AT the end of 2014/beginning of 2015, my charity (The Scottish Centre for Personal Safety) bought the Barony St. John church and hall buildings in Ardrossan.

We wanted to use the hall building as a base for our charity and as a place where we could offer our personal safety and self defence classes and courses from.

After a year and half of Health and Safety and renovation work, red tape and applying for funding, the hall building is ready to open – well, at least some of it.

I’ve previously shown you how our toilet areas and reception/kitchen have changed but now I’d like to show you our hall room.

As you can see, this room is now two thirds matted with competition judo mats; there are various punch bags and Body Opponent Bags around the matting area and there is also a small gym area including a cable crossover station, assisted dip machine, free weights area, kettlebells, powerbags, battle ropes and a vibration plate.

We are now looking for volunteers to help man our reception during class times, so if you are interested please contact me.

Likewise, if you are an instructor who would like to rent our hall room out for your classes, please get in touch as I’d be happy to hear from you – that’s exactly what Lisa Smith from “North Ayrshire Bounce Fitt” did and her classes are now starting next week too. Here’s how our class timetable looks so far;

Mondays – 6-6.45pm: Braveheart Krav Maga (8yrs–15yrs)

7-8pm: Adult Krav Maga (16yrs+)

Tuesdays - 6.15-7pm: Lisa’s Ladies Bootcamp

7.15-8pm: Cardio Tone Circuits

Wednesdays – 6.15-7pm: Lisa’s Ladies Abs Burner

7-8pm: Adult Krav Maga (16yrs+)

Thursdays - 6-6.45pm: Braveheart Krav Maga (8yrs – 15yrs)

7.30pm-8pm: Lisa’s Ladies Bootcamp

The classes will begin on Monday, August 22 and for the first week they will be FREE OF CHARGE so why not come along and try them out?

After the first week, the classes will only be £3 per session (£4 for Lisa’s sessions).

Outwith these times, the hall room will be sitting empty but we are keen to have it used to its full potential so if you run martial arts, gymnastics, exercise or fitness and are looking for a room to hire in Ardrossan – please give me a call on 07900 950599 to arrange a viewing. We’d love to work with you.

In the meantime, if you would like to read more ‘behind the scenes’ news about our discoveries and the renovation work in the Barony St. John buildings, check out my blog at www.ardrossman.wordpress.com or if you would like to volunteer to help us or know about our charity, please give me a call or contact us via our website www.ScotCPS.org.uk or look us up on Facebook.

Goodbye for now.