'Village Square' in the City

Friday March 23 2018

An Edinburgh church has launched a new open access community space in the city centre.

The ‘Village Square’ has been set up in the Greyfriars Charteris Centre, in the Pleasance. It is a place for people to ‘escape, rest, study, work, chat, meet, give, receive, learn and gain support as required’.

Open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm, the space is free to use. It has drinks available on a self-serve, donation basis, and will also be able to be used as an exhibition and performance space which will help attract more people and assist with future sustainability. It has a mixture of table/chair and comfortable seating arrangements. Initially it will operate with volunteer-led provision, with a strong link to the University especially through the Edinburgh Universities Student Association (EUSA), and with assistance from the Campus Ministry team.

Because of the connections within the Charteris Centre, “The Village Square” will be able to signpost people to a range of support, plus representatives will be able to be called upon from Greyfriars Kirk, Grassmarket Community Project, Campus Ministry, CoCo:Counselling in Communities, Edinburgh Street Pastors, Amina:Muslim Women’s Resource Centre, Edinburgh Social Enterprise, CrossReach:Heart for Art, Workplace Chaplaincy, University of Edinburgh, NHS Occupational Therapy, LOOPS (Local Opportunities for Older People) and other groups as they are in the premises.

As well as being a free, open access space, groups can also secure space for their discussions/meetings for a nominal fee, rather than pay for sole use of one of the larger halls in the Centre.

The Charteris Centre, launched in 2016, is a mission outreach of Greyfriars Kirk. Set up in the former Kirk O’Field Centre, it is named after Archibald Charteris, founder of Life and Work, the Church of Scotland Guild, and the Church of Scotland Diaconate.

Post Tags: charteris centre

Related Stories

Comments

There are currently no comments on this post

Add a reply

All fields are required. Email address will not be published.