Five of our My Place Mentoring groups took the plunge and contributed virtual tours, interactive maps and more for Digital Doors Open Days 2020!
Cathcart Cemetery (East Renfrewshire)
Cathcart Cemetery is the final resting place of pioneering footballers, variety entertainers, artists and architects and sweetie kings. The garden cemetery and first opened in 1878 and comprises Victorian, 20th Century, Hebrew and Muslim sections.
The Friends of Cathcart Cemetery formed in early 2019 with the aim to protect and promote the Cemetery. The community had noticed a general appearance of neglect with the old section overwhelmed by ivy and self-seeding trees, and many toppled and flat gravestones amongst the nearly 15,000 graves.
With Mentoring support, Cathcart Cemetery aims to grow as a group with the skills and confidence to take on the Cathcart Cemetery Project. They are also receiving support to devise a clear vision and strategy to help facilitate their priorities, as well as to network with potential partners and funders.
For Digital Doors Open Days, they’ve produced a whistle stop-tour of some of the notable people buried in Cathcart Cemetery. Check out this interactive digital map and take a virtual stroll around the cemetery!
Silverburn Flax Mill (Fife)
Silverburn Flax Mill is an important survivor of Fife’s industrial heritage. Arguably the best remaining example of its kind, it is now being regenerated to bring it back to life as a visitor centre with hostel rooms, a cafe, artist studios and retail outlets. The ambitious £8m project, to be completed by 2024, is a partnership between FEAT and Fife Historic Buildings Council, with support from Fife Historic Buildings Trust.
My Place Mentoring is supporting the project’s vision to enable and support individuals to reach their full positive mental wellbeing in a culture where there is no stigma, and is providing guidance on governance and funding structures.
For Digital Doors Open Days, they’ve produced a video about the project, where you can enjoy some aerial views of the mill and sneak a peek at its derelict interior.
Skelmorlie’s Secret Bunker (Inverclyde)
Skelmorlie Secret Skelmorlie Secret Bunker is a fully restored underground Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post built as part of a UK chain to monitor and report on a nuclear attack during the Cold War period. It is the only free admission, fully restored monitoring post in the West of Scotland and only one of two in Scotland normally available for public access (the other is in Arbroath) since the official stand-down of the posts in 1991.
My Place Mentoring is supporting the project to raise their profile, develop peer support networks, identify relevant training in social media and audience development, improve the existing website and secure funding for a toilet/welfare facility on site.
For Digital Doors Open Days, they’ve produced a video tour so you can virtually travel underground to see the inside of the bunker with its original equipment and instruments still in place.
Hallmuir Ukrainian POW Chapel (Dumfries and Galloway)
Between 420 and 450 Ukrainian Prisoners of War were interned in Hallmuir camp, near Lockerbie. There they occupied 40 huts and were soon directed by the Ministry of Agriculture to work on local farms and in forestry in the area. They were offered the use of one of the huts as a chapel by the local land owners. A few years later the existing buildings became the chapel and over the years it was decorated and adorned to become the colourful and distinctive place of devotion which it is today. It is now a Grade B-listed building and is a living memorial to the Ukrainian prisoners of war in Scotland. Orthodox Greek Catholic services are still held at Hallmuir chapel on the first Sunday of each month and the building is also used for marriages of members of the Ukrainian community.
There are plans to create a visitor centre at the chapel that charts the history of Ukrainians in Scotland, and for the chapel to host interfaith activities. My Place Mentoring is supporting the caretakers of the chapel to secure long-term training for current and future members so that they can apply for funds, learn how to earn income for the project and how to engage with visitors.
For Digital Doors Open Days, they’ve created a video tour so that you can virtually visit the the Chapel!
Wick Heritage Museum (Highland)
The Wick Heritage Museum is home to a vast collection of artefacts and photographs depicting the history of Wick and its herring fishing industry. The museum is housed in the original Telford designed houses and fishing yards built by the British Fisheries Society in the early 1800s, now a Category “A” listed building.
My Place Mentoring is assisting the museum to grow as a group with the skills and confidence to support the development of a fundraising strategy and effective funding applications, as well as providing expertise about how to engage wider audiences.
For Digital Doors Open Days, they’ve created a virtual self-guided heritage trail so you can take a virtual stroll around Wick!