An East Ayrshire bowling club has replaced a crumbling and potentially unsafe boundary wall thanks to a sizeable donation from Banks Community Fund.

THE grant of £5,000 has been gratefully received as the playing season winds down for the year and the new wall becomes critical to the safe running of the club going forward.

Bill Lopez, Treasurer at Cumnock Bowling Club, said: “We’re delighted to finally complete this project. The wall has been ‘showing its age’ for some time now with cracks and various defects becoming clearly visible.

“We felt the wall was now at a critical stage and this grant has enabled us to continue playing and operating with good peace of mind.”

Founded in 1868, the club continues to encourage new membership of all ages and currently offers coaching to local schoolchildren, whilst looking to secure its future by attracting more youngsters to follow in the footsteps of club members who have and continue to distinguish themselves at county, national and international levels.

Lewis Stokes, community relations manager at the Banks Group, said: “The bowling club sorely needed to replace their boundary wall and we are pleased to have helped them secure that facility.

“The community fund was created to support the communities in which we work and hopefully we’ve helped to do that by playing a part in the continued running of one of Cumnock’s long standing and well-loved institutions.

“Institutions such as Cumnock Bowling Club so often play a key role in the wider community – meaning that bowlers and non-bowlers alike will benefit from its future prosperity.”

With around 130 members, 33 of which are social members only, the club is an important hub for social activity as members and guests meet to use the clubhouse throughout the year. The clubhouses function hall, which is hired out regularly, provides a venue for a number of community celebrations like birthdays and Hogmanay.

Banks Renewables is the firm behind proposals for the Lethans wind farm which if approved would see 22 turbines installed in East Ayshire and the 74.8MW project will be capable of powering an estimated 40,600 homes[1] – or Cumnock and New Cumnock combined.

As part of an ongoing period of consultation in 2015, Banks Renewables received 420 letters of support from the local residents, with just one letter of objection.

The Lethans Wind Farm would contribute approximately £8 million over the 25 year lifetime of the project towards community initiatives, in addition to a £250,000 investment towards improving access to the site with cycling and walking facilities

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