A COMMUNITY campaign to buy a former council care home has gathered memories and comments from members of the public in support of its plans.

North Berwick Community Development Company (NBCDC) revealed in a public meeting on September 5 its plans to bring the town’s former The Abbey care home into community use.

Shortly afterwards, NBCDC made an expression of interest for the property to East Lothian Council, with a view to applying for a community asset transfer.

The local authority has put the former care home on the market for offers around £1.2 million.

The former The Abbey care home (Image: East Lothian Council)

Campaigners for the group are continuing to build a business plan as part of its application for a community asset transfer – they recently hosted a stall on North Berwick High Street to engage members of the public and seek support for their plans to bring the building and grounds into permanent community ownership and create a wellbeing hub.

READ MORE: Campaign launched to buy former The Abbey care home

Campaigners Lisa McClure and Hilary Smith were delighted by the response.

Lisa said: “We've had a really positive response, people asking questions, and a lot of people don't even know how beautiful The Abbey is.

“A lot of people don't even know what the space looks like and they don't know about the history and the pilgrimage and the nuns, the monuments, the nunnery, the ruins. They don't know how beautiful the grounds are. They don't know about [social enterprise] Herbspace. They don't know North Berwick In Bloom is there and they don't know about the kind of intergenerational work we could do.”

Memories shared by people who stopped by the stall included “the time the front lawn became a golf course”; “the chocolate box raffle prize bigger than my mum”; “Elvis in the building”; “Santa’s Christmas pony”; and “The Abbey making soup during the Beast from the East”.

Other comments included: “[This is] an excellent and worthwhile cause. Hope you are successful. You and the community deserve this”; and “[It is] an amazing place that needs to be kept”.

Hilary added: “It should really be, if not under community direction, certainly under community influence, because when it's gone, it's gone.

“And those little things, the things that are important to even just a small fraction of the community, are still important to the community.

"It's not a zero-sum game. It's not a numbers game. It's not just about supporting thousands of people – to support even just a small group of people is important.”

Preliminary plans for the former care home include allotments, a café and accommodation for visitors to the town.

Signatures and data from the petition will form part of the organisation’s business plan.

To find out more about the NBCDC campaign for The Abbey, search for the Abbey Friends public group page on Facebook.

Regarding the community group's plans for the building, an East Lothian Council spokesperson previously said: “We would always engage with interested parties regarding potential community asset transfer opportunities.

“Following the Integrated Joint Board’s difficult decision to close the care home, the building has been placed on the market for sale in line with the council’s asset strategy and due process.

“The process of marketing and selling such a property includes responding to queries, arranging viewings/issuing particulars, setting a closing date, recording offers and analysing offers received.”