Callander groups pool together

A new pool lift has been opened at McLaren Leisure Centre thanks to a stellar community fundraising effort.

Members of the Royal British Legion Callander branch joined forces with a number of groups to raise more than £20,000 for the lift.

The pool hoist will lower those with disabilities or mobility issues into the water, making the pool fully accessible to people who have previously been unable to use it.

Fundraisers covered the £18,331 cost of the system through a sponsored walk up Ben Ledi, a quiz night in Ben Ledi Lodge and a number of donations from the community.

Two new defibrillators were also installed and donations were made to mountain rescue, Macmillan Cancer Nurses and Callander FC thanks to an additional sum of around £6000.

Legion chairman Tom Jones is delighted with the amount of cash raised by the community.

He said: “It’s great work by everyone. A real team effort. I’ve been fundraising all my life but it is so much easier when you get everyone together to help.

“This wasn’t the work of one person or one group. It was the whole of Callander.”

More than 60 people reached the top of Ben Ledi during the sponsored walk on March 25 before making their way to the Waverley Hotel for a buffet. The day was finished with a charity quiz night.

Tom said a number of pool users are already using the new lift.

He said: “It was officially opened on Saturday by William Watson, a pupil at McLaren High with mobility issues who previously had to travel to Stirling to use a pool.

“Since then we have had several people using it. There was a lady with arthritis who used it to get into the pool straight away, which is great.”