Mental health charity's efforts to improve city

A once-maligned stretch of Perth city centre street is being slowly transformed due to the efforts of a local mental health charity.

- STUART MCFARLANE

The area around South Street and Ropemakers Close in the city was the subject of a story in the Advertiser back in 2013 where traders and residents described the blight of open drug-taking and substance abuse.

But in an effort to turn around those headlines and make the area more positive for locals and visitors alike, the team at the PLUS Perth charity have been hard at work.

Those efforts kicked into high gear in 2023 when they acquired a shutdown former toilet from Perth and Kinross Council and began their task of transforming it into their new venue at Ropemakers Close.

The charity had to fundraise off their own backs for the project - converting it from a basic building into a high-spec modern venue.