Places
Caring for the spaces where Darvel meets, plays and spends time outdoors.
Darvel & Area Regeneration Team
Get involved
DiscoverDarvelSupport DART People making things happen
Local people.
Practical action.
A stronger Darvel.
DART is a volunteer-led Scottish charity bringing people together to improve the town, support community life and turn good local ideas into lasting projects.
Registered charityScottish Charity SCIO 49591
Our areaDarvel and the Irvine Valley
Our invitationEveryone has something to offer
What we do
Small steps. Ambitious projects. Shared pride.
DART works across public spaces, community events, environmental improvements and local heritage. Some projects are highly visible; others are the patient work of planning, fundraising and partnership.
What connects them is a belief that Darvel is strongest when local people help shape what happens next.
Events
Creating markets, music, festivals and shared moments throughout the year.
Environment
Making paths, parks and planted spaces safer, greener and more welcoming.
Heritage
Protecting the buildings, objects, photographs and stories that shaped the town.
National recognition
Two awards.
One shared effort.
These honours recognise the volunteers who turned a difficult town-centre site into The Corner—and made it a place for Darvel to meet, trade and celebrate.
United Kingdom2023
Awarded to DART
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service
DART received the UK’s highest award for local volunteer groups in November 2023. Equivalent to an MBE, it recognised the team’s outstanding voluntary work—particularly the transformation of the former Co-op site into The Corner.
View the official award recordScottish Civic Trust2024
My PlaceAward winnerCommunity-led Project
Awarded to The Corner
Scottish Civic Trust My Place Award
On 13 March 2024, The Corner won the My Place Award in the Community-led Project category. The judges celebrated a community-led transformation that gave a derelict site renewed purpose as a welcoming place to gather.
Explore the My Place AwardCurrent work
Projects with a purpose.
From a single pathway to a town-wide festival, every project starts with a practical idea for making life in Darvel better.
Community space
The Corner
A year-round home for markets, music, celebrations, workshops and everyday connections in the centre of Darvel.
Events
A growing programme of community engagement
DART’s Events Team is building an ambitious year of markets, festivals and live music, supported by new staging, sound, lighting and projection equipment.
Cycling for everyone
Darvélo
A welcoming festival of rides, live music, local food, stalls and family activity for every age and ability.
Stories and collections
Discover Darvel Heritage
Digitising photographs, documents, artworks and local memories so that Darvel’s history remains accessible to everyone.
Across the town
More work in motion.
DART brings volunteers, partners and funders together around projects that are too important to tackle alone.
Waterlip Pathway
Improving surfacing, fencing, riverbank safety and lighting along this much-loved route beside the Glen Water and River Irvine.
Darvel Gala Day
Carrying forward the parade, gala royalty and family celebrations in Morton Park, with the next Gala Day planned for 20 June 2026.
Bee’ing Better
Creating ribbons of bulbs and wildflowers to support pollinators, biodiversity and community wellbeing.
Darvel Town Hall
Working with partners on a more accessible, sustainable and flexible future for one of the town’s most important buildings.
Morton Park
Supporting safer play, inclusive facilities, biodiversity and renewed connections with the river and the park’s natural spaces.
Discover Darvel
Building a useful online home for local events, heritage, projects and the stories that connect the town.
Give your time
There is a place for you.
Help at an event, lend practical skills, support a project or bring an idea of your own. You do not need previous experience—just a willingness to take part.
Contact the DART teamGive your support
Help good ideas go further.
Donations support community spaces, events, environmental improvements and the preservation of Darvel’s heritage. Every contribution helps.
Donate to a DART project