Plans for museum

Plans are underway to transform an iconic village building into a heritage attraction and museum.

A trust has been working with villagers to create a working community space, which echoes, and honours West Calder’s role in the founding of the Scottish Co-operative Movement.

The West Calder and Harburn Community Development Trust (WCHCDT) has been striving to find a sustainable future for the property in the village of West Calder - The Old Co-op Bakery or Workspace - for many years.

The Scottish Co-operative Discovery Centre will be a heritage attraction and museum focused on the movement locally and across Scotland. It will be a fun, handson and family-friendly place to learn, meet and share.

The trust-led project aims to transform the derelict building to be a hub for local economic development, community cohesion, resilience, celebration, place making and community wealth building.

Matt Pearce, manager, West Calder and Harburn Community Development Trust said: “The discovery centre aims to celebrate our local and national heritage, create opportunities for local people and above all to inspire people toward collective solutions for the mutual challenges we face in the world today, like inequality and the climate crisis.

“The Co-op has been a central part of West Calder and West Lothian life for 150 years. It is entwined with our everyday lives - then and now - and it has so much to teach us.

“We wanted to celebrate that heritage locally, but we also wondered why there wasn’t a centre to celebrate it nationally and we didn’t see why such a centre couldn’t be in West Lothian.”

Matt added: “The completed centre will be home to spaces for community, training and well-being services, creating 22 new jobs and 150 annual training opportunities targeted at the most disadvantaged in our communities.”

Gavin Henderson, Chair of West Calder and Harburn Community Development Trust said: “This project has been designed and developed by the local community.

“It is rooted in our local heritage and that’s a heritage that has echoes across Scotland.

“The project will meet a wide range of local aims and objectives.”