In Person
Clackmannanshire
Alloa The Gate Charity
new
28 September 2024
29 September 2024
The Gate Charity was formerly a church designed by the Alloa -based architect Thomas Frame & Son and is in neo- Gothic style. It has a semi-octagonal apse at the south end and a large rose window in its north wall. The internal roof structure and ceiling are quite elaborate. It still has a north gallery and its original pews and pulpit. There are two stained glass windows in the apse, one dating to 1921 and quite worn, the other of 1937, with figures of Christ and St Andrew. This was moved from the West Free (later Chalmers) Church in Bank Street in 1970.
The building ceased to be a church and has been altered and improved to accommodate projects to meet growing community needs. The main refurbishment, completed in 2023, finally realised the vision to create the space and environment to offer a real ‘Community Hub.’ with the opportunity to offer more projects, including sustainable ones which generate additional income, ensuring that The Gate Charity can continue to support local people for years to come.
The kitchen was extended to allow more food-related projects to be offered, including a Community Café with an improved menu; the capability to run cookery classes and a catering service for both internal and external meetings and events. There are also better facilities to house the Café Xtra project, which provides, for a modest cost, lunches delivered to people's homes by friendly volunteers who offer a valuable welfare check, The latest initiative was to buy a small catering van enabling the supply of hot food to serve at Larder locations (a mobile Soup Pot). There have been recent trials of cooking surplus food stocks to deliver free nutritious meals to families; the first trip supplied ‘mince and tatties’ to over twenty adults and children in Sauchie and Clackmannan. They were extremely well received. We now offer free and delicious hot food various locations across the county on a fortnightly basis.
The building also has a large conference/multipurpose activity room and an interview room, well equipped and furnished, thanks to generous donations, which allows us to hold meetings, run training courses, events, and fundraising activities.
There will be guided tours and the chance to take part in small taster sessions of the services that we offer to the community.
