New studios to be community-led

Published: Monday 28 October 2024

This image shows members of Clydesdale Community Initiatives who have received a grant of £9999 from the Can Do Community Challenge Fund

An arts and craft studio is to be created in Clydesdale with support from the Can Do Community Challenge Fund.

Clydesdale Community Initiatives (CCI) will create a space for local people to engage in a range of arts and crafts that they have expressed an interest in.

Lanarkshire Craft Studios, based in Lanark, will have the added value of being inclusive and accessible by engaging people who are experiencing exclusion due to illness, disability and social disadvantage, who will be supported to participate in activities by CCI.

The group received £9,999 from the Can Do Community Challenge Fund to help establish the studios. The fund was introduced to help communities shine and demonstrate their "Can Do" spirit.

Community organisations could apply to the council for grants of up to £10,000 to assist with revenue, capital funding, or a combination of both. Access to the fund has now closed.

Niall McShannon from CCI said: “The Lanarkshire Craft Studio’s will be an exciting community facility that will support individuals and community groups to participate in a wide range of recycling and repair workshops.

“As a community self-build project, the opportunity to learn new skills and create new relationships will start right at the very beginning so that it will be truly community owned.”

Chair of the council’s Finance and Corporate Resources Committee, Councillor Lesley McDonald, said: “CCI has a proven track record of helping people who face a range of challenges and inequalities.

“This new project will build on their ongoing success, and I am delighted that the Can Do Community Challenge Fund was able to support them.”