The TAC building and programme belong to YOU, so please make the most of them.
Did you know that we need to raise
£10,000
every year just to make The Ardchattan Centre open for use?
This covers, insurance, heat, light, minor-maintenance and other basic running costs.
THANK YOU to everyone who supports The Ardchattan Centre at monthly Pop Up Tearooms, events and with encouragement.
If you would like to make a financial contribution, please use our bank details as follows:
Name: The Ardchattan Centre
Account Number: 17964460
Sort Code: 80-22-60
Thank you
We are a busy, bustling Hall and that’s the way we like it!
We would like to continue providing a safe, warm and adaptable space for use by all for many years to come.
The Hall is run by a group of Trustees with support from our lovely Volunteers.
Many of the events are supported by the not-for-profit ethos of the volunteers as well as grant assistance.
For income, we rely on hall hires, fundraisers, donations and grants to keep us open and operational.
If you would like to help then there are lots of ways to support the Hall:
– volunteer at our events
– come to our events
– help with maintenance
– make a regular donation
– make a one-off donation
– be an Ambassador, telling people about how lovely Bonawe and Ardchattan are, and the warm welcome that awaits them at The Ardchattan Centre.
click here to see a fly-around of The Ardchattan Centre (old School)
We are a registered charity Company Number: SC642989.
Current Trustees include
- Jennie Larney
- John Campbell
- Ronnie Campbell
- Chris Lavis-Jones
- Breege Smyth
- Alan Kerr
- Jacqueline Mathers
- Deirdre MacKenna (Chair).
If you would like to join as a volunteer, on one of the Working-Groups or as a Trustee, please just talk to any of the Trustees at the events or email us on events@theardchattancentre.org, thank you.
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OUR VISION
…to be a vibrant Centre that engages and inspires people of all ages and all walks of life to enjoy, move to and love this area.
OUR MISSION
…to be a welcoming, positive, creative and enterprising Hub in the core of our community, promoting sustainable wellbeing and healthy growth in the cultures, economies and places around us.
About TAC (The Ardchattan Centre)
In 1886, in the village of Bonawe, in the parish of Ardchattan, near Oban in the region of Argyll, the Ardchattan Primary School was built for the children of the families of stonemasons, drillers and miners (employed by the Bonawe Quarry), shopkeepers, butchers all using the school, bowling green, cinema, bakery, reading rooms, post office, laundry and ferry services.
The building and grounds have been at the heart of the community since 1886, providing space for community events and activities.
The school served a thriving community of approximately 1,000 people, mostly families employed by or connected to Bonawe Quarries and Bonawe Furnace on both sides of Loch Etive.
Today around 150 people live in the village of Bonawe with many more in the wider and neighbouring parishes.
In 2016, due to the process of centralising public services, Argyll and Bute Council closed the school and pupils are now either Home-educated or taken by bus to nearby Council-run primary schools 7 miles or more away.
Some softly-gathered statistics (please email events@theardchattancentre.org if you have more solid sources of data):
2020 – approx 150 residents ion the immediate area.
Early 1900s – 1,000 residents
Ardchattan Primary School
1886 – 14 pupils
1890 – 54 pupils
1940 – 100 pupils (including 40 Second World War evacuees)
Operated for 128 years until 2014.
The closure of the school impacted the community in many ways; by removing a meeting place for young people in their own community; by out-sourcing education service, and by closing the School-Hall which had been the venue for celebrations, festivities and general get-togethers and formal and informal meetings for residents to self–organise.
The need to travel elsewhere to access basic education and meetings changed the community’s sense of itself from having been its own centre to feeling like it was a satellite of someone else’s centre.
Informal dialogues, semi-formal consultations and community dialogues confirmed the community’s agreement to secure the School building and grounds for community use.
In 2018, Community members collaborated to create The Ardchattan Centre (TAC) as an agency and place for community benefit, and successfully secured £157,000 from Scottish Land Fund to purchase the building and grounds from Argyll and Bute Council in 2020.
Volunteers, working groups and the Trustees are now reflecting upon the first few years of TAC Programme activities (which were heavily impacted by Covid) and working on and delivering plans which support well-being and stimulate growth, encouraging people to build confidence, a strong sense of identity, and contribute to a well-populated community undertaking enterprise and collective self-care.
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Annual General Meeting (AGM) of
Sunday 15 June 2025
Documents:
-
- Agenda of the AGM of 15 June 2025
- TAC Accounts to 30 September 2024
- Minute of 2024 AGM – to be uploaded
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Annual General Meeting (AGM) of
Sunday 21 July 2024.
Documents:
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