306 MARCH 20 – Gryffe Advertizer

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James Alexander Wood
26TH October 1931 - 22ND December 2019
Gryffe Advertizer | www.advertizer.co.uk
Born in East Kilbride, and working in places as far apart as
Kinross to Lake Tanganyika before finally settling in Kilmacolm,
Jim Wood was known to many, and was a popular and well
known gentleman of the village. So it was very sad news to hear
that he had passed away just before Christmas 2019.
Jim had a long and interesting life, with a career spanning from
his National Service in the Royal Corps of Signals, moving into
accountancy and management consultancy, and latterly finding
his talent as an artist and community stalwart. He had a large
and loving family around him, being the grandfather of twelve
grandchildren!
Jim was known to many in Kilmacolm. He was a great character,
with a friendly face and always had something interesting to tell
you. As an artist, he won great acclaim and held a number of art
exhibitions; he even published a book of his paintings entitled
“James Alexander Wood Scottish Impressionist”. His paintings
were also made into Christmas cards and postcards for the
village.
His main legacy for our village however, was the setting up of the
Kilmacolm Village Centre Forum in 2002. Jim recognised that
the Kilmacolm community buildings had suffered from lack of
investment for many years. Although there were a number of
small halls in the village, the main buildings were in a poor state
of repair and there was nowhere as a central hub for the people
of Kilmacolm to use for a range of community activities. Jim,
along with a number of village businessmen, set up the Forum to
look at how to secure the best solution to reducing the isolation
of the disabled, infirm and the elderly, to developing life skills,
particularly of young people, to promoting social responsibility
and community pride and encouraging everyone to participate
in community affairs. Jim also called upon the expertise of his
son, Kingsley Wood, whose legal firm in the village provided an
essential administrative support and advice during the formative
period of the project and beyond.
By June 2003 the Forum had evolved into a formal company
called Kilmacolm New Community Centre Co Ltd (KNCC) with
the aim of centralising all community activities in the refurbished
Victorian two-storey school building in the centre of the village,
with a new library linked to it, to provide enhanced facilities for
the community. KNCC, as well as significant fundraising in the
Community, secured £1M funding for the project from the Cargill
Trust, which was matched by Inverclyde Council.
Jim continued as the Chairman of the Board of KNCC from the
fundraising and conceptual phase through to the design phase,
only stepping down as the construction phase commenced.
The Cargill Centre was finally completed and opened to the
public in 2011, and has become a wonderful asset to the village.
Of course, we owe a debt of gratitude to all the locals who were
involved throughout the project, some still an active part of the
management board.
However, that wasn’t the end of his involvement. Jim’s final
contribution was to set up an impressive Heritage Centre which
involved a great deal of research. The Heritage Gallery utilises the
foyer and stairwells of the Cargill Centre, showcasing a wealth
of information on the history of Kilmacolm with storyboards
depicting people and events around the village.
Jim will be sadly missed by many of us.
©Thomas Nugent wiki/cc
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