Barbour Memorial Hall Renovation: 2020 – 2025

Our Fundraising Journey

Published 27 June, 2025

In late 2019, trustees took the decision to launch a fundraising project to update and renovate Barbour Memorial Hall. Although the building had been well maintained since opening in 1938, weather-related damage had badly affected external render on the building and water ingress was beginning to cause increasing concern. If these problems continued, there was every chance the building would need to close within 5 years. 

Our first step was to take advice on how best to raise the significant funds needed for extensive repairs, particularly on the exterior which was no longer fully watertight. We were advised that to secure major funding, we needed to demonstrate to funders that we had thoroughly researched the condition of the building and that the best way to do this was to commission a Building Conditions Survey. We made a funding application to cover the costs of the survey to the opening round of Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Coastal Benefit Fund in March 2020… and were successful! We then commissioned McGowan Miller Construction Consultants in Dumfries to carry out the Conditions Survey and other related surveys including electrical, structural, fire risk and asbestos. 

As our funding arrived, so did COVID, dramatically limiting activity at the hall and became an ideal time to work on our fundraising project while the hall was closed. By the end of 2020, we had the survey reports in our hands, giving us the professional detail on the condition of the building and valuations on what funding would be needed to move the project forward and secure the future of the hall.

Our next step, and what we were advised was arguably the most critical to access funding, was to be able to demonstrate a clear vision for future use of the hall and that we had strong support from the community. Funding for capital projects has become increasingly difficult in recent years and quite rightly, funders aren’t interested in renovating buildings only – they want to know what they’ll be used for and to ensure that their input is going to be of long lasting benefit to communities. This was probably the hardest part – although we knew why the hall was a key asset for connecting our community, it’s not always easy to put these things into words, let alone to look ahead 10 years and beyond to what future activity might look like. 

We identified Creetown Initiative as an organisation with expertise in fundraising and following a second successful application to round two of the D&G Council Coastal Benefit Fund in March 2021, we began working with them. A key part of this work was to design and undertake a community consultation, to engage with the community and hear thoughts, ideas and wishes for the future of the hall. We also began to build a Business Plan, detailing the future activity of the hall and how we could continue to be financially viable. 

Interior Works Begin

As work on the Business Plan continued, we began compiling a directory of funders, timescales for applications and what details funders were looking for. While we knew the Business Plan detail was essential to access larger funds of £200K+ needed for the external works, we became aware of smaller funds that we could apply for in the meantime and took the decision to try for these so we could undertake some smaller interior projects, such as upgrade of the kitchen and toilet areas which were also in desperate need of modernisation. We were successful in securing the following funds:

Robin Rigg Community Fund 2023 – £ 12,470. With an additional £1,000 of our own funds raised at community events, this grant was used to renovate our main toilet areas at the front of the hall. This involved complete removal of existing units and relocation of the mens next door to the ladies. This made a much welcomed improvement to these areas, bringing them up to modern standards and greatly improving hall user experience. 

National Lottery – Awards for All 2022 – £4,455. To commission ARPL Architects to review the building and provide advice, drawings and options for renovation projects. 

UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund 2024/2025 – £ 50,000. With match funding of £7,577.71 from our own funds, this grant was used to replace and upgrade our kitchen area, replace all external doors and windows, open the mezzanine area, upgrade toilet near back hall and create a store room near main entrance. 

Robin Rigg Community Fund 2025 – £ 13,770. These funds were used to replace the existing disabled toilet and upgrade to modern standards. 

External Works

While the interior works were underway, in 2023 we identified UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund as a good fit for our major capital project to repair and secure the outer shell of the building. However, we quickly became aware that timing was tight – the fund was due to close in March 2025 and there were rumours of a possible change of government in 2024 that could lead to an even earlier close of the fund. We took the decision to push ahead and make an application to Round 4 of the fund with a deadline of March 2024 for submission. We finalised our Business Plan – outlining our vision and financial forecast for the charity, and began to prepare the application together with quotes on building costs and architectural drawings. A critical part of the jigsaw was the demonstration of community support from our consultation which included incredible feedback from members of the community and pupils at Caerlaverock Primary School. We were also very grateful for the heart-warming letters from organisations, businesses, our MSP and groups in the community, confirming their support to our project and the hall. 

We sent everything off and waited… the Community Ownership Fund was open to projects across the UK so we knew it would be highly competitive. We also needed to secure 20% match funding and the timing was fortunate in that it coincided perfectly with the 2024 round of the D&G Council’s Coastal Benefit Fund which we’d had success with in the past. The application was submitted, again with fingers crossed, and we waited…

Coastal Benefit Fund came back as a yes! That was a good start. We were due to hear from Community Ownership Fund in June but encountered a major spanner in the works when the UK election was called and all government decisions were put on hold until the new government was in place. So rather than hearing in June as we expected, we had to keep waiting… Finally, in late December 2024, an email arrived to say we had been successful and that subject to validation checks, would receive the funding in 2025! This was an incredible moment after 5 years of preparation and we were thrilled to announce to the community on Christmas Eve 2024 – a lovely early Christmas present. We are incredibly grateful to Dumfries & Galloway Council for their support and understanding on the need for an extended timescale to Coastal Benefit Fund grant and in allowing us an extended completion date. 

Now at almost July 2025, our contractors are on site and ready to complete the works across the summer:

Exterior Works Funding Package (£ 279,552.54): UK Government Community Ownership Fund (£ 226,998), Dumfries & Galloway Council Coastal Benefit Fund (£ 50,554.65), BMH Matching Funding (£2,000)

Roof – our existing roof tiles will be removed and the roof pulled insulated and recovered with profile sheeting. 

Walls – all external render will be removed. Insulation panels will be added externally and the whole of the hall re-rendered. As part of the work on these external walls, three new windows will be added

Ramps – all of our entranceways will be be given updated ramps to improve access for all.

These works will significantly improve the energy efficiency of the building and with three new windows will introduce new light and life into the main hall. The tired exterior of the building will be full refreshed and rejuvenated and we can’t wait to see it return to a beautiful and proud building in the community. Following a competitive tender process, we are delighted to be working with our main contractor William Waugh & Sons Ltd of Dumfries. We’re very grateful also for project support from McGowan Miller Construction Consultants. 

We are continually grateful for the incredible support of our community who come along to Soup Socials, Christmas Fayres, Ladies Nights, Race Nights, Film Nights and much more, generously helping to raise funds. We’ve been delighted to see increased use of the hall in recent years with additions like FitSteps and Let’s Get Sporty becoming weekly events. All funds raised at events and through hires are essential to enable us to keep the hall open and also make a significant contribute to our fundraising efforts by enabling us to provide match funding that is so critical to the success on an application. Thank you all! We can’t wait to reopen and welcome you all back for many more community events in the years to come. We believe the hall has a special and important part to play in the community and to keep us all connected.

Our renovation work will continue once the exterior works are complete as we continue to improve and upgrade interior space. We have a big painting refresh on the way next – watch this space!