COMMUNITY groups have been awarded more than £230,000 from Inverclyde Council to support their work providing sport and recreational opportunities for residents.
A total of 94 organisations have been provided with one-off financial assistance from Inverclyde Council’s community grants fund.
One-off grants of up to £10,000 are available towards things like facilities and running costs, projects and fee waivers, such as subsidising hall and pitch hire.
The likes of sports clubs, uniformed organisations, music and theatre groups, churches and charities have all received funding.
Among the recipients are Inverclyde and District Battalion of The Boys’ Brigade and Girl Guiding Greenock Division which have each been awarded £7,500 to help with annual costs, fees and putting on events.
Morton in the Community, Port Glasgow Boys’ Club, and St Andrew’s Boys’ Club have also each received grants of £7,500 to support their youth football activities.
Councillor Graeme Brooks, chair of the grants sub-committee, said: “You can see from the list of organisations that have been awarded funding how diverse they are and, more importantly, how wide-ranging and far-reaching their impact is on so many people across Inverclyde.
“Unfortunately, the demand for financial support always far outweighs the available funding but I am pleased that we have, once again, been able to support such a breadth of community, charitable, voluntary and sports groups the length of Inverclyde.
“I hope the grants will allow these successful groups to continue making a huge difference to the lives of the many people throughout the area that they support and I’d like to thank them for the positive contribution they make to our community.”
Other groups receiving funding include Greenock Wanderers Rugby Club, which has been awarded £5,000, subject to conditions, towards the creation of a dedicated ‘Skills Lab’ on site, as well as pitch hire for training and games for all age groups and male and female teams.
Birkmyre Rugby Club has also been awarded £3,000 to help with insurance and pitch hire costs.
Grants have been awarded to groups that deliver a wide variety of other sports, including American football, golf, hockey, bowls, swimming, martial arts, badminton, angling, sailing, and curling.
Inverclyde Music Festival has received £5,000 to help with the delivery of the 2027 instalment of the event while Port Glasgow Voluntary Transport and Inverclyde Voluntary Council of Social Service (IVCSS) are among the care organisations awarded funding of £7,500 each to support their work providing free transport in the community, including for older residents and people with mobility issues.
Other groups benefitting include Port Glasgow New Parish Church and Lyle Gateway which have each been awarded £2,500 to assist with the wide variety of classes and activities they provide while charities like Victim Support Inverclyde and Carers’ Gateway Inverclyde have each received £3,000.
