Western Isles Lottery pays off for local residents

Western Isles Lottery has reached its first historic milestone by raising more than £10,000 to fund community upgrades.

Community groups in Butt and Barra have already received a share of the £7,689 already distributed, with a further £3,500 boost expected towards the end of November.

The Lifestyle Lottery was set up just three months ago aimed at improving the aesthetics, amenities and events across the Western Isles. Stornoway’s Christmas lights switch-on, taking place on December 8, will be the first community event to be supported.

A Western Isles Lifestyle Lottery spokeswoman said: “The lottery is over 25% of the way to reaching the long-term target. We are delighted that a steady support of 1,350 weekly tickets, the bulk of which are paid by direct debit, can raise so much.”

Six local area projects will receive all proceeds up until the end of December 2017 then another six projects will be awarded funding. The amount raised will depend on the number of supporters in each area.

Europie Playpark has been allocated the proceeds from Ness and Westside for outdoor toilets, and Balivanich Playpark will be handed the Uist proceeds to upgrade facilities as well as their local community centre. A further £4,300 of cash prizes were won by players across the Western Isles.