Community football projects in Perth have benefited from thousands of pounds of Lotto funding to secure a legacy from the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
The Glasgow games will focus worldwide attention on Scotland and encourage young people and adults alike to take part in physical activity.
To that end, the Big Lottery Fund’s 2014 Communities programme has awarded grants to Perth’s long-standing Jeanfield Swifts Youth Community Club and to PLUS Perth and Kinross, a mental health charity.
The micro-grants programme offers local sports clubs, voluntary and community organisations, community councils and schools grants of £300 to £2000 to support and stimulate grass-roots involvement in sport and physical activity.
It will continue to operate until the Glasgow games to “a legacy of well-being,” encouraging participation and community togetherness.
In the process, the awards will be invaluable to hundreds of projects and groups across the UK, with the Big Lottery Fund making £1m in grants available in year two of the programme.
In Perth, Jeanfield Swifts have been awarded the maximum grant with which the club will buy new equipment to enable it to deliver football sessions to an increasing number of young people.Grassroots projectsPLUS Perth and Kinross, meanwhile, will use its funding to organise a programme of football coaching for adults who have used mental health services in the community.
The grant will contribute towards coaching fees and courses, pitch hire and advertising.
Perthshire North MSP John Swinney welcomed the funding, saying, “I would encourage my constituents to take part or volunteer in sport and physical activity and these grants will help them to do just that.”
SNP colleague Pete Wishart MP added, “It is great to see these two grassroots football schemes gaining funding as part of the programme.”
For more information on the programme or to apply for a grant, visit the Big Lottery Fund’s website.