Enlightments’ GoodsForGood shop in Kirkcaldy closes as project goes national

The GoodsForGood initiative helped to establish the groundbreaking project in Fife which is now taking on a national focus.

The goods - which included surplus items, end of season lines or returns from a number of different outlets - were sold at the foundation’s enterprise centre in the east end of the High Street.

Last week it was announcement that the pilot project run by the Cottage and Amazon was expanding beyond Fife.

It will now draw on bigger resources and be managed by a national charity whose principal focus will be maintaining a UK presence online.

A spokesperson said: “ As the principal focus of the Adam Smith Global Foundation is local, including the Adam Smith tricentenary and our training and skills agenda, it was agreed that a national charity should run the national project.

“We expect it to be up and running soon with all remaining goods to be sold on by it.”

The temporary closure allowed the project to be handed over, with the foundation now looking ahead to 2023 and Smith’s tricentenary.

The anniversary is set to be marked with a major festival in town.

The foundation confirmed this week, that cast members from hit BBC sitcom Two Doors Down will take top billing.

Arabella Weir - creative director of the Adam Smith Festival of Ideas - and co-star Kieran Hodgson are the first names to be unveiled for next summer’s event.

Arabella said: “I am delighted to play my part in the celebrations. “I hope that we can break records for audiences with this, only one of the events we are planning for the celebrations.”

Kirkcaldy lawyer Sally McKenzie has also been appointed as the new chair of the foundation, succeeding Michael Levack.

She said: “Every member of our board and all our staff are focused on the 2023 June festival to celebrate 300 years since the birth of Kirkcaldy's most famous citizen.

“The 2023 project takes up a lot of time and effort from all the volunteers involved so we have focused our attention on the project, which is currently going from strength to strength with an extremely diverse and interesting line-up of speakers and personalities set to visit Kirkcaldy.”

Future announcements will include news on plans to renovate the Adam Smith Garden which it bought in 2019.

The foundation is currently recruiting volunteers as part of its countdown to 2023, and looking to add more members to the board.

The new chair added: “To make sure the festival goes well, and the garden and centre are ready to host thousands of visitors, we are recruiting new volunteers and planning new initiatives on employability with a view to embarking on some exciting projects to achieve the core goals and values of the Foundation in addition to refocussing our work in the Enlightenments shop.