Lottery funding makes a splash in Mull and Iona
Tuesday 7 June 2005
The island communities of Mull and Iona are today celebrating the announcement of an award of £192,897 from sportscotlands Lottery funded Building For Sport Programme, to provide a brand new indoor swimming pool with changing facilities.
We are delighted to be supporting the Mull and Iona pool project with an award of £192,897 from the Lottery funded Building for Sport Programme, which will introduce people of all ages and abilities to the endless hours of fun and enjoyment that indoor water sports can provide.
After 25 years of campaigning and fundraising efforts, Mull & Iona Community Enterprise (Mull & Iona Swimming Pool Association's parent charity) are delighted to have received the award, which will provide the community with the only swimming and indoor water centre on Mull and Iona, helping to unify the islands and widen sporting opportunities for local people.
The new pool will provide a wide range of water sports, from swimming lessons for people of all ages and abilities, to water volleyball and canoeing. It will also be used for safety training courses for water based workers after a series of tragic drowning incidents on the islands.
Mull & Iona Community Enterprise hope that the provision of the new pool will encourage more people on the islands to learn to swim and encourage the development of clubs and competitive swimming.
The new facility, which will be owned by the local community and managed by the Isle of Mull Hotel, will also be used by local schools as part of the PE curriculum. It is hoped that by introducing young people to the fun and enjoyment that swimming can provide, they will participate regularly as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.
Duncan Swinbanks, Chairman, Mull and Iona Swimming Pool Association said: We are delighted to receive this grant from sportscotland and we are now on the last lap of our 25 year fundraising campaign to provide a water sports facility for Mull, Iona and the surrounding areas.
Alastair Dempster, Chairman, sportscotland said: We are delighted to be supporting the Mull and Iona pool project with an award of £192,897 from the Lottery funded Building for Sport Programme, which will introduce people of all ages and abilities to the endless hours of fun and enjoyment that indoor water sports can provide.
This award is yet another example of our commitment to providing island communities with quality, accessible facilities to ensure that they have the same sporting opportunities as their counterparts on the mainland, encouraging more people, to be more active, more often.
- The new pool will be situated at Java, Craignure, PA65 6BB.
- 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.