Lottery chance for north UIst

Thanks to an opportunity offered by the Big Lottery Fund, the residents of Sollas in North Uist might just be on the brink of achieving their quest of the last seven years  -  to complete the transformation of their disused primary school into a bright and welcoming new community centre. This is the only meeting place in Sollas and once it is renovated and back in use it will be much appreciated by residents of all ages as it is many miles by single track road to reach the nearest village hall.

Sollas does need a place it can call its own, a place where the young people can practise their competitive skills in singing and dancing, a place for ceilidhs, classes and clubs, sales of works, pensioners’ Christmas dinners, funeral gatherings and many other events where catering from new kitchen will come into its own.  The hall will also serve as an art gallery and craft workshop in the summer and there is always the need for a place for MSP’s surgeries, a polling station and simply a meeting place which anyone in  Sollas will be welcome to use.

“North Uist project”

Ever since the local group Taigh Sgire Sholais took up this challenge when it acquired the old building in 2004, even then cold and damp and urgently needing repaired, it has never wavered in its pursuit of ideas and resources to turn this dream into a reality.  Now plans are complete and the renovation by local tradesmen is well on its way, generously aided by grants from Community Energy Scotland, the Comhairle and HIE, which have boosted the funds raised by the local group of volunteers.

£60,000 is the amount still required to complete the renovation and this is exactly the amount the TAIGH SGIRE SHOLAIS CENTRE stands to win if it has enough support from viewers and supporters locally and all over the country when the Sollas project is featured on the Jubilee People’s Millions Big Lottery competition on STV’s regional evening news on Wednesday 29th June.   Three programmes, on 27th,28th and 29th June, will feature the final six selected from the many projects originally entered for this competition, two on each evening. The higher vote on each day will win the prize. If the North Uist project wins the new community centre could be ready by Christmas.

Details can be found on the web site www.peoplesmillions.org.uk and the phone numbers for voting to support featured projects will be published in the Daily Mirror on the day of each of the three STV programmes.

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