Clan Macquarrie Community Centre


(Borve Hall)

The Clan Macquarrie Community Centre (or Borve Hall) is a volunteer-run community centre in the village of Borve, on the northwest coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Comprising a flexible hall, with stage and professional sound and lighting, a green room which doubles as a fitness suite, a meeting room, café and a kitchen, the centre has an interesting history. Although sometimes confused with a family heritage centre, it actually takes its name from a ship, the SS Clan Macquarrie, which ran aground nearby in a severe storm in the Winter of 1953. Braving terrible conditions, the local community rescued the entire crew of sixty-six from the doomed ship using a breeches buoy. In appreciation, the ship's owners Glasgow-based Clan Line paid for a village hall to be built. This old hall eventually reached the end of its useful life and the community raised £750,000, from a range of local and national funds, for a new hall which opened in 2009.

The centre serves as a focal point for the community, hosting everything from birthday parties to wedding receptions, ceilidhs, theatre performances, church events, a youth club, keep-fit classes and a crofters' market. It also serves local businesses and provides one of the venues for the annual Hebridean Celtic Festival.


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