Right royal award for Sma’ Shot volunteers
Team works hard to bring Paisley’s proud history alive
The army of volunteers who keep Paisley’s proud weaving past alive at Sma’ Shot Cottages have been given the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
Described as the voluntary equivalent of an MBE, the volunteers were nominated by Ken MacDonald of Houston Traditional Kiltmakers, Elise Kelly from Weaving Musical Threads and Dan Coughlan, curator of textiles at Paisley Museum.
The nomination was given a strong recommendation by the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, Guy Clark and sent to London where the Queen approved it earlier this year.
Yesterday, many of the historic complex’s 30 volunteers, including the president of the Old Paisley Society that owns the cottages, Cath Mitchell, were officially given the award of a glass dome and certificate signed by HM the Queen by Mr Clark at a special ceremony in Paisley.
Cath explained: “We were interviewed by the committee members back in November and I’d forgotten all about it. We found out we’d won in May.
“We’re all over the moon. We have about 30 volunteers who help us open three days a week – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
“It wouldn’t be possible to run the cottages without them.
“We only have one paid employee and that’s the cleaner.”
The Sma’ Shot Cottages in Shuttle Street is a unique restored complex that depicts what life was like for people living in two distinct periods in Paisley’s weaving history.
The weaver’s cottage records life from the late 1700s, while a small row of three cottages built for mill workers and their families share life from the mid-1800s.
There is a popular tearoom and, as well as tourists from across the world, the cottages welcome school groups.
The original idea for the cottages began in the 1980s with the late Ellen Farmer.
She was president of the Old Paisley Society until she passed away in 2013 and her husband Eddie, a former volunteer, was at yesterday’s event.
He said: “Without Ellen none of this would have happened. She was determined Paisley was going to get a place, an original building, to show the town’s history.
“This place was completely run down when we got it and the interior was modernised to be 1980s’ style. I helped with the labour. I was up on the roof helping re-do the tiles.
“I remember the night before we opened, we’d finished the artisan kitchen, which was the only room we had at the time.
“I stood out in Sma’ Shot Lane at 1am and looked in through the window and it was lit with a paraffin lamp and it looked perfect. I knew then that it was going to work.”
Ken MacDonald paid tribute to the volunteers.
He said: “They do a fantastic job. Paisley has got such a rich textile heritage and it’s important for future generations to see what’s been done in the past.
“I knew we had a good case to put forward to the Queen’s Award and I’m delighted they’ve been awarded it. We’re fortunate in Paisley as we’ve got a lot of enthusiasm that will hopefully help for the Paisley 2021 bid.”
Paisley MSP George Adam also gave his congratulations.
He said: “I think this award is well- deserved for all the hard work the volunteers do.
“We’re talking about Paisley 2021 and the future of the town and what we can do, but it’s great to have something like this that records our past and sets us up for the future.”