Castlemilk and Bridge of Allan community projects win Stewart Milne campaign

The play equipment of a disability resource centre in Castlemilk in Glasgow and in a park in Bridge of Allan is set to be upgraded after winning support from Stewart Milne Group’s RUBY campaign as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations.

The Castlemilk centre, operated by Caring Operations Joint Action Council (COJAC), emerged as the winner from four shortlisted schemes in a public vote on social media over the past week. The project received more than 1,300 votes. Stewart Milne Group will now support the centre as it upgrades its play area, which is frequently used by children from the centre and local community.

Following a high level of public support and votes, Stewart Milne Group has also pledged to provide support to the Bridge of Allan project which came second in the public vote. This project will see the play park at Fountain Road Park being improved to include equipment for younger children.

In September, Stewart Milne Group launched its RUBY (Regenerating Urban Back Yards) campaign to improve run-down community spaces across Scotland and north-west England.

As an award-winning homebuilder, Stewart Milne Group knows just how important community spaces are to the quality of life that people enjoy in their local areas. With the RUBY campaign it aims to help regenerate outdoor spaces and amenities that need a bit of attention and help to build stronger, better resourced communities across the regions that we work in.

Members of the public, special interest groups, charities and community councils were invited to nominate an outdoor space in need of improvement, resulting in dozens of applications from across the regions.

In central Scotland, four entries were shortlisted by the judges for support. They were the provision of play equipment for toddlers and infants in Fountain Road Park in Bridge of Allan, upgrading the play area at the disability resource centre in Castlemilk, creating a children’s play space on derelict land in Parkhead and the greening of a public space in Shettleston.

Members of the public were asked to vote for the projects via Stewart Milne Group’s Facebook (facebook.com/StewartMilneGroup) and Twitter (@SMilneGroup and @SMilneHomes) social media channels.

Stewart Milne Group will allocate resources and support towards the winning project or provide the materials and/or people to carry out the improvements.

Jonathan Fair, managing director at Stewart Milne Homes Central, said: “Our RUBY campaign has received a great response from the public and we were able to shortlist four very deserving causes. We are thrilled that we are now going to be supporting the upgrading of the playpark at Castlemilk and we know that it will have a massive impact on the lives of both the children who use the centre and the wider community.

“The number of votes cast across the central region highlighted a huge amount of support for community projects in the area. Therefore we have taken the decision to also support the Bridge of Allan project, which came second in the voting. Both projects galvanised a lot of public support and we are looking forward to working with the communities to realise their plans.”

Angela Friel, interim centre manager for the disability resource centre in Castlemilk, said: “We are really happy to have received so much public support and would like to thank everyone who voted for us. The play area is used by children affected by disability who use the centre and local childcare groups, schools and nurseries throughout the year so the support from the Stewart Milne Group to upgrade it is going to make a real difference to a lot of people.”

Ailsa McLeod, secretary of Bridge of Allan Community Council, said: “We are delighted to have secured the support of the Stewart Milne Group’s RUBY campaign. We are a very active Community Council and have been working with the local community to identify what upgrades they’d like to see to the play equipment in the local parks. Moving ahead with the project will benefit a lot of children, parents and carers in the town.”

Keith Geddes, chair of Europe’s largest greenspace initiative, the Central Scotland Green Network, and member of the Stewart Milne Group RUBY judging panel, said: “The new play area at the Castlemilk centre and the improvements to the play park at Fountain Road Park will provide valuable resources for local communities to enjoy and will encourage healthy outdoor learning and natural play for children.”