Sailing club needs £30k to get land plans afloat
A sailing club based near Callander is trying to raise £30,000 to purchase the site on which it stands.
Loch Venachar Sailing Club is attempting to raise the sum to take over the land from forestry firm FIM Timberland LP to mark its 50th anniversary. Members require around £100,000 to complete the transaction and are already have about £70,000 towards the target thanks to fundraising efforts and a series of grants. They are making another push to raise the cash needed.
Members have received £2000 from Callander Community Development Trust and submitted an application to Callander Community Council’s Airtricity fund. It has yet to be determined.
The sailing club owns the clubhouse but does not the land on which it sits.
Members have set up a Just Giving page to raise the funds. On the page, the club states: “We are proud to celebrate our 50th anniversary this year. As part of this we have decided to purchase the land that we have occupied since our inception. In purchasing the land we hope to ensure that we can continue to offer a range of water sports, mostly sailing, to our members, friends and other organisations both locally and further afield.” Commodore Rob McDermott said: “We think we do a good job but we think we could do an even better job if we could develop the club even more. In buying the land we hope that we can develop further our ability to give access to sailing and other water sports for all the members of our local community and further afield.
“Purchasing the land from the owners, who have been very good with us, would just give us that wee bit more stability. If the land was to ever be sold on at any point that could bring its own problems so owning the land would be a great benefit to the club.”
The club was formed in 1969 and currently has around 100 members, aged between five and 70.
Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl said: “The sailing club is a great asset to the area and I really hope the members manage to get the remaining funds they need to buy their site. Achieving this would provide much needed security bringing the ability to invest and expand. The club has great links with the school and many people from across the area enjoy sailing on one of the best locations in Scotland.”
To donate to the fundraising bid, go to www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/loch-venacharsailing-club.