OPENING 2026!
Thanks to our funders, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Fife Council, The Scottish Government, Historic Environment Scotland, Levenmouth Reconnected, Robertson Trust & The Wolfson Foundation we have now raised over 10 million pounds and the Flax Mill project is officially underway!
Our construction programme started on site in August 2023 however due to rising inflation costs over the term of the project we are still fundraising to protect the investment and ensure the construction can be completed.
Any amount you can donate helps us secure the success of the Flax Mill project!
Help us Beat Rising Costs!
“Buying” a virtual brick will help towards the re-pointing and renovation of the Silverburn Flax Mill’s 30,000 iconic red bricks.
We also accept donations of any amount big or small. Every single penny goes back in to improving the park for the benefit of Levenmouth!
Or Text FLAX to 70085
Texts cost £5 plus one standard rate message, or choose your own amount, eg: FLAX10 to donate £10 (up to £20)
Outline of the Redevelopment Plan:
A major community-led initiative for wellbeing, enterprise and employment, benefiting the people of Levenmouth and beyond.
The currently derelict B-listed former Flax Mill building will be brought back to life, creating a sustainable and iconic centre piece for Silverburn Park.
Gifted to the people of Leven in the 1970s by the Russell family, who established the Mill and lived at Silverburn, the Flax Mill development will honour the Park’s overall ethos (which is protected by a Conservation Agreement with the National Trust for Scotland) as a place of quiet enjoyment, supporting the health and wellbeing of the community, and respecting the habitat and biodiversity of the environment.
The Flax Mill Project is critical to delivering the overall vision for Silverburn’s regeneration; Heart, Mind & Soul: Silverburn – to create a unique community space, that works for the community, and that the whole community can be truly proud of.
Leading the project, Fife Employment Access Trust (FEAT), an innovative and award-winning mental health organisation which supports people back into work, will repurpose the Flax Mill to create a visitor centre and community hub offering jobs, training, space for retail and creativity, as well as offering shelter and sustenance for walkers and cyclists enjoying Silverburn Park and the Fife Coastal Path.
The Multi-Million Pound Renovation Will Offer:
A café and restaurant
Arts & crafts studios for local makers and enterprises
Gift Shop
Fully accessible public toilets with Changing Places facilities
Meeting rooms and event spaces
Offices for our own staff and charity partners
A backpackers hostel with 10 en-suite rooms
+ more
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Fife Council and others, and in partnership with Fife Historic Buildings Trust, the Flax Mill project is on track to create local jobs and generate income which will support its upkeep and maintenance of the Park for future generations, as well as help develop and grow FEAT’s life-changing work in Levenmouth and across Fife.
Already well into its development phase, with initial emergency works onsite completed, the project team are now looking ahead to delivering the full Flax Mill vision. The building will be fully operational by 2025, with a dynamic programme of activities for local people to learn new skills, to welcome visitors, and to celebrate this unique and important building, at the heart of the community.
Total project costs are some £8M, anticipated from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Fife Council, Scottish Government and Historic Environment Scotland and others. Fundraising is continuing, and the amazing support of our local community is really helping.
Thank-you for your continued enthusiasm, likes, shares, buy-a-brick, cafe purchases, campsite bookings, pop-up shop sales, and crowdfund donations.
CELEBRATING OUR RICH HISTORY:
The aim of the interpretation plan is to provide a guide to future interpretation at and related to the Flax Mill. The interpretive features and activities it proposes are designed to help attract, engage and inform everyone who visits the mill about the building and locality, whether popping in to use the café, coming to a meeting, staying in the hostel or attending an event.
The plan proposes a range of interpretation online and within the building, including great stories, colourful displays and fun interactives; all of these will help to tell people about the mill throughout its life, from when it was first built and processing flax to when it billeted World War II soldiers right through to the story of its restoration and its new role as a community and visitor hub. The interpretation will also help place the mill and flax processing into context within the wider flax and linen industry in Fife and across Scotland. It will share the stories of the many people who have been associated with the building and estate, from the Russell family who built the mill and the local people who worked in it, to the people who looked after and visited the petting farm, the team that restored the building and the vibrant Levenmouth community on its doorstep past and present.
It is anticipated that developing and delivering the interpretation will be a collaboration with the community, giving local people an opportunity to share their stories and to help with the research as well as to use and enjoy the building when it reopens. The aims of the interpretation in particular are to: enhance local people’s pride in Silverburn and Levenmouth through its rich cultural and natural heritage; to reconnect people with the story of Fife’s flax and linen industry; celebrate the stories of all the people associated with the flax mill and Levenmouth; and to contribute to the valuable work of FEAT and its partners at Silverburn and help local people grow their skills, confidence and wellbeing.
ACTIVITIES FOR EVERYONE:
The Flax Mill Activity Plan sets out the process by which we have been working collaboratively with the local community to develop the activities that will take place during the project. A key part of the Activity Plan is the Action Plan, which clearly sets out the various activities. These activities are grouped under five themes:
- The conservation and adaptation of the Flax Mill
- Flax as a resource: growing and processing flax
- Social and industrial heritage of Silverburn Park
- Staff and volunteers: training, management and monitoring.
- Natural heritage
The activities include drop-in mini-building sessions for young families and STEM workshops for schools through to hard hat tours and construction skills placements for College students. The growing and processing of flax will be central to the Flax Mill project, with activities to develop a volunteer flax group and create of a Flax Workshop in the completed Mill. We will grow flax in the Park and use the fibre to make items from rope and linen through to canvas coracles. The community of Levenmouth have long had a close relationship with the park. We will deliver oral and social history activities that capture community’s memories and associations with the Park and Flax Mill, both on site and as part of our outreach activities. And we will find new ways to support people to engage in the natural heritage of the park, through new trails and guided walks.
In developing the Activity Plan we have worked collaboratively with the local community, and will continue to do so in its delivery. This has helped to ensure that there are activities for all ages, interests and abilities.
The aims for the activities, which reflect the overarching vision of the project and the strapline of Heart, Mind & Soul, are: we will place the local community at the heart of our activities; we will actively support and engage with people in the most deprived parts of Levenmouth and especially young people and those people experiencing mental health issues; and we will celebrate the unique heritage of the Mill and its setting within the Park creatively and collaboratively.
Images by: Michael Wolchover
Our Funders:
VAT Registration number 397 1622 68
