LOCAL community groups have stated that financial benefits from wind farm funding have enabled them to provide essential support in their areas.
Groups including the Sticky Fingers Club in Auchinleck, Doon Valley Railway and Lugar Boswell are just some of those that have benefited from the grants distributed by the 9CC Group, thanks to cash flow from the various wind farm developments in the area.
The group oversees and grants funding to groups in the area for a range of requirements.
Included in this has been support for the Sticky Fingers Group in Auchinleck, which is a registered charity offering fun and activities to kids in the area, especially during school holidays.
The club, organised by Francine Robertson, offers youngsters in the area a chance to meet up with friends and meet new people, and aims to take away the barriers that stop some kids from having the same experiences as others.
Speaking about the benefit of the funding, Francine said: “A lot of the children that come here don’t leave Auchinleck during the school holidays, because they just don’t have the resources or the opportunity.
“Parents are so thankful to have this here. The kids get fed, and we don’t take a fee, so the barriers are taken away so everybody has got the same opportunity.
“The money we got from the 9CC Group over the last two years we’ve used for hall hire and for staffing.
“So, it’s core things. And a lot of the places that you apply to don’t like to give you it for halls and staffing.
“But if you don’t have that then you can’t do anything else.
“Help with the basics and the core costs is a big thing to be able to get from the 9CC.”
Along the road in Lugar, the village's football club received funding to upgrade its hospitality suite, which is used every other week.
It's somewhere that can be the only place some people see others all week.
Suzanne Montgomery at Lugar Boswell Thistle added: “On a Saturday it gives the local community an opportunity to come up and meet up with their pals and come in and have a cup of tea.
“Sometimes it’s people that don’t see anybody from one week to another, but it’s a purpose for them to come here and enjoy the football, so that brings in the community.
“Our hospitality suite was really dated and needed a bit of TLC.
“We’ve got to be thankful to the 9CC because we applied to them for a grant for the refurbishment.
“The funding came from the 9CC and we’re really grateful that it enables us to do this.
“It’s opened doors to the whole community to enable them to come in and it’s a much more comfortable environment.”
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