The Roundhouse

At Signpost International we recognise that poverty is a global phenomenon and also exists right here on our doorstep in the UK, in addition to overseas. Over the last number of years we have been exploring ways to increase our local presence to ensure our work can have a positive value on our local community as well as our global neighbours. This has resulted in the invention of the Roundhouse. The Roundhouse is the new name for our building on Lothian Crescent, Dundee.

The Roundhouse is a place where community can come together, tell stories, learn more of the world we live in, eat good food, and support each other as we journey through life. It is a place where we build on what connects us together and not on what divides. Where we learn how to be better stewards of what resources we have. It is a place where people can come and chat or just be. All are welcome at the Roundhouse.

The Roundhouse is made up of four distinct but connected parts.

1: Education

Centre for Sustainable Learning at the Roundhouse (Will open late 2023)

We want the Roundhouse to help educate the next generation about approaches to sustainable development and for them to explore their own impact on the world. This will be done in our Centre for Sustainable Learning at the Roundhouse. The Centre for Sustainable Learning will be the first of its kind in Scotland and it will become Taysides Global Citizenship hub for local schools and other community groups. It will educate young people about local and global issues of poverty, and more importantly what they can do to challenge this. We want to use the Centre for Sustainable Learning to teach the next generation how to stand up, speak up and participate in the fight against poverty. A variety of immersive teaching approaches will be used including Virtual Reality and hands-on outdoor learning to help individuals understand some of the complexities of poverty as well as their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the UK and the world. The ambition is for the Centre for Sustainable Learning to become an interactive and engaging space for young people to gain a deeper understanding of the diversity, fragility, and richness of life.

2: Food

The Community Kitchen at the Roundhouse

In March 2021 Signpost International launched their first UK food project, The Roundhouse Community Kitchen in Dundee. The mission of this project is to transform surplus food destined for waste into freshly prepared, nutritious meals for distribution by foodbanks and larders across the city to people in need of support. With an estimated 26,000 tonnes of food being wasted every year in Dundee alone, no-one should be going hungry. The Community Kitchen, in partnership with food provision charities, has been playing a vital part in tackling the issue of hunger that exists locally.

The Café at the Roundhouse

The Café at the Roundhouse is open Wednesday to Friday, 1am – 3pm.

In October 2021 the Roundhouse Cafe was officially opened. The café has the same vision as the Community Kitchen: to play a part in closing the loop between food insecurity and food waste. The Roundhouse Café, in addition to providing some typical café dishes, serves daily specials made from the surplus produce we divert from waste. Profit generated from the Roundhouse Café is reinvested back into the Community Kitchen, enabling us to keep providing meals to emergency food provision organisations. It will further allow us to expand the educational resources we are developing to equip people with the skills and confidence to cook more at home and make their food and finances go further. A pay-it-forward scheme exists allowing people to buy and donate meals on behalf of others. This ensures that people on lower incomes, or perhaps someone who has forgotten their wallet or purse can access a meal free of charge.

To find out more about the Roundhouse Kitchen and Cafe, visit our dedicated website, https://theroundhouse.scot/

3. The Community Garden

Our Community Garden is looked after and managed by our staff at Signpost International as well as the Gardening Group at Whitfield Community Hub. We grow a huge variety of fruit and vegetables in our raised beds as well as exotic fruits and plants in our polly tunnel. The Community Cafe uses fresh produce from the garden to make meals and cakes.

In Spring 2023, the garden room was completed and is a wonderful meeting and community space.

4: Meeting Space 

In addition to Signpost International, there are four other charities who use the Roundhouse building.  These are: We Are With You Dundee, Figure 8 Consultancy Services LTD, One World Centre and Hope Counselling Dundee. All our office space is currently occupied.

Additionally there are meeting spaces (internal rooms and garden room) available for rent by the community for a variety of classes and gatherings.

If you would like to get involved in the Roundhouse or rent space or you can email us at: enquiries@signpost-international.org or phone us on 01382 504033.