Community centre windfall for Glenfarg

A Perthshire community has received nearly a quarter of a million pounds of Scottish Land Fund (SLF) cash to help boost the village’s facilities.

Glenfarg Community Centre has been given £229,140 to buy a former schoolhouse adjacent to the existing village hall in order to extend the range of events it can provide for the community.

The village has no pubs or cafes or other informal meeting spaces meaning the acquisition of the school house will allow for the development of a range of new activities including a youth club, a pensioners’club, and a cafe as well as breakfast and after school care for children.

Cedric Wilkins, chair, Glenfarg Village Halls, said:“This is a huge boost for the Glenfarg community.

“It will enable us to go ahead with our plans to develop the existing hall into a community centre which will be a long term asset for the village.”

Glenfarg Community Centre is one of ten groups across Scotland sharing in £1,646,972 of SLF cash.

Minister and cabinet secretary for land reform Roseanna Cunningham said of the grant:“This is great news for the residents of Glenfarg, and the other successful projects, which are fine examples of land and assets coming into community ownership, allowing local people to get the maximum benefit from them.

“I know that the funding marks a major milestone for them, and will make a real difference in helping those successful community groups to realise their ambitions - enabling communities to press ahead with their ideas, which will be of major benefit to these areas for many years to come.”

John Watt, Scottish land fund committee chair, said:“Through these grants the SLF is helping people from all over Scotland to make a difference in both inner city areas and in rural communities.

“From land purchases for amenity and the provision of affordable housing, to creating facilities for local people and visitors, these grants provide the funding to provide solutions to local needs.”