Campaign Launched to Save Historic Valleyfield House for Community Use

Valleyfield House is one of Penicuik’s most significant historic buildings, but locals are warning it is now at risk of being lost to private ownership, which would remove any opportunity for it to serve a long-term public or community purpose.

As a response, a team of passionate musicians have launched a new community charity, Valleyfield Arts, the purpose of which is to ensure the building is protected, restored and transformed into a vibrant performing arts centre and community hub to serve the people of Penicuik and the surrounding areas.

Founded by the Head of Pentland School of Music, Graham McDonald, Valleyfield Arts is aiming to raise £1million to purchase and restore Valleyfield House. This funding will support acquisition costs, legal and professional fees, and the initial restoration required to make the building safe, flexible and fit for multi-disciplinary performing arts use.

Fundraising will combine major grants, philanthropic support and community fundraising, with early public support playing a crucial role in demonstrating to funders that there is clear local backing. Valleyfield Arts is therefore calling on local residents, artists, performers, families, supporters of heritage and the performing arts, and anyone with a connection to Penicuik to get involved by donating, sharing the campaign and helping to build visible support for the project.

Valleyfield Art’s vision is for this important historic building to become a dynamic performing arts centre and inclusive community space, prioritising access, participation and wellbeing. While music education will play a central role, it is hoped the building will support a broad range of performing and creative arts including dance, drama, theatre, movement, visual arts and interdisciplinary performance. Their aim is to create a flexible space where children, young people and adults can learn, rehearse, perform and connect – with a particular focus on those who currently face barriers to participation due to cost, confidence or limited local provision.

Speaking ahead of the campaign launch, Graham McDonald said, 

“Valleyfield House represents a rare opportunity. Once buildings like this pass into private ownership, they are almost never recovered for community use. Valleyfield Arts has been created to make sure that does not happen here. Our aim is simple but ambitious: to secure the building, restore it properly, and create a home for music, dance, theatre and creative expression that is open and accessible to everyone in our community.”

Pentland School of Music will act as an anchor tenant within the building, delivering high-quality music education and contributing to the sustainability of the space. However, campaigners are keen to make it clear that it will not own or control the asset. Instead, governance will remain firmly focused on long-term community benefit, with decisions taken independently by the Board of Trustees of Valleyfield Arts to ensure the building serves a wide range of artistic and community purposes.

“This is not about prestige or exclusivity,” said McDonald, 

“It is about creating opportunity. It is about giving people space to move, create, perform and connect. With community support, Valleyfield House can become a place that genuinely belongs to the people it serves.”

Further information about the charity campaign, details of the proposed transformation and ways to donate can be found at www.valleyfieldarts.com.

The post Campaign Launched to Save Historic Valleyfield House for Community Use appeared first on Edinburgh Magazine – Positive Local News in Edinburgh, Scotland.