Aberdeen Beach Community (ABC) is here to ensure that use of the Aberdeen beach is enabled and enhanced for all the responsible recreational activities for which it is becoming increasingly popular.
ABC is an entirely voluntary community organisation composed of individual members, ABC aims to represent the interests of all responsible users of Aberdeen beach, whether their favourite beach activity takes them into the water or not!
What’s Up?
Aberdeen City Council has approved a masterplan for regeneration of the city, including a new framework for development of the beachfront. In ABC’s view, this framework presents a mixture of risks and opportunities for users of the beach.
ABC’s mission is to take advantage of any opportunities for the benefit of beach users and to minimise or eliminate any risks. An example is that the facilities which the Council have kindly provided the Surf Life Saving Club for many years will be lost under the current plans.
Yet there may be a possibility of alternative premises as a base for the Surf Life Saving Club and for users of the beach generally.
Aberdeen Beach Club House project
During the beach master plan consultation, local lifesavers/surfers/swimmers wanted to see a new club house built down at the beach for the water users, this idea has been well received by the council.
Over the last few years, the number of people using the beachfront has exploded and a friendly beach community has grown out of this. There is a need for new facilities for water users while improving existing public facilities.
A community beach club house would provide a base for Aberdeen Life Saving club, Aberdeen Surfers and Aberdeen Swimming groups and other water-based Activities currently thriving in Aberdeen. The club house would be community run, by those who use the water on a daily basis.
The proposed club house would feature;
- Storage for Lifesaving equipment
- Showers and changing
- A fit-for-purpose adaptive changing room
- Kitchen/breakout area
- Classroom and office
- Lifeguard observation deck
Artist impression of council proposed design at current Footdee toilet location.
The vision is to see this clubhouse becoming a focal point for the beach community and nurture future generations of surfers, swimmers, and lifesavers.
Our Situation
The Aberdeen Beach Club House will offer a warm and welcoming space and setting up a business which will sustain its long-term future - a community hub that is truly open to create a new community buzz, whilst being commercially viable through various operating enterprises, available to local businesses through rental of floorspace.
Our project has now been split into three stages and three funding campaigns.
- Phase One – Project feasibility
- Phase Two - The design stage & building fit out
- Phase Three - Run as non-profit charity, including leasing parts of the building – water safety education centre & Lifesaving club
We are looking for financial support to help us achieve our overall objective, this first phase we are calling the "Project Feasibility" phase and is the focus of this Crowdfunding campaign. By working together as a community, we build a project a community can be proud of.
Our fundraising team are working hard applying for grants and trusts. But we also need to approach the general public, local businesses etc. to donate towards.
Working With The Community
The vision for the beach club house is being developed in collaboration with the community. We are confident there is a demand and desire for business locally and the support we have received so far has been overwhelming.
We asked the community what facilities they'd like to see: The answers revealed the top choices as ‘Shower & Changing area, toilets, disabled access, multi-use space and facilities for beach users'. We are listening to our community along the way and ensure that Aberdeen Beach Club House will be an open, ethical, low-carbon and socially minded venture that people really want to visit!
Our long-term vision is to create a multi-purpose building which facilitates a diverse range of activities, projects and services that will improve the health, social, cultural, educational, environmental and employment-related outcomes for the community and be enjoyed by visitors from near and far.
In addition, we are striving through the development and refinement of our business planning to increase our positive environmental impact for the long term. We will draw on permaculture principles and use the renewable resources available to us to encourage the increasingly environmentally aware local economy driven by the desire of residents in our area. An initial environmental report has highlighted a number of actions we can take at the outset to reduce the energy use of the business to a minimum including careful installation of floor and wall insulation, choosing water saving devices and low energy lighting. Installation of solar panels on the new roof is also a key priority.
Why Are We Crowdfunding?
The first phase of works will see the Project feasibility then focusing on project design. We still have a long journey ahead, but we're driven to continue a phased, collaborative approach to the building,
Why Pledge Your Support?
This crowdfunding campaign is about how you can support us to get the building up and running as soon as possible. Raising funds via crowdfunding will provide the capital needed to prepare for some of the key elements as the project develops.
We believe there is great support from our advocates, friends and future customers for a project of this ambition and believe you will come out in force and pledge to give us that financial boost we need get us into the building.
Everyone's contribution can make a huge difference to the rate of progress. Funds of different sizes accumulate towards the total: e.g. 1000 @ £10 = £10,000, 1000 @ £20 = £20,000, 500 @£100 = £50,000, 100@ £500 = £50000, 10 @ 20000 = £200000 etc.
By pledging your support or choosing one of our amazing rewards you can ensure we continue the progress we have made so far and be part of the story of Aberdeen Beach club House projects success.
*100% of all donations received will be spent on achieving the aims of this community group through activities such as the legal and design consultation services required in order to progress. We will practice an open accounting approach in order to give full transparency on where your money goes. Should the initial ABC Clubhouse project not come to fruition we will look to our members to suggest alternative beach related causes to distribute remaining funds amongst.