One of Fife’s best-loved charities is set to open its refurbished hub in Buckhaven this month.

CLEAR Buckhaven and Methil will open the doors to the Community Hub – meaning more people can enjoy their home-grown food and take part in their events.

It comes as the country marks Great Big Green Week, a nationwide festival from June 6-14 that celebrates people working together to improve the environment – just like CLEAR has been doing since 2007.

The charity was formed to provide ways to build skills and confidence for local people who were out of work, for a range of reasons and it now has a base in Buckhaven, as well as community gardens in Buckhaven and Methil.

Kim Dick joined as a volunteer (Pic: Submitted)

placeholder image — Kim Dick joined as a volunteer (Pic: Submitted)

Arran Ednie, 29, has recently started volunteering at CLEAR after being referred to as a way of building skills to get back into work after dealing with anxiety.

Hen said: “It helps me a lot. Before I was in a bad way, but when I come to CLEAR its relaxing, its calm – and on a braw day it’s hot in the garden. It’s good.

“I want to go back to work because I’ve not been working for over 10 years. Volunteering here helps with my anxiety and it’s helping the community – it’s trying to make the countryside a bit better and greener.”

Kim Dick, 51, who lives in Methil, joined the charity last August as a volunteer coordinator after 24 years working in a bank. The decision, she says, has been life-changing.

A recent planter sale at CLEAR (Pic: Submitted)

“I joined the Wednesday groups as a volunteer and for me, it was my calm place. When this job came up I left the bank and came here to work. It was the best decision I ever made.”

Last weekend the charity put on a record-breaking planter fair, handing free herb and veg planters to residents with plants grown in their community garden, aiming to spread the home-growing habit to people all across the area.

Kim said: ‘I think we started off with 25 planters the first year and up to 70 this year.”

She added: “Every town should have something like this. We do a lot for the community – it’s quite a deprived area and it’s good to see the bulbs we’ve planted coming through in the spring; to see people just taking pride in our own community. If I could describe how this place makes me feel, it would be fulfilled, happy and hopeful.”

Arran Ednie, 29, has recently started volunteering at CLEAR (Pic: Submitted)

For Andrew Paterson, 17, CLEAR is a ‘special place’ that makes a difference on many levels. “I’ve grown up here all my life – I used to come to CLEAR when I was younger, I’d volunteer here instead of school,’ he said.

“There wasn’t much for the community, and there’s been vandalism and anti-social behaviour around here, but this is about making the place better.

“When I’m planting, all the troubles I’ve got just melt away. You’re leaving a legacy behind, whether it’s the planters we did this weekend, or the trees we’ve been planting as well.

“Hopefully one day communities will be a lot better all across Fife – and what we’re doing will help the climate too.”