AWESTRUCK Academy – a creative arts hub in Clydebank – will officially launch its new premises on Thursday.

The centre for creative, visual and performing arts will complete its move from its current site on Kilbowie Road to that of the former Reds Snooker Club on Sylvania Way.

The opening night will see an exhibition from Faifley Art Group and a variety of performances from musicians and spoken word artists.

There will also be a special guard of honour, put on by Clydebank Sea Cadets, to mark the opening of the new venue from 6.30pm.

Allan Rutherford, the director of the academy, told the Post: “It’s ready to rock and roll. I can’t wait.

“A lot of people from the community have pulled together to get this up and running. The council have been brilliant.

“They know it’s going to be great for the area, bringing jobs and activities for local people.

“It’s going to be somewhere for people to go. People can come in and relax. They can look at the art work and have a coffee.

“We are going to be doing a lot of clubs and providing services to adults as well within the creative industry.”

The process of getting the building up to scratch has been a painstaking one for Allan and his small band of volunteers.

“It’s almost been like working on a derelict building, but the space is amazing,” Allan said.

“I am actually starting to run out of space for the ideas we have.“It (the opening night) will be a mixture of music, poetry and art, which is what we are all about.”

The new location will provide space for dedicated classrooms, a small lounge area and an events area with a stage.

Allan has spoken previously about his desire to support local people and give them somewhere to showcase their work.

In late March, he said: “I’m all about promoting people and giving people somewhere to go and somewhere to show their work.“A lot of artists that come through here have never had the confidence to go to art galleries before.

“It’s just giving them a wee bit of belief in themselves and the chance to meet other like-minded people.

“We are giving an opportunity to everyone. It doesn’t matter their level. We will give them the confidence to put their work out there.”

And that provided his reasoning for having an exhibition of Faifley Art Group’s work shown on day one.

The academy has also published a proposed timetable of some of the classes they plan to hold at the location, including life drawing, pottery, video and photo editing and a range of other activities.

The official opening will take place at 6.30pm on May 24.