People turned out in force to mark the 50th birthday of a local housing association

Cloch Housing held their Big 50 Gala Day in Greenock Town Hall and more than 700 residents and their families browsed the craft and information stalls and tried their luck with tombolas, raffles and games.

There was face painting, a cartoon masterclass with Rig Arts and kids enjoyed a visit from an interactive dinosaur.

The event was rounded off with an acoustic session from local indie rock band Black Dove.

Liz Bowden, the association's corporate services manager, was delighted with the strong turnout on the day.

She said: “We had a line outside for us opening the doors at 11am, it is great to see so many people from the community.

"It wasn’t only an event for tenants, but the whole community.

“It has all been organised by staff who have been brilliant and everyone seems to have enjoyed it.

"There was a line of children waiting to have their picture taken with Barney the dinosaur.”

The association’s director, Paul McVey says it was important to mark the milestone with people in the community.

He said: “The staff worked really hard to organise the day and are a real credit to the association.

"It is important to us that this event is free for people to come to and enjoy with their friends and families - and we couldn’t do that without the additional support of our contractors and partners who generously donated funds for this event.

“All of the stallholders were delighted with the number of people attending and there was a genuine positive vibe about the whole day.

"It’s fitting that in our 50th year we have held one of our most successful gala days to date and celebrated that achievement with our local communities.”

The association is fundraising for three charities throughout the year and the money collected at the big birthday bash will be donated to them - Compassionate Inverclyde, Crohn's and Colitis UK and Underheugh Ark Rescue.