A new chapter could unfold in a Fife library thanks to a cash injection for a food hub.
The Scottish Land Fund £202,800 funding will enable Greener Kirkcaldy to purchase the former Central Area Library HQ in Kirkcaldy’s East Fergus Place.
The organisation is currently in the process of buying the building.
Once in community ownership, the organisation could develop it to house the Kirkcaldy Community Food Hub offering a range of training, employment, work experience and volunteering opportunities around food production and preparation.
Greener Kirkcaldy’s development manager Suzy Goodsir said: “We’re delighted to be awarded this funding to help us take forward our plans for the food hub project.
“The food hub will be a lifelong learning and employability initiative.”
The project will centre on a fully equipped training kitchen with eight workstations, and a small kitchen garden.
“It will give our community a place to come together to cook, eat and learn about healthy, sustainable food.”
As revealed in The Courier last month the hub would allow people to come together to grow, cook, eat and learn.
The project will be delivered across two sites, with a community kitchen in Kirkcaldy town centre, and a horticultural training centre at Ravenscraig walled garden.
It will also include a base for a food co-op promoting local and healthy produce, and could act as a distribution point for Kirkcaldy foodbank.
It is one of two initiatives backed by the Scottish Land Fund.
The second is on Grimsay in North Uist, where the local community association received £164,900 to buy the former Grimsay Free Church mission house.
Scottish Land Fund committee chairman John Watt, said: “We know from experience that communities can achieve great things when they own and manage local land and land assets.
“This applies to both urban and rural communities across Scotland, so I am delighted to announce funding for two communities which will enable them both to follow the path of ownership.
“In Kirkcaldy it will help to create new training and employment opportunities through a community-owned sustainable asset.”
Cabinet Secretary Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “I am delighted the Scottish Land Fund has again awarded grant funding to support community led projects in Kirkcaldy and North Uist, allowing them to acquire and manage land and assets.
“The Scottish Land Fund is a great way to progress these ambitions and the Scottish Government is committed to supporting communities to become more resilient and sustainable through this route.”
