughcast, stone work and painting. This work will secure the future of the building for many years to come and will benefit the local community and surrounding area. The total cost of the project was £70,000.

Accessing funding and developing the original building as a One Stop Shop in 3 phases: – Phase One was a £45,000 upgrade of the premises to ensure that they were completely accessible to people with disabilities, which included a disabled lift and toilets – Phase Two was a £550,000 renovation of the premises to make it suitable for community use. – The final Phase was to access £142,000 of funding to staff the facility over the next 2/3 years.  As a result of years of hard work, the organisation now provides a facility which the people of Coalburn can be proud of, that will play a major part in the continuing regeneration of the area.

More recently, we have secured funding to install Solar and PV Panels, install new lift, build new porch with disabled access and upgrade car parks to rear and front of premises. We have also changed to a Biomass heating system to reduce running costs within the Centre.

Training up and establishing partnerships to apply for and manage £1m of ESF funding

To become financially sustainable. To do this we are looking at: – Reaching a wider audience for our services and hold more weddings, parties and fund raising events in the main hall – To do more employability training in the local community.

Stay away from ESF funding!

To become financially sustainable. To do this we are looking at: – Reaching a wider audience for our services and hold more weddings, parties and fund raising events in the main hall – To do more employability training in the local community.