Dalry community celebrate sportscotland funding
Thursday 3 March 2005
The community of Dalry, North Ayrshire are celebrating the news of Lottery funding totalling £300,000 from sportscotland’s Building for Sport (BfS) programme today to support a project to build a four-court sports hall as part of a new primary school being built by the Council in the area.
"I welcome this funding from sportscotland. Not only will it allow us to provide a tremendous sports facility for the primary school pupils, it will also be an asset for the whole community outwith school hours."
Work on the new hall is due to start this summer and once completed will offer a range of sporting opportunities including badminton, basketball, hockey, gymnastics, football and fitness classes. Plans also include spectator as well as participation areas to enable competitions to be held at the venue. The project forms part of North Ayrshire Strategy for Physical Activity, Sport and Health developed by sportscotland, the Health Board and North Ayrshire Leisure and will provide a much needed indoor sports facility to meet the needs of both the school and community.
Launched in March 2004, the Building for Sport Programme (BfS) is divided into two strands Community Facilities and Training and Competition Facilities.
Applications for the Community Facilities Programme will mainly be led by local authorities, clubs and trusts and covers the provision or upgrading of facilities for the local community. The Training and Competition Facilities Programme will concentrate on the provision or upgrading of centres designated as a national or regional facility by the relevant national governing body for sport.
Councillor Peter McNamara, chair, North Ayrshire Council Educational Services Committee, said: "We are delighted to have received this Lottery funding from sportscotland to support the new four-court sports hall. This indoor facility will be a welcome addition for Dalry and the surrounding communities and will widen the opportunities for everyone to participate and enjoy sport."
Councillor John Reid, the local councillor for Dalry, said: "I welcome this funding from sportscotland. Not only will it allow us to provide a tremendous sports facility for the primary school pupils, it will also be an asset for the whole community outwith school hours."
Alastair Dempster, Chairman, sportscotland, said: "sportscotland is committed to providing quality, accessible facilities for all ages and abilities across Scotland. I am sure the combination of Lottery Fund support and the enthusiasm of North Ayrshire Council will widen the opportunities for more people in the community to be more active, more often and I wish this project every success for the future."
- The investment from the BfS Programme is complementary to the £49.5m recently allocated through the National & Regional Sports Facilities Strategy as we continue to invest in projects that will enhance Scotland’s sports facilities infrastructure, which is essential if we are to deliver the targets of ‘Sport 21’- the national strategy for sport.