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The Old Bank - A Charity Shop and Community Space



AN EXCITING UPDATE


As many of you already know, we have been developing the idea for opening a charity shop and community space at The Old Bank in Lochwinnoch. Throughout 2025 we built a business plan, secured some funding and carried out extensive consultation. We're delighted to now announce that we have signed a lease and will be moving in to 1 High Street on 2nd February 2026. We would like to thank Landlord for working with us to make this possible, for the benefit of the whole village. We're really excited about this project and we're ready to start a refurbishment asap which will see the property upgraded. All being well, we hope to open sometime in April 2026.


THANKS TO OUR FUNDERS!


This project would not have been possible without the support of Renfrewshire Council's Villages Investment Fund or the Community-Led Local Development Fund; these funders are covering the lion's share of the initial refurbishment costs - thank you!!


WHATS NEXT?


We see this building developing into a retail space, with other activities spiralling from it; it will provide meeting space, a social/workshop area in the courtyard, and some food production from the kitchen which will developed in a later phase. Here is a video we made about the project during consultation phases:



Moving forward we're working with a digital marketing agency to help us with advertising and also with a new name that speaks to all the things we want this space to offer. It is our hope that the project becomes a destination which helps to attract people to the village and the High Street. We're looking forward to working with local people to carry out the refurbishment. The shop floor is the priority, but later phases will include the kitchen and courtyard.


WANT TO HELP?


We are happy to accept donations from mid-February. If you're having a clear-out and would like to pass things on we are looking for anything saleable such as clothes, homeware, small items of furniture, books, electrical goods, artwork etc. We would also take anything which might be useful for furnishing the shop and meeting room itself such as a small sofa, coffee tables, chairs, garden furniture.


We are also looking for Volunteers! Maybe you would be up for getting involved in the refurb and helping us to set the space up? Or maybe you would be more interested in being involved with sorting donations and manning the till? Either way we would love to hear from you! You can access our volunteering form here.


WHAT ARE THE PROJECT AIMS?


The reason we have embarked on this ambitious project is in large part because we're looking for income generation opportunities to support the rest of our LEAP Together activities: the Community Larder, The Feel Good Festival and Diggin' It. Of course, it brings many additional benefits by encouraging circular economy, providing affordable goods locally and giving people somewhere to donate items to, keeping them out of landfill. There will also be more volunteering opportunities and events to offer social inclusion. We plan to use it to host appointment days with organisations such as AdviceWorks and Home Energy Scotland to help people to connect with support services, tackling the challenges of rural living. We also hope to run Pop-Up eatery events offering occasional take-away food options in evenings and weekends to fill gaps in local food availability. The results of our consultation showed these activities answering local need and can be reviewed here.


WHAT WE'RE NOT DOING


We're really conscious that this is a small village and there are already a number of retail businesses, as well as development of the Parish Church. We want to work in harmony with what is already here and help boost footfall to the High Street. Our regular activities won't include selling teas, coffees or baking for instance. And we're always keen to hear from anyone who has questions or concerns. Please get in touch if you have anything you want to ask or any ideas you want to share. If you're a local business or organisation and think we might be able to partner, we would also love to hear from you.


Office: 39 High Street, Lochwinnoch, PA12 4AN.


 
 
 

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