The Scottish Centre for Personal Safety (ScotCPS), a charity based in the former Barony St John’s Church and halls in Ardrossan, recently announced that they havehas been awarded lottery funding from the Big Lottery Fund, Our Place, to undertake a feasibility study for the redevelopment of the church building.

The Scottish registered charity have been awardedThe £8,556 grant towards a one-year project which will allow them to engage will help pay for consultants and building professionals to undertake a condition survey, development study and options appraisal. which will provide the charity with:

A business plan;

Indicative capital and revenue costs;

Analysis of strategic business opportunities;

Assessment of and report on the asset/fabric of the church building;

And an outline development cost appraisal and a final report with recommendations. The Architectural Heritage Fund also provided £3,000 towards the feasibility study through their Project Viability Grant Scheme.

It is estimated that up to 30 people will take part in activities related to this project including as survey participants and members of focus groups.

If the redevelopment of the Category B Listed church is successful, the number of people who will use the completed buildings will be dependent on the final option chosen for the redevelopment i.e. which option for the future use of the church building will be the most viable and sustainable in the long term.

Options that could be considered include an events centre, a maritime heritage centre, a residential dormitory offering bunk-house-style accommodation or a respite care centre supporting the charity’s service delivery outcomes.

The area that is due to benefit will be mainly the North Ayrshire Our Place area of Ardrossan Central and North East. 

However, the charity says this area may well increase depending on which final option is chosen for the building’s future use.

The ScotCPS says that it is hoping that the feasibility study can answer numerous questions: “Can this beautiful building, the Barony St John’s Church, be saved? If so, what could it be used for? How will this benefit the community? How much would it cost to save and convert the building? Who will fund this? And also whatever the options may be, what is the viability for the long term?”

The Barony St John’s Church holds a significant position in the history of Scottish religious buildings.

Built in 1844, New Ardrossan Parish Church, as it was known then, became the first parish church in Scotland to become “Quoad Sacra” in 1851 following the New Parishes (Scotland) Act of 1844.

This effectively meant that New Ardrossan Parish Church was not a civil parish, unlike all preceding parish churches, and therefore had ecclesiastical functions but no local government functions (such as educating parish children). 

This had been a requirement of all parishes under “Quoad Omnia” up until the introduction of the new act in 1844.

The centre added that it would like to thank everyone involved in the application process, and it also gave thanks to the wider Ardrossan community at the Our Place Large Forum events for their support of the application.

The charity plans to further engage with the community via events, focus groups, surveys and public consultation.

It is keen to speak with as many members of the community, from all ages, and it said it would be having its first event very soon, with details to follow.