From Community Feedback to Real Change: Two New Activities Coming to Stranraer

 Over the past year, the Stranraer Millennium Centre has been working quietly, but deliberately, to respond to what local people have told us they want for Stranraer.

Through the Stranraer Place Plan and our own Family and Young People Activities Survey, one message came through strongly: there is a clear need for more accessible, affordable activities for families and young people, particularly options that can be enjoyed year-round when the weather limits outdoor activity. Alongside this, it highlighted the importance of making better use of existing community buildings, rather than creating new venues, by adapting and improving spaces that are already embedded in the town and are easy for people to access.

As your community centre, this approach aligns closely with our values. Our building already plays a central role in local life, and we believe it should continue to evolve alongside the needs of the community it serves. Instead of constructing something new elsewhere, reducing the unnecessary spending of funds, we have spent the last twelve months exploring how our existing spaces can be reimagined to deliver the kind of activities residents asked for, while supporting the wider ambitions of the Place Plan.

In response, we have been developing plans to bring not one, but two new permanently available indoor activities to Stranraer within your current community centre, a 14 people, free roaming Virtual Reality (VR) Arena and an indoor Skate Rink. Both are planned to be available in early 2026.

The VR Arena will transform part of our existing building into an immersive, interactive environment offering experiences for young people, families, groups and visitors. It will introduce something genuinely new to the town, while remaining affordable and accessible through a familiar, community-led space.

Alongside this, the Skate Rink will repurpose existing indoor space to create a fun, inclusive and weather-proof area for skating, casual sessions and organised activities. This will provide a safe place for young people to be active, social and creative, regardless of the weather or season.

By developing these activities within our existing building, we are directly responding to the Place Plan’s emphasis on strengthening what Stranraer already has. These projects contribute to increased town-centre activity, better use of community assets, improved wellbeing opportunities and stronger engagement with children and young people, all without the need for new builds.

While there is still work ahead before doors open, we are proud of the progress made so far and excited about what this will bring to the town. These developments reflect our commitment to listening to local voices and turning community priorities into practical, visible improvements that benefit Stranraer now and into the future.

Further details will be shared when we know an opening day in the first quarter of the new year, and we look forward to welcoming the community to these new activities 2026.

While these are two new activities are a great addition to the town, we are also working extremely hard on a third, more information on that soon.