OAPs and young top spending wish list

Support for the elderly and facilities for young people were two of the priorities identified for a £ 2million legacy fund.

The cash was raised from the recent sale of the Neilston Community Windfarm.

Eighty residents met at the town’s St Thomas’s Church Hall to discuss the fund’s priorities and how it would work.

Pauline Ga l l a c h e r, Neilston Development Trust chairman, said: “I was hugely encouraged by the number of people at the meeting, as well as the range of ideas for the fund’s use.

“We want to ensure that the fund addresses what people see as the long-term opportunities and challenges for our community”.

The meeting identified a number of broad priorities.

These included provision of support for elderly and isolated members of the community; facilities for young people and opportunities for them to engage creatively; better use/reuse of properties and community spaces; heritage and greenspace projects; training and employment for young people; and workspaces and support for small businesses.

There was also support for income generation initiatives that could be used to replenish the fund, and for keeping it local by spending with businesses in the area.

The findings from the meeting will form part of the guidance that will be given to the trustees of the new fund when they are appointed.

The new trust will be also be open to funding requests.

The meeting heard that it will take about six months for the structure of the fund to be confirmed legally, and a further six months before it is ready to receive applications.

It will be an independent charitable body with its own board, charged with managing the fund sustainably to provide longterm benefits for the Neilston area.