The telephone box in Dunmore Street has been owned by the Community Council since 2017.
Since taking ownership, the phone box has provided a number of services to the village including a mini museum and a book exchange.
During the Covid pandemic lockdown, it became a focal point for the village as a food exchange, actively supported by village donations, fruit and vegetable donations from Hewitt and Aker (former deli in Killearn), and by the Balfron Co-op, who regularly donated dry goods and who also ran a raffle for food.
It brought much joy to the local wee ones during Christmas and Easter with some special chocolate treats!
However, it was not looking so good – it was listing to one side, its door has had to be removed and replaced with a temporary one, and it was badly rusting.
After considering various options, we decided to fundraise to give it a full restoration in return for the service it has provided to us all during the pandemic.
In 2021, our fundraising successfully raised over £9000 in total – many thanks for all your contributions to our crowd funding appeal which raised over £1,000. Also thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund, to The Paul Trust and Stirling Council for supporting us with very generous contributions
The phone box was collected in November 2021 by a company who specialises in the refurbishment of telephone boxes. While it was away, a new level concrete base was put in place in preparation for its return.
On 10th February 2022 our phone box returned looking absolutely stunning, with all rust gone, sparking new paint work, new windows and new signage.
The area around the phone box was landscaped and the interior had new shelving and signage. It had a formal opening ceremony as part of the Balfron Eco Festival on 11 June 2022.
Since October 2021 the food exchange service at the phone box has become one of the Co-op local causes at Balfron and Aberfoyle stores. This funding will allow the phone box to be stocked with non-perishable items which are available for the local community. You can contribute to this until October 2022 and details on progress can be found by clicking this link.
We are grateful for everyone’s ongoing support and look forward to the phone box continuing as a valuable community asset for many more years.
