It gets £1k from community fund

A LABOUR of love that has brought together two tiny villages is the latest recipient to get £1000 from the McEwan’s McNificent 7 Fund.

Garmouth and Kingston are closely linked villages, with a population of 600, at the mouth of the River Spey in Moray, where the local Amenities Association recently bought an old cottage to renovate as a Community Hub.

The building is next to a sensory garden that was created on disused land by local volunteers about three years ago and the renovation work on the hub has included replacing some of the floors, installing a disabled-accessible toilet, putting in relevant safety features, mending the roof and external walls and redecorating the inside of the cottage.

All of the work has been carried out by volunteers from the villages and many of the materials used have been donated by local tradesmen.

Maggie Crowe, one of the joint chairpersons of the Community Hub Management Group, said: “We are incredibly grateful for this contribution and the grant will be used to create a ramp and path from the sensory garden into the hub.

“We have a thriving little community and the hub has been the work of a large number of volunteers, across different generations, in the village.

The cottage was in a poor state but the community have worked together to fix it.”

The hub will provide a range of facilities and opportunities for all sections of the local community, with a small meeting space, an exhibition space that will include information on local history and

COMMUNITY SPIRIT The garden and new hub information on the local area for visitors, and a venue for selling produce and goods from local people, such as pottery and books.

Work is suspended just now but Maggie says it won’t take long to get everything finished when lockdown restrictions are lifted.

She added: “The team are hopeful that the work can resume soon, so that the building can be opened for use by the community.”

This is the fourth group to receive a grant from McEwan’s, who will be helping to boost funds for seven “McNificent” community projects across Scotland.

The closing date for nominations for the fifth

I N G M

N I F I C E N T