Wasp Community Club working to transform Klub21 into The Hive

The property on Mill Street – formerly Klub21 – is in the process of being refurbished to become The Hive.

The project has been undertaken by the Wasp Community Club, who wish to create a community youth club to provide a safe space for kids and teenagers to go to.

This initiative has been driven forward by a lack of options for young people in Alloa and Clacks as a whole.

Tony McMinn, youth and schools coordinator with Wasp Community Club, is leading the project and discussed their plans for the future with the Advertiser.

Work is underway to transform Klub21 into The Hive. (Image: Newsquest) Tony is aided by a group of young people from Alloa Academy, made up of currently S4 and S5 boys.

He said: “The main idea was to initially run a Friday night youth club to tackle anti-social behaviour in the area and try to direct the kids away from substance abuse and drinking.

“We became aware of this building and rather than just do it up and use it on a Friday night, we’re hoping to use it for an employability café, possibly a gym through the week and maybe some dance groups.

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“It will be open to the community to come in and use it at different times through the week and then hopefully through the holidays, we can be open during the day.

“Young people can come to the club and feel safe, get a break from the house, get something to eat.

“During the holidays, it can be a difficult time for families and young people if there’s not that support in place.”

RE-DESIGN: Klub21 will be transformed into a kids youth club called The Hive. (Image: Newsquest) The boys have been helping repaint the interior of the building and have held a leading role in coming up with ideas of what the club should look like.

Tony hopes that this group will be bolstered by the addition of some girls as well, who will contribute their own suggestions of what they’d like to see at The Hive.

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He continued: “We’ve made links with Alloa Academy, got to know young people through that and we engage with them so that they feel comfortable with us.

“We’ve got eight young people which will hopefully extend to a few more and they’ve been in charge of the of the building project – they’ve been painting, looking at budgets and they’ll hopefully get some qualifications through that as well.

“They’ve been enthusiastic about it, these walls used to be purple and now they’re white.”

Tony and the Wasp Community Club are currently aiming for an early-2025 opening date, with more information to come when they know more.

The Wasp Community Club is hoping to hear from organisations or companies who would like to make donations or help undertake some of the work.

Anyone who is interested in helping out can contact Tony McMinn on 07538 137948 or tony@waspcommunityclub.com.