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First steps taken in £5m refurbishment of former Aberdeen Waldorf School

Aberdeen Waldorf School is to be transformed by the Camphill Wellbeing Trust
Aberdeen Waldorf School is to be transformed by the Camphill Wellbeing Trust

Multi-million-pound work is underway to convert a disused Aberdeen school into a centre promoting sustainable living.

The Camphill Wellbeing Trust is setting out to make use of the former Waldorf School in Craigton Road, which was closed in 2014.

Charity bosses have rebranded the building Compass – and want to use it to promote healthy lifestyles.

Since the 1940s, the organisation has provided education and care to the youngsters, adults and older people with learning disabilities.

But now leaders say they wish to extend their ethos to “all who want to improve their health, maintain their wellbeing or explore a more sustainable lifestyle”.

Beginnings of a £5m refurbishment of the derelict Aberdeen Waldorf School

Having quietly started work in September, volunteers have already racked up hundreds of hours tidying the grounds and restoring overgrown pathways, after the building’s seven-year mothballing.

Overall, they estimate their dream for the C-listed school, which was built as a convalescent hospital at the end of the 19th century, could cost around £5 million.

The first phase of the project, which includes increasing security at the site plagued by vandals since its closure, is priced at £200,000.

And more than 50% of that phase one target has been reached – largely thanks to the generosity of a single anonymous donor, though residents and local businesses have supported the work too.

Essential repairs, ensuring the school is wind and watertight once again, have also been carried out after the vandalism.

Camphill Wellbeing Trust chief exectuive AIleen Primrose and Dr Stefan Geider get their hands dirty at the former Aberdeen Waldorf School
Camphill Wellbeing Trust chief executive Aileen Primrose and Dr Stefan Geider get their hands dirty at the former Aberdeen Waldorf School

Camphill Wellbeing Trust chief executive, Aileen Primrose, urged support from the public and local firms to help keep the project progressing.

She told The P&J: “We hope that individuals and businesses will feel moved to come on board this exciting and important journey which represents long-term investment in the local environment, and the wellbeing of the people who inhabit it.

“From spending a few hours as a volunteer to financial or practical support, there are many ways in which people can get involved in Compass and help make a lasting, positive impact that benefits the local and wider Aberdeen community.”

In the next part of their work, Camphill Wellbeing will look to the drawing board to arrive at plans to “revitalise” the whole Cults site, refurbishing buildings and opening up the school sports hall for community use.

Owners Camphill Estates last year failed in attempts to overturn Historic Environment Scotland’s C-listing of the site, having argued would-be developers would view the heritage protections as an “unnecessary burden”.

They came to own the school after it went into liquidation, shortly after the publication of a damning inspection report focused on the staffing and care of children attending kindergarten there.

Previously the campus was home to the Aberdeen American School.