A project to protect and promote large parts of the Stewartry has landed a lottery jackpot.

The Galloway Glens Partnership has been awarded £2.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is now set to begin in April.

The scheme involves as many as 30 different projects around the Dee and Ken valleys ranging from new visitor centres to training opportunities and supporting businesses.

Delighted development officer, McNabb Laurie, said: “It is a £5 million project over five years. We have secured £2.7 million from the Heritage Lottery and the rest has to come from match funding and we have about 50 per cent of that. £100,000 has been kept for a small grant project offering grants of up to £5,000.”

“It will hopefully be running from April and there could be up to 10 projects started in the first year.”

He added: “Our involvement will vary from project to project. Some of them involving professional organisations such as the National Trust for Scotland and RSPB we will just be a match funder while we will be more involved in ones with local community councils and Stewartry Council of Voluntary Service.”

The partnership team has spent many months working on the proposal after originally being handed £185,000 by HLF to develop the plan, more than 80 per cent of which has been spent with Dumfries and Galloway businesses, something they are keen to continue.

The Galloway Glens is in for a massive boost.
The Galloway Glens is in for a massive boost.

The partnership is likely to be based in Castle Douglas with five jobs being created.

Scheme chairman Sir Alex Fergusson said: “This is the news that we have all been waiting for and is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and effort by many people over the last 18 months.

“This scheme will provide funding to a range of projects that will highlight and connect people to their local heritage but we will all be working for it to be even more than that – aiming to support the local economy and tackling bigger challenges such as ageing demographics, public health and really putting the area on the map.”

He added: “Many thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their support. Work will begin in earnest in 2018 but what a wonderful Christmas present this is for everyone from Carsphairn to Kirkcudbright.”

Head of HLF Scotland, Lucy Casot, said: “Dumfries and Galloway has so much history to be discovered and so many stories to be told.

“That’s why we’ve been working with community groups and the council to encourage more local organisations to apply for funding and give the area’s heritage the recognition it deserves. We are delighted to see this level of success.”