A new sports group has served an ace by winning £100,000 of funding to resurrect the West Kilbride tennis courts.

West Kilbride Community Sports Club is celebrating a breakthrough in their fundraising effort following Sportscotland’s announcement that they were successful in securing £100,000 support in Commonwealth Games legacy funding.

The Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund has provided the green light for the first phase of the planned sports facilities upgrade in Kirktonhall Glen. The Active Places Fund is part of the Scottish Government’s Commonwealth Games Legacy 2014 programme which will give communities across Scotland more and better places to be active, and is administered by Sportscotland, the national agency for sport.

The club has been working with the West Kilbride community to address the dilapidated condition of sports facilities in the glen. In common with other groups in the village the Sports Club is striving to bring the glen back to its former glory by providing first-class facilities for everyone in the community to enjoy.

The sports facilities, beginning with the resurrection of the tennis courts, will be run by and for the community under the guardianship of the West Kilbride Community Sports Club. North Ayrshire Council has been actively supportive and the land required for the tennis courts as well as following phases will be transferred over to community ownership through an ‘Asset Transfer’ as part of the Government’s ‘Community Empowerment Bill 2014’.

West Kilbride has a wealth of experience in successful community developments from ‘Craft Town Scotland’ to the gym facilities created by West Kilbride Community Association, and the Sports Club is aiming "to work with others to create a ‘Healthy West Kilbride’” Local associations and politicians, notably Kenneth Gibson MSP, as well as other experienced individuals have already given time and expertise to assist in taking the project to its current stage.

The mission of the club is: “To improve the range and quality of sports facilities and sporting opportunities for the community of West Kilbride through an inclusive partnership between sports clubs in a community sports club model based upon the principles of participation, community health, fun and social wellbeing.” The sports club has now received tremendous financial support from Sportscotland, North Ayrshire Council, the Moffat Charitable Trust and the West Kilbride Community Trust, as well as local companies and individuals and would like to thank these contributors most warmly on behalf of the community. The target for this phase of construction is £200,000 and the club is almost there at over £160,000. With just a little push over the ‘starting line’ construction should begin in 2015.