Area hopes for a lottery win

Russell Steele • Published 2 Sep 2010 14:00

HOPES are high that Inverclyde can net a windfall to help celebrate the area’s rich industrial heritage.

Top officials from the Heritage Lottery Fund visited the district this week on a fact-finding mission arranged to encourage new projects to apply to them for funding.

Inverclyde has been pinpointed as one of their ‘priority areas’, as it has not submitted as many projects as other parts of the country.

The delegation viewed James Watt Dock, the sugar sheds and McLean Museum during a tour alongside local politicians and regeneration chiefs.

Colin McLean, head of the HLF in Scotland, said: “We have funded some extremely successful projects, including the Greenock Cut refurbishment and a recent grant involving members of the Young People’s Heritage forum and Morton FC.

“We’d like to encourage new projects to use heritage to unlock other benefits such as regeneration, education and social inclusion.

“Inverclyde has a great success rate, with 94 per cent of projects that come to us being funded. We would be delighted to see more good applications.”

To date, HLF has invested over £2 million in 32 projects across the area, but more cash is up for grabs.

Ian Johnson, one of the HLF tour party, said: “Inverclyde has potential to use its heritage to make a real difference and I hope our visit will encourage people to think about how they could do that.”

Duncan McNeil, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, added: “This visit underlines the HLF’s commitment to ensuring Inverclyde gets its fair share and I’m confident it will bear fruit in the near future.”

David Cairns, the MP for Inverclyde, said: “I’ve been lobbying the HLF for three years and they want to help us.

“The challenge for us now is to devise good-quality bids and find ways to honour our heritage.”

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 02 Sep 10

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