Lochgair hall upgrade receives lottery help
A five-figure grant will to help pave the way for the restoration of Lochgair’s community hall.
The Lochgair Association, which is steering the project, has received a £10,000 award from The National Lottery Community Fund to restore and refurbish the Mid Argyll village’s community hall.
The association acquired the community hall, which has been in state of disrepair for a number of years - along with the adjoining church building - from the Church of Scotland earlier this year.
Lochgair Association member Elsie Freer said: ‘Sadly, the community hall had fallen into a pretty desperate state, so to be on track to get it back up and running with the support of The National Lottery Community Fund is a big thing for the village.
‘Like many communities, pandemic times hit Lochgair hard, but it’s a tight-knit place where people go out of their way to help each other out.
‘We can now look forward to the community hall being back at the centre of things in the village, and that’s a great thing.’ The Lochgair Association is a social enterprise, set up in 2003 as a volunteer-led initiative to support the village of Lochgair and the surrounding area.
The association runs a series of events throughout the year, and is supported by a membership scheme which helps to fund its ongoing activity.
Elsie said: ‘We have continued some of our regular fixtures during the past year, like the annual beach clean over the Easter weekend, while adding quiz nights, curry nights, arts and craft workshops and exhibitions, bread-making, and lunch clubs. We’re all excited by how the community hall will enable us to do even more for residents, locals, outlying areas, and friends of Lochgair.’
National Lottery Community Fund Scotland chairperson Kate Still said: ‘The project delivered by The Lochgair Association (SCIO) is a great example of community activity in action, showing just what can be achieved when people come together for a common cause or to help others.’