Sports and community facilities in Skelmorlie, Wemyss Bay and Inverkip are all set to receive a financial boost.

Skelmorlie Community Sports Club, Wemyss Bay Community Association and Inverkip Community Initiative are to receive monies generated by the Small Wind Co-operative which is installing two community-owned wind turbines at Wemyss Bay.

The community wind project will generate a benefit fund of £3,000 a year, which will be split equally with each of the three groups receiving £1,000 a year for the first three years of the turbines’ operation.

Wemyss Bay Community Association runs the local community centre and organises events such as switching on the Christmas Lights. It plans to use its share of the community funds to set up a much-needed youth club on Friday evenings at the community centre.

Beth Macleod, chair, Wemyss Bay Community Association said: “Our aim is to provide a nurturing environment under supervision where young people can express themselves; providing them with a safe space to go, especially during the winter months. We’ve been planning this a long while and the funding from the wind turbines will help the youth club to get off the ground and sustain it over time.”

Skelmorlie Community Sports Club is an umbrella organisation representing various village associations. It is currently progressing the building of a multi-use games area for use by all the associations in the village and the local school.

It has already received funding from groups like Sportscotland, Ayrshire LEADER, Moffat Trust, North Ayrshire Council and funds raised by the village community. It plans to use the annual contribution from the Small Wind Co-op to help with ongoing maintenance costs and the eventual replacement of the playing surface.

Kevin McMunn, Chairperson, Skelmorlie Community Sports Club, said: “The new games area will be a real focus for the village and the local community; it will hopefully get kids away from their TVs and computers to become more active, fit and healthy. We really appreciate the annual contribution the wind turbine funds will make to ensure its future viability.”

Inverkip Community Initiative has been set up to oversee the design, construction and running of a new community centre in Inverkip.

Leila Sharland, Community Renewables Adviser, Sharenergy, said: “The second phase of this innovative community energy project has got off to a very strong start, and we’re very pleased that the community funds will be used to support these projects which will strengthen the local community in the area around the turbines bringing benefits to people of all ages and wide-ranging interests. People can still join us and be part of this fantastic local project: the second phase closes at the start of December.”

Work is already underway on building the turbines following the successful launch of the project this summer which raised over £1 million. Phase 2 was launched in October with the aim of encouraging more local people to participate in the co-operative. The minimum investment is just £100 and projected average annual returns are 6.5% over 20 years, which are supported by the government-guaranteed feed-in tariff.

More details are available at www.smallwind.org.uk