Perthshire community groups are being offered bargain hall hire to aid post-Covid get togethers.
The Robert Douglas Memorial Institute (RDM) in Scone has slashed the cost of hiring a hall by a massive 25% as locals begin planning meetings and events.
The institute is widely regarded as a pillar of the Scone community and is a popular venue for wedding receptions and birthday parties, as well as local clubs and organisations.
It is also used as one of the town’s polling places.
As Covid restrictions continue to ease, members want to help clubs that may be struggling for funds.
Meanwhile, they’ve begun planning their own events, including celebrations to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year.
Institute finally open
Locals met at the Abbey Road premises for the first time in 17 months on Monday morning.
The hall has only been used once in that time – on polling day on May 6.
Scone resident Isobel McCallum, who went to school at the halls before RDM Primary opened in 1936, had the honour of cutting a ribbon to welcome people back.
RDM Institute secretary Karen Donaldson said: “We realise that many groups and clubs are struggling for funds and if we can do something to help out then we are only too happy to do it.
“We are a charity and depend on hall hires to pay the bills to keep the facilities open for the community.
“Robert Douglas’s legacy was intended to improve the life of the residents of Scone and we stand by his wishes 92 years after his passing.
She added: “We are also forming a village committee to organise a community event to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
“We have contacted all the local organisations in the village including the school and are looking to form a planning group for the Jubilee.”
Light Up Our Lives
During the pandemic, the RDM Institute was one Perth and Kinross organisation that brought the Light Up Our Lives initiative to its community.
Colourful displays and lights shone from residents’ windows in November last year to show support for the NHS and to bring light to the dark days of the pandemic.
Ms Donaldson said: “In these strange and sometimes difficult times, it is often the simplest of things that can bring a smile and indeed, bring a community together.
“This season of advent we cannot do everything we have done in the past, but we think it is important that this year we try and shine a little light into all our lives.”
Anyone who wishes to find out more about the RDM Institute can email the committee on contact@rdminstitute.co.uk