News from Forth Valley and Lomond LEADER

 

Monday 30 June 2008

RURAL AWARDS FOR FORTH VALLEY AND LOMOND

Three rural development projects have received funding from a new programme operating in the Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire areas.  The Forth Valley and Lomond LEADER Local Action Group will administer funding of £2.63 million which has been awarded to the rural Forth Valley and Lomond area as part of the Scottish Rural Development Plan.  This funding will support pilot or innovative community projects which help build stronger and richer local communities and business networks in the rural Forth Valley and Lomond area.

 

Three awards were made at the June meeting:

 

The Barr Wood Trust received £5,600 towards a new caving development in the Barr Wood, an area of land held in trust for scouting groups from the Falkirk and Stirling areas. The project will transform a derelict outdoor swimming pool into a unique caving environment which will be used by groups from across the Forth Valley area and beyond. Trust Chairman Sandy Jack said:

 

“This project is the culmination of years of planning for the trust. The Leader money will allow us to add caving to the range of outdoor activities which we can offer to young people from the Falkirk and Stirling areas, as well as for groups from across Scotland

 

Drymen Community Development Trust were awarded £10,000 towards works which will bring people from Drymen together to develop a study and business plan for the future development of the Village Square, one of only a few village squares in Scotland which are owned and managed by the local community.

John Cross, Chairman of the Trust said:

 

“The community of Drymen has been struggling to develop a coherent plan for the village square. This support from Leader will allow us to begin the long process of creating a new heart to our village. ”

 

An innovative approach to community development in the rural communities along the river Carron in Falkirk was awarded £10,000. The 'Communities along the Carron' project will work to support people in Fankerton, Stoneywood, Denny, Dunipace, Larbert, Mungal, Skinflats and other communities to develop a joint vision and action plan for the river and the communities along it.

 

Frank McChord, a community worker in the area, said:

"This project will allow us to bring together residents of small communities across the river Carron to help craft an action plan for reconnecting the communities to each other and the river on which they lie"

 

Dereck Fowles, Chair of the Local Action Group, said "We were delighted to support these three projects which all demonstrate the varied ways in which LEADER funding can show imaginative ways in which European money can be used to help to revitalise rural communities in the Forth Valley and Lomond area."

 

ENDS