Kilmarnock Station Railway Heritage Trust was formed in 2014 to bring a number of redundant railway offices into community use and create The Kilmarnock Station Community Village

The first phase of the refurbishment project was completed in August 2015, creating bright modern facilities, which offer office space and meeting rooms used by a range of local groups, as well as a coffee shop and book shop. Other renovated rooms house the Glasgow & South Western Railway Association archives and the Active Travel Hub.

The charity offers volunteering and training opportunities for people affected by addiction, mental health issues, loneliness and isolation, as well as providing rehabilitation opportunities for ex-offenders.

The Trust aims to support the local community by encouraging groups and individuals to utilise the renovated spaces at the station for the benefit of the whole community. The KSRHT facilities host everything from art exhibitions and creative classes, to tai-chi, meditation, yoga and even charity comedy nights. In 2015, the Trust won the SURF Awards for Regeneration and was shortlisted for the EPIC Awards for Creative Arts.

The station at Kilmarnock dates from 1846 and the town is the home of Scotland’s railways, with the first railway in Scotland between Kilmarnock to Troon opening in 1812. The famous locomotive builders Andrew Barclay & Sons (now the Wabtec Rail Scotland) still operate nearby.

The station once contained six platforms of which only four are now in use. Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are accessed from the main building constructed in a quasi-Italian style and platform 4 from the less attractive underpass.

The main station building is broadly L-shaped and contains a number of rooms, both on the lower level and at platform level. These have remained unused for many years until a small group got together and decided to form a trust to bring the rooms back into community use.

During the summer of 2014, plans were finalised and funding achieved through the Scottish Stations Community Regeneration Fund and the Railway Heritage Trust. The fitting out of the rooms was funded through East Ayrshire Council’s Renewable Energy Fund and Wabtec Rail Scotland.

The official opening of the first phase of this project to bring the redundant part of the station back into full use was on Monday, August 31st, 2015, with a plaque commemorating the occasion unveiled by East Ayrshire Provost, Jim Todd.

The fully refurbished rooms offer office space, meeting rooms, a book shop, coffee shop, active travel hub and a records office for the Glasgow & South Western Railway Association.

Kilmarnock Station Railway Heritage Trust is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) no: SC045252, VAT Registration no. 204 4161 55.

Funding was gained from The Railway Heritage Trust, SCRF fund and The Renewable Energy Fund to refurbish 7 rooms at platform level at Kilmarnock Railway Station and bring them back into use.

The rooms had been stripped back to a bare shell in 1998 and had lain unused since then.

An investment of around £500k brought the rooms back to life and since then they have been utilised by community groups and individuals in East Ayrshire, making the station once again a hive of activity and providing an enhanced service for Railway Station passengers.

The collective name for the group of rooms is known as Kilmarnock Station Community Village