Damp hall with mushrooms on its walls transformed by brass band
Marie SharpA leaky hall that had a partially collapsed ceiling and mushrooms growing on the walls has been brought back into use by a brass band after it raised £800,000 towards its transformation.
St David's Brass Band had leased Vogrie Hall in Gorebridge for rehearsals before Midlothian Council closed the building in 2020 for safety reasons.
The band bought the hall for £100,000 after its bid to take it over via a community asset transfer fell through.
It then went on to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds more renovate it.
The main hall of the building had water leaking through its roof and part of the ceiling had collapsed.
The hall and the kitchen had mushrooms growing on the walls and there was a smell of damp throughout the building.
On top of finding funds to buy the hall, the brass band managed to secure more than £700,000 from sources including the UK government's Community Ownership Fund, National Lottery, Foundation Scotland and private donations.
The hall was built in the 1930s for local miners.
Brass band chairman Stuart Dickson said: "It's a great moment being able to open Vogrie Hall's doors to the public once again.
"What seemed like an impossible task five years ago has come to fruition and I couldn't be prouder.
"Not only does the band have a permanent home, we've also been able to rejuvenate a part of Gorebridge's history and provide a space to bring the local community together."
He added: "I'm hugely grateful to the band members for their time and effort in getting us to this point, and to the enormous generosity of our funders and supporters."