Awards for All grants to Argyll from Big Lottery

The Big Lottery’s Awards for All scheme has made a series of funding awards to organisations in Argyll.

• £10,000: Rothesay Joint Campus, to part-fund their school playground area by installing an Adventure Playground Trail. This project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People and communities are healthier’.
• £10,000: Ardchattan Primary School in Lorn for a new community garden. This project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better and more sustainable services and environments’. The grant will fund a poly tunnel, irrigation, staging, raised beds, fencing, compost, seeds, plants, hedging, gardening equipment, storage, water butts and concrete.
• £10,000: Tobermory High School in Mull for the provision of a sports event for pupils from all ten secondary schools in Argyll and Bute. Participants will compete against their peers and increase levels of physical activity.  The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People and communities are healthier’. The grant will fund transport costs, accommodation costs, ferry costs, team T shirts, officials lunches & transport, young leader packs, and venue hire.
• £10,000: Lochgilphead Primary School PTA, towards enabling the commissioning and installation of an Adventure Trail on an unused grass area in the school playground. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People and communities are healthier’. The adventure trail will include scramble net, log walk etc and 153 square metres of safer grass tiles.
• £10,000: Dunoon & Cowal Business Association (D&CBA) for an international youth soccer festival this Summer. D&CBA is a voluntary organisation, constituted with the aim of increasing the local economy, increasing community involvement, and regenerating business in the Dunoon & Cowal area. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People and communities are healthier’. The grant will fund the hire of soccer pitches and the grandstand at Dunoon Stadium; marquee hire & equipment hire (goal posts, flags, PA system), hire of hall for ceremonies; stewards & referees fees.
• £9,869: Westward Quest Ltd to provide 54 disadvantaged young people with the opportunity to experience a five day sailing experience off the West Coast of Scotland in and around the islands of the Inner Hebrides. The project meets the Awards for All outcome of ‘People have better chances in life’. The grant will fund food costs, boat fuel, skipper/instructor fees, travel costs (to and from sailing start point), marina berthing fees, administration  fees, maintenance fees and safety equipment.
• £9,768: Lorn Counselling Service to support the cost of a consultant to assist the organisation with Care Commission registration, expand its service and prepare to secure a contract with the NHS. This project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better and more sustainable services and environments’. The grant will fund consultancy fees, a sessional co-ordinator and care commission registration fees.
• £9,732: Eilean Eisdeal, to enable the Trust to refurbish and extend the children’s play area on Easdale Island. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People and communities are healthier’ and ‘People have better and more sustainable services and environments’. The grant will fund a buccaneer ship, 2 station swings, child seat, baby seat, balance beam and stepping stones. It will also contribution towards lawn mat safety surfacing and delivery.
• £8,700: Strathlachlan Community Centre for community hall development. This project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better and more sustainable services and environments’. The grant will fund repairs to the roof, upgrading the kitchen and purchasing some lightweight tables for the hall in this rural part of Argyll.
• £8,280: Carradale Cricket Club, to purchase new covers to improve playing conditions and sightscreens required to conform to playing  in the Scottish National Cricket League. This project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better and more sustainable services’.
• £7,986: Mid Argyll Community Enterprise Ltd (MACEL) to arrange training courses and purchase equipment to develop the Mid Argyll Swimming Pool. This will benefit staff, volunteers and the local community. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of `People have better chances in life’, `People have better and more sustainable services and environments’ and `People and communities are healthier’. This grant will pay for Lifeguard Trainer training, Lifeguard training course, Swimming Teacher training, aqua run, table and chairs, decoration of refreshment area, and pool toys, games equipment and teaching aids.
• £6,650: Mthunzi and Lilanda Initiative, to bring together young people from Scotland and from Zambia to participate in a music and dance show. The project, based in Argyll & Bute, is to highlight the issues of health and hunger surrounding climate change. It meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better chances in life’ and ‘Communities are safer, stronger and more able to work together to tackle inequalities’. The grant will fund travel to venues, venue hire, team clothing (T-shirts with logo), publicity materials, stilts and expenses.
• £6,300: Iona Village Hall for the purchase of a range of items to improve this community facility, benefiting local people and visitors who use the hall. The project meets the Awards for All outcome of `People have better and more sustainable services and environments’. This grant will pay for replaceing ceiling tiles and curtains, lighting, an air-source heat pump, sound equipment, storage, and dropped ceiling insulation.
• £4,900: Coll Recycling Group to purchase a glass imploder,  delivery and installation to enable the production of the island’s own aggregate.  This meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better and more sustainable services and environments’. Effective recycling presents particular challenges to island communities.
• £4,600: Kintyre Youth Enquiry Service, to hold rock band nights for young people in Campbeltown, where they can learn how to sing and play instruments or improve their skills. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of ‘People have better chances in life’ and ‘People and communities are healthier’. This grant for £4,600 will fund 2 speakers, 2 bass subwoofers, drum kit and mixer.
• £1,797: Dunoon Bridge Club for the purchase of a Bridgemate scoring system to increase their competitive advantage when playing in national competitions. Members of the group struggle to operate these systems when on tour, and the purchase would bring them in line with the recommendations of the Scottish Bridge Union. The project meets the Awards for All outcome of `People have better chances in life’. The grant will enable the purchase of 10 tabletop Bridgemate Scoring systems, a laptop and a printer.
• £1,575: Tarbert Youth Group for travel, accommodation, food and incidental expenses for a trip for 15 young people to visit Mull where they will learn about the environment and participate in a scheme to protect sea eagle chicks. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of `People have better chances in life’ and `People and communities are healthier’.
• £812: Mid-Argyll Community Dance Group. The project meets the Awards for All outcomes of `People have better chances in life’ and `People and communities are healthier’. The grant will fund the purchase of a portable vari-speed sound system.

The total awarded to these projects adds up to  £130,969.

Jim Mather, Argyll’s MSP,  is delighted at the success of this number of projects across Argyll and the Isles in gaining grants from this fund.

He is also encouraged by the wide range of activities involved, seeing these as providing a valuable insight into the many and varied interests in our mainland and island localities.

Mr Mather also identified people involved with each of the successful projects who deserve real credit for the effort it has taken to secure these awards. He particularly congratulated:

• Mrs Maureen Shaw of Rothesay Joint Campus (Rothesay Primary School)
• Mrs Janet Kersel of Ardchattan Primary School
• Ms Anne McNaughton of Tobermory High School.
• Mrs June Graham, Lochgilphead Primary School PTA
• Mr Brian Chennell, of Dunoon & Cowal Business Association
• Dr Mark Jarvis of Westward Quest
• Ms Catriona Young of Lorn Counselling Service
• Dr Zoë Sayer of Easdale Island
• Mr Robert Moyes, Strathlachlan Community Centre
• Mr Aidan Keogh of Carradale Cricket Club
• Mr Alastair MacLeod of Mid Argyll Swimming Pool
• Mrs Christine Doogan of the Mthunzi and Lilanda Initiative
• Mrs Joanne MacInnes of Iona Village Hall
• Mrs Frances MacIntyre of Coll Recycling Group (Recycoll)
• Mr Phil Edwards of Kintyre Youth Enquiry Service
• Mrs Margaret Hall of Dunoon Bridge Club
• Mrs Heather Bellshaw of Tarbert Youth Group
• Miss Sandra Richardson of Mid-Argyll Community Dance Group

It is particularly good to see the energetic ‘rescue’ Board of the Mid Argyll Swimming Pool supported in its ceaseless efforts to bring this crucial community asset to a position of firing on four cylinders.

While joining the Mr Mather in congratulating the successful applicants, it has to be noted that two of these awards are aysymmetric.

The award to Rothesay Joint Campus would seem to pay for a facility that must be the responsibility of the local authority.

The award to Dunoon  Bridge Club, while modest, is of benefit to a very small number of people and that does not confortably square with the ethos of the Big Lottery and of the Awards for All scheme.

It is good to see successful applications coming to Argyll, to see funding to support community initiatives coming in and to see the Council’s underfunded financial obligations eased a little.

But, while such disbursements are not new, they represent a road not to be taken in an ad-hoc and sub-strategic fashion without a careful consideration of the consequences – which include the setting of precedent.