It’s lunchtime at Cairncry Community Centre and the smell of freshly made soup fills the air – along with chatter between friends.
As I arrive, there is a buzz in the Triple C Cafe.
A handful of mums are tucking in to a tasty treat, with their little ones gobbling up their own portions too.
But this is a cafe with a bit of a difference. Everything is free to whoever wants it.
Aberdeen City Council’s anti-poverty committee visited the venue recently to learn more about the work being done to tackle hardship in the area.
I tagged along to see the centre in action myself and hear from those who work hard to keep it going.
Cairncry centre always had a ‘community feel’
I’m given a warm welcome by Cairncry Community Centre Association chairwoman Joanne Currie, who was once a user of the venue herself.
She attended the parents and toddlers group with her daughter who was just nine-months-old at the time.
There will be more on this group later, as organisers reveal how they are helping out family’s budgets with blast-from-the-past prices.
Joanne eventually ended up running the group and was asked to join the association, and the dedicated volunteer has been there ever since.
If you were wondering, her daughter is now 26-years-old.
“The minute I walked in the building, I felt it had that community feel to it,” Joanne tells me.
“Thankfully, we’ve managed to continue that through the years.”
Free cafe and cooking classes
The centre’s cafe opens for breakfast and lunch on a Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
And the unassuming building between Murdo’s Bar and Aldi at Cornhill regularly fills up at these times.
The diner initially opened just once a week before Covid hit, but demand was so high the decision was made to expand.
Cafe manager Sharon Forsyth recently ran a 10-week “confidence to cook” course there, giving people the chance to learn basic but vital culinary skills.
Once complete, participants gain a qualification that can help them apply for hospitality jobs if they wish.
The free cafe also started out as a warm hub, giving people a safe place to go for food and warmth instead of facing the decision to either eat or heat over the winter.
Sharon acknowledges with mixed emotions that the cafe is so popular it can sometimes run out of food.
If anything is left over, such as portions of macaroni, it is offered through the centre’s foodbank to ensure nothing goes to waste.
But her favourite aspect of the place has nothing to do with the grub being served up.
Joanne likes the fact that the centre brings people together who would not normally have spoken to each other.
She explains: “We’ve got such a diverse amount of people that come in here.
“The older generation, parents and toddlers, and then more vulnerable people – and they are all sitting together.”
‘No judgement’ foodbank
The Cairncry Community Centre foodbank is stocked and supported by charity Cfine and the centre’s own volunteers.
While it is open three days a week, it supports people in crisis outwith these core times.
When it was first established, the foodbank wasn’t means tested.
Joanne explained that it was, and still is, there for anyone who needs a bit of help if they find themselves struggling – from those living on their own to entire families.
“What we are trying to offer these people is self-worth, no judgement,” she explained.
“We are there for them.”
There’s fitness classes, bingo and youth clubs too
As well as the cafe and foodbank, there are a host of other activities on offer that are run entirely by volunteers.
Swedish Friskis and Svettis exercise classes are held there, while visitors can also enjoy a game of bingo or bowls.
Youth clubs are on offer for children to give them a safe place to hang out with their friends after school.
Youngsters are encouraged to play football, tennis, and board games instead of being glued to mobile phones and tablets.
Meanwhile, the parents and toddlers group helps both parents and children develop their social skills.
A number of organisations also benefit from the centre too.
Rosehill and Stockethill Community Centre hold their meetings there while the Church of Scotland run their Sunday Service from the hall.
And ABZ Works provides funding for courses to be held there, such as the cooking skills workshops.
Decades of change at Cairncry
But the centre wasn’t always this run this way.
The building first opened its doors to Cornhill and Stockethill residents in 1995.
Joanne explained: “Initially coming through the doors you had the likes of carpet bowls, line dancing, exercise classes, and parent and toddlers.
“We had quite an affluent retired community here that came to a lot of groups.”
But she explained that over the years the diversity of the area has changed, bringing along its own challenges.
When the centre was founded, the association campaigned to get recognised as an area of deprivation.
The council didn’t deem it as one until the last few years, and that’s purely because of the roads that circle the centre.
“There are pockets inside of popular, well-established and funded areas that are in deprivation,” Joanne says.
“We are most definitely one of those and we have been for many years.
“We’ve got single parents, drugs, alcohol, mental health, elderly – they are all here.”
But despite this change, there is one thing that has remained the same from day one.
Entry to the parents and toddler group has been set at £1.50 for the last 29 years.
Joanne explains that the low fee ensures parents can come along for support, while children get the educational benefits of interacting with others.
What does the future hold for Cairncry Community Centre?
Committee chairman and Aberdeen City Council co-leader Christian Allard attended the visit and noted the “huge difference” the centre makes.
“The difference is on their fantastic approach of not stigmatising people, not asking them questions, but just helping those who come through the doors,” he said.
“Then you see people who are quite shy at the start who do want the help, who then go on to run the centre.
“It’s just amazing.”
Meanwhile Joanne hopes the “very positive” meeting will help the centre financially in the long-run.
“When the budget comes, is the money going to be increased or decreased, or go completely? That’s always a worry on us,” she says with a sigh.
“We understand the council has got constraints and it has to cut services in areas but the council couldn’t run this centre on what it gives us in the budget.
“For us to lose that grant would be difficult for us to then do what we do.”
Next year marks the centre’s 30th anniversary and a number of fun events are currently being planned.
Line dancing could be making a long-awaited return…
As our visit comes to an end, there is no rest for the dedicated volunteers as they get to work clearing the cafe for the after school Youth Club.
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