AN ALLOA good cause has this week launched an ambitions campaign to secure £300,000 and takeover buildings at a whisky heritage site.

Resonate Together has 12 months to make history and complete the community buyout of Ochil and Harvey House, which remain abandoned at the former Carsebridge Distillery site.

The not-for-profit social enterprise has been on the lookout for a new home since volunteers had to say goodbye to their beloved warehouse on Alloa's North Castle Street, after a decade there.

On Monday, January 31, Resonate was granted license to occupy the two buildings, having established a partnership with the construction company which owns the site.

The buildings, which used to form part of the largest site within Scottish Grain Distillers, are in a bad state of repair, which has been exacerbated by recent vandalism.

However, with keys in hand, volunteers and Resonate founder Angela Watt remain undeterred as they turn to their creativity, hard work and community base to revive the properties.

Angela told the Advertiser: “After carrying out some research on the incredible global and local history of the site, we set about building a reciprocal, positive partnership with the construction company who owned the site.

“Thankfully, the company were keen to work with us, the community, and so we went back to the community to see what people thought.

“The excitement was palpable immediately.”

At the properties, there are broken windows, collapsed ceilings and stripped pipes.

However, they are a “beautiful piece of architecture” and Angela said: “Beautiful sweeping staircases, magnificent windows looking out across the amazing grounds, multiple well sized rooms perfect for all kinds of community projects – we all saw the potential straight away and knew that we had to do all we could to save this incredible space.”

On Monday, Angela was joined by volunteers and members as they explored the building.

One member, Hannah Stevenson, said: “I feel excited and buzzing – it's been a long time coming, it's been a long journey. It's so good to see things moving forward.”

With the keys secured, it will be on hands on deck at Resonate for the biggest push in the organisation's history.

Angela added: “This isn’t just for Resonate or even for the community today – this is for Alloa for generations to come.

“We have 12 months to make history, to build our legacy and to secure our future.”

Interested people can keep up to date by finding Resonate Together on Facebook.