Originally built as the village school.
Originally built as the village school.

The Community Centre is owned by Aberdeenshire Council and managed by the Community Council, with all improvements financed by community funds. Since 1996, the Slains and Collieston Community has worked hard to enhance our buildings. Initial plans included applying to the National Lottery’s 21st Century Halls programme to incorporate the schoolhouse into the Community Centre, but these efforts faced challenges. A new group, the Collieston and Slains Community Trust, aimed to develop a new hall and respite centre, but their Big Lottery bid was unsuccessful. The Community Council then revived the idea of connecting the schoolhouse to the hall to increase communal space and storage. Collaborating with the local authority, we secured funding from the Council’s “100-day pledge” program and the SITA Trust, with the community contributing £10,000 towards a total project cost of about £120,000. After completing the building upgrades, we addressed the neglected schoolhouse garden, where the dangerous rear wall was demolished, paving the way for a new outdoor space.