Not many 16-year-olds would be setting up a community centre committee, hosting youth nights for 250 teens and volunteering seven days a week.
Even fewer would still be doing it 29 years later.
But then most people are not Scott Beattie.
Or as Scott would say, most centres are not Inchgarth Community Centre.
Since being part of the group that set up a new committee 29 years ago, Scott’s commitment to the community in Garthdee and making people smile has not wavered.
While other buildings have been forced to close in the area, around 130,000 people pass through Inchgarth’s doors each year.
So how did Scott, 44, go from nearby teen to the low-key Garthdee celebrity “the guy from the community centre”?
Inchgarth Community Centre started because of some loud musical instruments
Scott cannot remember a time when Inchgarth Community Centre was not part of his life.
With his family living two minutes away from the facility, he and his siblings would often kick about the centre with friends while his mum volunteered her time to help.
In his mid-teens, friend and now manager of the centre, Paul O’Connor, secured some money from the Princess Trust for some instruments for their group of friends and other people in the community.
However, their chosen spot at the other community centre nearby at the time did not work out.
Scott said: “I don’t know what they were expecting from musical equipment but they weren’t too happy about the noise.
“So we said to the people who were running Inchgarth at the time, ‘Can we get a room to do music in’ and they said yes. And that’s where we started.
“We saw there was so much the building could do.”
Groups run out of Inchgarth morning to night
Starting up a committee to get things up and running, they hosted Friday night discos for 250 young people, youth groups and offered rooms out for hire.
Scott, who was working full-time for Virgin, said: “Whenever I wasn’t working, I pretty much would come up here because it’s so close to my house.
“It was just good to give something back and I always want people to be happy.
“I’ve had the benefit of the community when I was younger so I just wanted to continue that so people in the area had somewhere to go.”
After working for Virgin for ten years, Scott started at Inchgarth as assistant manager nearly 20 years ago.
During his time in the role, he was made Burgess of the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen for his dedication to Garthdee and the centre was given the Queen’s Award for voluntary service in 2017.
Scott, Paul, the staff and volunteers have turned Inchgarth into a thriving hub for their community.
So much so that they have had to extend the centre.
“There are groups that run from morning to night pretty much every day,” added Scott.
“It’s much busier now than it was back then.”
‘Scott’s dedication and work has changed lives’
These days Scott tries to spend more nights at home with his wife Victoria and their 21-month-old daughter Charlotte. But he admitted that Inchgarth will always be a big part of his family’s life.
“The centre has always been part of my life and probably always will be especially now I’ve got the little one as well,” he said.
“It’s always been here and we’ll keep it going for as long as we can and it will always give something back to the community.”
Paul O’Connor, manager of Inchgarth, said of his friend: “Scott is the Garthdee people’s hero, loved by all, and I have had the privilege of being his colleague and friend throughout these years.
“Without any doubt, Inchgarth would never have grown and succeeded without Scott.
“The measure of a society is how it looks after its children, elderly, those with disabilities and most vulnerable, and this is where Scott excels and has impacted thousands of lives.
“So few can boast of making such a difference, but then again Scott never would and has always gone about his work without seeking thanks or recognition, where his work done all of the talking.”
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