The trustees of a historic Mearns water mill are hoping to garner more local support for the project by forming a Friends group.
Mill of Benholm, a working waterwheel mill near Johnshaven, also provides invaluable training and employment opportunities for adults with special needs.
Since first opening as a tourist attraction in the mid-1990s the mill has had a chequered career, leading to serious doubts over its long-term future. However, 2002 saw the formal launch of the Mill of Benholm Project with the object of providing community support for adult learners and work experience in catering, horticulture, furniture restoration, shop and office work.
With it came financial support from Aberdeenshire Council social work service and its prospects have picked up considerably.
Project manager Mike Burleigh said, “The trust needs to establish a number of reliable income streams to ensure the project remains sustainable. The paid staff and supervisors, all part-time, are supported by a band of dedicated volunteers who do wondrous things with limited resources.
“Each and every one of our volunteers significantly supports an aspect of the project which would not be possible without them but we want to gather together more people who will support the project by showing an active interest in the aims and objectives of the charity.
“It is essential that more people become involved if the mill is to fulfil its full potential and remain viable.”
An open evening at the mill for anyone wishing to become involved in a Friends group has been planned for August 25 from 6.30pm, when more information will be provided on how the project is progressing.
In the last couple of years, with a new management board elected, urgent improvements have been carried out at the A-listed building including repairs to the wall of the mill’s dam, which was leaking. A small shop has been created out of a former tractor shed and there is also a plan to create an art gallery.