A DUMBARTON charity is looking to renovate an old station toilet in order to display its memorabilia.

The Armed Forces Veterans' Association, currently based at Dumbarton Central Station, want to create a mini-heritage centre in one of the vacant rooms at the station.

They want members of the community to be able to see all of the items they have accumulated over the years but they also hope to make more space in their current room for the charity shop they run.

Chairman of the association, Robert McCreadie, told The Reporter: "The basic idea is to use what is currently a derelict room and turn it into a heritage centre.

"The idea of it is to be educational for school kids and the local community and we want to have mainly a military aspect but we also want to bring in the local side of it, i.e. the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, this was one of their main recruiting areas. We also have the base at Faslane.

"Also we want to get something for the RAF even though there's currently nothing in this area."

The Armed Forces Veterans' Association Dumbarton office opened two years ago and was also a vacant room at the station until it was renovated and furnished. They provide counselling and advice services to help Armed Forces Veterans, both older and younger, with a variety of issues including post-traumatic stress disorder, homeless issues, welfare issues and addiction issues.

Mr McCreadie, who served in the Navy for 25 years and then worked for the MOD at Faslane, joined the association last year in August, coming out of retirement to help the charity with the day-to-day running of the office and, most importantly, fundraising.

He added: "We want to take a lot of the memorabilia out if this room so that we can put the charity shop back in. We have to raise our own funds, we don't get any funding from the government at all, that's why we've got to have a charity shop.

"We sell for ourselves, we sell for Poppy Scotland, we sell books and DVDs, all to raise necessary funds. Plus we go out virtually every other weekend either on parades or fundraising."

The funding for the renovation of the unused Victorian bathroom will predominantly come form the Railway Heritage Trust as well as some from the association's fundraising.

Mr McCreadie concluded: "It seemed a natural thing to do, to take a room on the station that's derelict and, there's quite a few in this station that are derelict, so we're trying to do something to rebuild the rooms a little."