Delight as £750,000 lottery win breathes new life into centre

Hub shelved by council back on the agenda thanks to windfall

Plans for a fully revamped community centre in Perth have received a £750,000 grant towards their regeneration project.

Millions of pounds had been put aside by Perth and Kinross Council to refurbish and extend the Letham Centre on Tweedsmuir Road.

But plans were shelved as cuts were made and council-backed Liveactive Leisure left the building.

Local charity Letham4all, the group which has taken over the plan, was awarded £1m in Scottish Government funding earlier this year. Just over £1.25m in council funding is still available for the project.

And last week, the group managed to secure another £750,000 grant through National Lottery funding.

So two years to the day from when funding was cut, all the additional cash is back in place to complete the project as initially planned.

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The difference this will make to our community cannot be adequately put into words. CHARITY CHAIRMAN JON KIDD

The National Lottery award will not only top up the capital shortfall but also cover revenue costs for Letham4all for the next two years.

The charity will use the funding to create an accessible community space which will include multi-purpose activity areas, café, soft play, a community gym and meeting rooms.

Charity chairman Jon Kidd said: “We are delighted with this award from the National Lottery.

“The difference this will make to our community cannot be adequately put into words.

“This funding will breathe life into the community hub through total refurbishment and allow us to engage with so many more people in a meaningful and productive way to tackle the inequalities faced by our communities.”

An NHS treatment room could provide some basic medical services.

Letham routinely gains low scores in deprivation indexes, with a key factor being the lack of GPS.

The charity has been working throughout lockdown serving as a foodbank and volunteers have been delivering parcels across Perth.

Last week, nurses from Perth Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee donated bags of food, toiletries and colouring books.

Picture: Steve Macdougall. Pictured at the Letham4all food bank in Tweedsmuir Road are, from left, Natalie Beattie (staff nurse PRI and Ninewells), and receiving is Graham Holden (staff), John Keith (volunteer), Susan Matson (staff) and John Rebbeck (board member, Letham4all).