WHO COORDINATES DOORS OPEN DAYS IN NORTH LANARKSHIRE?
Adam Smith, Doors Open Days Co-ordinator
North Lanarkshire (21st - 22nd September)
I first became involved as volunteer Doors Open Days Co-ordinator for North Lanarkshire in 2016 after North Lanarkshire Council decided to withdraw their funding and officer resource. I thought it would be a real shame if North Lanarkshire was unable to participate in Doors Open Days and would be incredibly disappointing to a great number of people.
Before 2016 I’d enjoyed Doors Open Days for a number of years as a visitor to participating venues throughout Central Scotland. It’s great that we can celebrate our communities by throwing open the doors of a wide range of buildings and appreciating what our regions have to offer.
Taking over as Doors Open Days Co-ordinator in a (single-handed) voluntary capacity involved a steep learning curve and certainly required some diplomacy in working to knock down the brick walls that are often put up when you’re essentially asking businesses for a favour in opening their doors to the public for a day or two.
Over the last three years we’ve picked up a number of new venues but have been unable to offer some favourite venues from previous years which has been very disappointing. It is however rewarding to see the time and effort put in by some venues and businesses who really go the extra mile.
Over the last few years one of the most popular venues has been the Stagecoach depot in Cumbernauld. Their support has been invaluable, from offering goody bags to visitors and offering a display of vintage and modern buses. Stagecoach have also been good enough to offer a shuttle bus to take people around the participating venues in Cumbernauld for free.
I always like to visit the venues over Doors Open Days weekend and make sure there aren’t any issues and everything is going well. In recent years I’ve made full use of the service and was in 2017 was delighted to find it was a vintage bus which took me round all of our participating venues in Cumbernauld. It certainly drew a crowd and people were delighted to find out they could hop on for free, and even got their own vintage bus ticket.
The North Lanarkshire programme of participating venues is still being put together but this year’s Doors Open Days weekend in North Lanarkshire will include Cumbernauld Theatre, taking part for one final time before the building closes and the Theatre moves to it’s new purpose-built location nearby, with an opportunity for backstage and behind-the-scenes access at a fantastic building with an amazing history. We’ll again have a wide range of venues throughout North Lanarkshire and I’d encourage as many people as possible to come along and visit.
You can see the full programme of events, activities and buildings that are opening their doors in North Lanarkshire here.