A former charity-run bar and restaurant in Maybole is hoping to be resurrected into a youth club.
Goudie’s, in the town’s Whitehall, closed its doors in November last year due to rising energy costs.
Now it’s hoped the building can be saved for the community by being transformed into a youth hub for youngsters aged 11 and over, providing them with a safe place to socialise and enjoy activities.
Looking to take over the premises, which was previously operated by charitable organisation Carrick Community Leisure Group (CCLG), is nearby Carrick Centre, who have ran their successful community hub for the last decade.
Marguerite Hunter Blair, chair of the Carrick Centre, said its board of trustees are in the early stages of putting together a business plan but hope South Ayrshire Council, funders and the town can get behind the vision.
She said: “It’s very early days but we’ve expressed an interest in taking on the building.
“From the Carrick Centre’s point of view, we feel that we have 10 years good track record in running a building, bringing in grand aid, managing staff and the infrastructure that goes along with it.
“We’re very aware there really isn’t a dedicated space for young people in Maybole and the villages, specifically aged 11 and over.”
Marguerite said the Carrick Centre run a full to capacity youth programme for older primary aged youngsters, but the age range is often overlooked.
“We know that some of the older children and young people go to Ayr to the Ark and Girvan to Girvan Youth Trust,” she said.
“Young people are prepared to get a bus or train because they’re so desperate to get access to things to do, so it just shows there is a need.
“The plan is we’d have a juice bar and a place for young people to come and hang out, but also include things that they want to do. They can decide what the name will be and what activities they want."
Marguerite said trustees are keen to take over the building otherwise it “will get sold and the money will go back to the lottery so there would be no benefit left in the town”.
She added: “It’s such a fantastic community asset and it just feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to have an asset like this for our older young people, who really deserve to have somewhere to go.
“If we have that space in Maybole then hopefully all the other villages round about can identify with that space and give them somewhere to go in the evenings, rather than sitting about the house.
“I do think it’s a good investment and I really hope that South Ayrshire Council will be supportive of the project getting up and running.”
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