A rallying call has been issued to bring Brechin’s ‘Crickety’ project to life.
Club vice president Steve Dempsey said they want to get around 200 photographs of people from the east end of the city to share the history of the community.
Known locally as the ‘Crickety’, the former cricket club social club will open next year under a different guise after Brechin Buccaneers secured the necessary funding.
The building will have changing rooms, meeting rooms, multi-use spaces and a kitchen along with direct access to the Guthrie Park sports ground.
Costs of hire will be kept to a minimum to encourage use and support for the local neighbourhood.
Mr Dempsey said the building was a ‘local’ place where people met and socialised and celebrated birthdays and other events.
He said: “We now wish to create a place that can be used for a range of purposes to support local groups and the community.
“The refurbishment is about more than just cricket. It’s about the local community and the people who lived and still live there.
“We want to remember these people – those from the east end of Brechin who lived, worked, drank, laughed and cried in the area.
“They don’t have to have been involved in the Crickety or the cricket club. The photos just need to be of them.
“We wanted to do something different, not just a white wall, not just another load of pics of the club. We wanted it to bring life to the place and highlight people in this community.”
Mr Dempsey said “people matter” and that’s why the wall will be place as a central feature inside the entrance of the Crickety.
He said: “Linking with the past is a significant issue for many people and that’s what we want to ensure this is a key feature for those using the building.
“From the responses we have had so far, even the thought of the project is having a positive impact.
“People are getting in contact with a photograph, saying who the subject is.
“They forget that they were known by everyone, they weren’t just a mum, dad or grandparents, and they were part of a community based in the east end.
“It has also been astounding to see how once dialogue begins just how many different names people come up with and photos they are now searching for.”
Mr Dempsey said the refurbishment is about bringing the community together, highlighting issues and empowering local people to solve them.
He added: “We are hoping that people will look fondly upon the wall, remember the lives of others and enable today’s residents to hear more of the past and our community.”
