Thirteen organisations share more than £110,000 from Blackcraig Wind Farm Community Grant

Thirteen organisations are celebrating after scooping a combined £116,635 in the latest Blackcraig Wind Farm Community Fund grant awards.

The biggest beneficiary was Mossdale Village Hall which netted £25,000 for building improvements, insulation and new heat pumps.

Chairman Martin Drysdale described the cash bonanza as “fantastic news”.

He said: “As the only community facility in Mossdale our hall is vital and this grant enables the penultimate step in our planned improvement programme.

“The award will help us improve our sustainability by reducing our running costs and make the hall more comfortable and attractive for use by residents and as a venue to hire.”

He added: “We are really delighted to be using renewables.

“The energy efficiency report obtained by the hall previously has enabled us to confidently choose air source heat pumps and we now look forward to completing the final phase of improvements with the installation of further renewables technology.”

Other groups benefitting included the Moniaive Initiative, £7,800; the Glencairn Memorial Institute, £13,320; Moniaive Playcare, £16,804; and Glencairn Land and Woods Trust, £9,136.

Moniaive Initiative chairman Bill McLarty said: “It is great to see more than £47,000 of Blackcraig Wind Farm Community Fund money coming into Glencairn.

“We were delighted to be able to support so many of our local community organisations to make successful bids,”

Awards under the Foundation Scotland-administered fund are made by Glenkens and District Trust, with decisions guided by a community action plan.

Trust chairperson Fiona Smith said: “We are aware these are still challenging times for groups trying to develop projects. Therefore it was great to see a diverse range of initiatives coming forward in this round.

“We are already looking forward to seeing what projects may seek support in the future as restrictions ease.”

An announcement on closing dates for the next round of funding is expected by August. The other awards were: Catstrand Singers, £1,750; Stewartry RFC, £13,000; Loch Ken Trust, £4,867; Galloway Fisheries Trust, £4,000; Springholm Playgroup, £658; Balmaclellan Hall, £6,300; Corsock and Kirkpatrick Durham Community Council, £5,000 and New Galloway Golf Club, £9,000.