Tarbert has received a massive sporting boost with a £288,577 grant which will bring the tennis courts back to life and provide a new multi-use games area.
The dilapidated courts at Tarbert Bowling Club have been closed over 20 years.
But this significant grant will fix the drainage, provide floodlighting and new fencing.
This will create a space for community members to play a range of sports, with free weekly sessions for the village’s school.
One of the courts will be used for tennis while the other will be marked out with lines for a variety of sports.
The grant comes from the UK Government’s Community Ownership Fund, a funding pot rescuing community places that form the beating heart of a local community.
This funding makes up 80 per cent of the cost of repairing the courts, with the remaining 20 per cent to be raised locally.
The bowling club now has one year to find contractors and get the work done. And once the sports courts are up and running, the next stage of the project will see the renovation of the bowling club and provision of new changing facilities.
Duncan MacGregor, president of Tarbert Bowling Club, said: “We are very grateful to Tarbert Harbour Board which has given us a great deal of help filling out the forms.
“The bowling club committee put out questionnaires and the response was really good.
“The games area will cater for a variety of sports including basketball and will be used by several organisations, groups and individuals. There will be disabled access and it will be suitable for all ages and abilities.
“We have got another meeting coming up to form a sports council in Tarbert. Between the bowling club and sports council we can take it forward. Bookings will be done through that.
“We are hoping to get floodlighting so that it can be used in the evenings all year round.”
He added: “Everyone at the bowling club is over the moon to receive this funding. I would like to say a special thanks for all the hard work to Tarbert Harbour Board and the bowling club committee.
“This will be a great asset to the village and will obviously be good for people’s fitness and mental wellbeing. It will also help to support tourism.
“We have had a lot of younger members join the bowling club in the last few years, and a younger committee pushing for sporting facilities in Tarbert, which is great.”
The funding is part of an £8million package to help protect Scotland’s most valued community places.
UK Government Minister for Scotland Malcolm Offord said: “It’s great news that a further 17 Scottish projects are sharing £8million from the UK Government Community Ownership Fund.
“Through the fund we are now supporting 43 community groups across Scotland to the tune of £13.6 million to breathe new life into the places where they live, work and play.
“In total we are directly investing more than £2.7 billion in hundreds of projects across Scotland as we help to grow our economy and level up the country.”
Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove added: “Investing in communities improves lives – whether that’s rebuilding a community centre, rescuing historic pubs and theatres or upgrading sports facilities used by families every day.
“These are unique and cherished places, valued by local people of all ages, and we know how much they mean to communities. The Community Ownership Fund is about restoring pride in the places people call home and I’m delighted to be funding these projects.”
The UK fund – worth a total £150 million – was launched in 2021 to provide targeted support for community places that most impact local people.