New family space underway as The Shed Project celebrates 10 years

Work has begun on a £900,000 space for families in Stornoway which forms the latest addition to The Shed Project as it celebrates 10 years since first opening.

‘The Barn Project' will see the refurbishment of the church hall, the installation of new toilets and a new community kitchen, and the addition of much needed office space alongside counselling rooms.

Around £325,000 of the total cost has been raised by the congregation of Martin's Memorial Church, with the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland contributing a further third through grants and loan.

A fundraising team are working towards securing the remaining finances from external funders and it is hoped ‘The Barn Project' will be completed around September 2025.

The Shed Project, which was opened by The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh in May 2014, originally employed two people but now has a team of 15 staff working in three main areas of youth and schools, alcohol and drug recovery, and family support.

Tommy MacNeil, who is the minister of Martin's Memorial Church and the team leader of The Shed Project, said: "The Shed Project has exceeded all expectations in terms of the original vision we had for the work.

"With the heart to serve our community to the best of our ability, it means we regularly review the services we provide and see if there are any gaps in service provision locally that we can help fill.

"We are in regular and ongoing contact with Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar and NHS Western Isles to see if there are ways we can partner with them in providing services to our community.

"The Shed building has now reached capacity.

"However, the heart we have to serve our community has not.

"This is where the vision for 'The Barn Project' comes to the fore.

"Our heart for this new space is that it will provide what in effect will be a new family centre to help us journey with children, young people, and their families who will benefit from informal support.

"We've only been able to reach this exciting stage with The Barn as a result of a local project team who have been working towards this for the last two to three years.

"The fruit of their efforts are O'Mac (the building contractor) commencing works this week and they'll continue to work with us until The Barn Project is completed and the new space handed over."

Find out more about the work of Martin's Memorial Church or The Shed Project.

Donate to The Shed Project.