Aileen Campbell Welcomes Big Lottery Funding for Clydesdale

Details

Friday, 02 March 2012

Clydesdale MSP, Aileen Campbell has welcomed Big Lottery’s announcement that Leadhills Family Action Group is to receive over £90,000 in funding to improve the village’s play park facilities from the Community Spaces Scotland grant and that Bent Primary School has received £915 from the Awards for All scheme.

 
The family action group will use the funds to purchase and install new play equipment and other facilities such as new seating and picnic tables for the village’s recreational area.  The money will help create an improved community space for all ages at the heart of the village where the community can meet, play and enjoy the local surroundings. While Bent Primary School will use their funds to complete a mosaic community arts project to help connect the wider community and pupils to the new school building. 
Commenting Aileen Campbell said:
“The Leadhills Family Action Group should be congratulated for their work in successfully obtaining such a substantial grant from the Big Lottery Fund.
“This money will allow the village to make huge improvements to the park and create a community space all residents will be proud of and delighted to use.
“Community spaces are often the hub of a village or town and I am in no doubt that this funding will help strengthen the community spirit of Leadhills.
“It is also great to see Bent Primary School receive money to undertake an arts project for the new school building and I look forward to hearing about its progress.
“I encourage all communities in Clydesdale seeking funds to improve their area or help a project to contact the Big Lottery.”
Leadhills Family Action Group member, Andrew Foley said:
“We have been putting together a proposal to rebuild Leadhills Play Park for the past 3 years and while we have been careful not to build expectation amongst the local community we had every reason to believe that ours was a valuable and viable project.
“It did however come as a delightful surprise to receive a substantial offer of assistance from Big Lottery Fund, Community Spaces Scotland, and the Clyde wind Farm Community and Development Fund
“This will provide an invaluable resource to Leadhills community and indeed the rest of the Glencaple and Lowther region. The health and well-being of our rural communities relies on opportunities to come together and support one another through recreation, play and other social interaction.
“It will encourage an appreciation of our local environment and I'm sure will engender feelings of civic pride. It will hopefully encourage new visitors to our village which in turn will have a positive impact on the local economy and establish new links out-with our immediate communities.
“By facilitating this improvement Big Lottery and Clyde Wind Farm are bringing to bear a lasting legacy for the children, young people and adults of Leadhills and we hope that the empowerment which comes from our success will make this the first in a number of projects initiated by local people for the good of our whole community.”