Aultbea Hall Revival!

Some background…

A public meeting was called by the then-committee/trustees of the Aultbea Hall Trust in October 2021, with a view to passing a resolution to dissolve the Trust which has been responsible for the Hall since 1960 and to dispose of its assets – the Hall and the old football field. It was believed that the defects in the steel supports and roof which had been identified during a visual structural survey undertaken in October 2018 were too serious to repair at an affordable cost.

However, those attending the meeting, in person and on Zoom, and many others who shared their views in other ways, decided to support the election of three new trustees who committed to do all possible to explore the options and costs of keeping the hall and its assets in community ownership, for the benefit of current and future generations. Minutes of the meeting can be seen here.

Hope renewed

A chartered engineer who specialises in extending the life of steel structures off-shore has, as a volunteer, carried out lots of technical testing to assess the corrosion. His conclusions were that the damage was limited, the defects were not rendering the structure dangerous and repairs could be undertaken cost-effectively. In short, the life and use of the Hall could be prolonged for decades, given appropriate maintenance.

So, given this positive news, estimates were obtained for implementing the fire security improvements that are needed, and to undertake basic refurbishment (no frills!) of the 2-storey block, particularly the toilets, to be able to reopen this part of the building for community use and to be the base for the programme of work that would be needed on the main hall. 

Longer term?

An architect has also drawn up plans to show what is possible should the community decide it would like to do more than ‘just’ reopen the Hall, to improve its facilities and, most significantly, to make it more economical and energy-efficient to run. This will cost a good deal more though, and be a challenge to finance. 

Keeping the community informed
We’ve tried to keep people informed of progress via Aultbea Community Council (meeting 20 December 2021) Gairloch and District Times (14 January 2022) and a meeting of some of our volunteers (24 January). All our subsequent monthly committee meeting minutes can be viewed on our Committee Matters page.

Aultbea Hall Revival! summary 2023

Aultbea Community Centre and Football Field Trust, (usually known as Aultbea Hall
Trust), and Aultbea Hall [SCIO] operated in tandem, with the same trustees, for more
than a year whilst the necessary constitutional and land registry changes were
completed. The financial assets were transferred from the Trust’s bank accounts to the
SCIO’s accounts on 3 January 2023 and the titles of the two property assets of the Trust
on the Land Registry, (ROS25831 & ROS25977) were transferred to Aultbea Hall [SCIO]
on 16 January 2023. Following the resolution at the AGM held on 28 March,
arrangements were finalised with OSCR for the dissolution of the Trust and confirmation
was received that it had been removed from their register on 20 June 2023. As of 31
December 2023, there were 123 local residents who had signed up as members of
Aultbea Hall [SCIO].

Aultbea Hall Revival! – the project

The project to repair and renovate the Hall was divided into two phases for practical and grant funding purposes. Phase I was planned to restore the two-storey block to community use. This included remedial work to the fabric, including ceilings, two kitchens and both gents and ladies toilets, some double-glazing, and all areas to be freshly painted. The old electrics were stripped out completely, with the new installation and the completely new fire security (alarms and fire doors) meeting all current specifications.

The work completed, the “Crow’s Nest”, (so much more interesting a venue than “the
upstairs room”!) has become a warm and welcoming space for group sessions, meetings
(Wifi is available), and social get-togethers since the summer. As well as the excellent
work by our contractors, (almost all from the local area), we acknowledge with gratitude
the sterling efforts of many volunteers, including from Aultbea Men’s Shed, who gave so
generously of their time and expertise to ensure progress was maintained, even in the
coldest of weathers.

Most of the grant funding for Phase I came from the Place-based Investment Programme
(via Highland Council, who have always been most helpful). External improvements to
signage and fencing were paid for by the North Highland Initiative and sufficient was
raised from events, individual donations and from the boxes hosted by our shops and
cafés to pay to do more than originally intended and to still have a useful financial
reserve for Phase II.

A number of grant applications were made early in 2023 to finance strengthening of the
roof supports of the main Hall, undertake other repairs internally, extend the electric and fire security systems and, for once and all, to resolve the longstanding drainage issues.
Pledges were received from the Regeneration Community Fund (again through Highland
Council and again, for a very high percentage of the estimated costs), the National Lottery Awards for All Scotland Community Fund, the Hugh Fraser Foundation and the Sylvia Waddilove Foundation which meant that we secured all the external funding required by our funders. However, it took longer than we had expected to complete the necessary certification of the technical specification for the roof structures, so, although the substantial drainage improvements were completed in the autumn of 2023, we could not commission the steelwork. To our delight, building control permissions were granted early January 2024.

Activities and achievements

Board meetings are held on a monthly basis, with trustees
attending in person or by Zoom, always focussed on our commitment to explore every
opportunity to reopen Aultbea Hall for community use. Several other volunteers from the community have also regularly attended these meetings, giving invaluable assistance to the project, be it by planning and organising fundraising events and activities for Aultbea
Hall Revival!, keeping our Facebook page lively and active, or dealing with
bookings for the Crow’s Nest. Minutes are posted on the Committee Matters page and our Facebook page has been active throughout the year, keeping everyone well informed of what is going on inside and outside the Hall. Reports of our project developments and
activities have also been published in the Gairloch & District Times.

As always, there would be no progress to report without such an amazing and committed group of volunteers and supporters of the cause. We thank you all, once again, for your ongoing encouragement and enthusiasm for Aultbea Hall Revival!

Aultbea Hall Revival! Progress Report 2025 – open to all!

Aultbea Hall Revival! Progress Report 2024

Aultbea Hall Revival! Progress Report 2023

Aultbea Hall Revival! Progress Report August 2022

Aultbea Hall Revival! Progress Report May 2022

Aultbea Hall Revival! Drop In Sessions February 2022