Carloway F.C have been awarded a set of Portable Changing rooms by The Scottish Football Partnership. Club Treasurer John MacDonald said, “Carloway Football Club has recently been provided with two portable changing rooms and one storage container to complement the newly completed all weather football pitch in Carloway, on the Isle of Lewis. The club participates in the Lewis and Harris League throughout the summer months, and operates three junior age squads at Under 14, 16 & 18 age levels. There are also coaching sessions held for younger people which are well attended. Local schools sports days are also held on the club’s ground. The club’s primary objective is to continue to encourage people to participate in football. Having successfully completed the construction of an all weather facility, for use by the wider community, an approach was made to The Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) regarding the prospect of assistance towards suitable changing facilities at the site. Following an initial discussion with the Secretary Stuart McCaffrey outlining our requirements, a formal application was submitted and subsequently approved. The application process was reasonable and the level of information requested no more onerous than any other funder would seek. Having just received funding from Sport Scotland and the Local Authority, this information was at hand. It was reassuring to know that SFP offers assistance with the applications to the Local Authorities for Planning Consent and Building Warrant. The changing rooms having Type Approval for the Building Warrant also greatly helped this process. We also received assistance towards the cost of ground preparation and connection to services. The Football Partnership kept in touch with the club all the way through to establish our progress with the project and to offer guidance where appropriate. Living on an island and in a remote location, delivering the changing rooms to the site required some additional logistical work to be undertaken by the SFP however, their chosen contractors Bernard Hunter completed the job quickly and diligently, ensuring the containers were situated in exactly the right spot and to our satisfaction. Carloway F.C secured its first ever league title in 2013. One of the factors in this success was having a facility in the locality to play and train on throughout the winter months, helping to keep the players in good shape and honing their skills. We are certain that having these changing rooms will be a huge boost for the club, and help to ensure that the facility is used by all sectors of the community. The club is now in a position to provide a good quality recreational facility which will encourage more people to participate in healthy activities throughout the year and to lead healthier lives. The club is extremely grateful to Stuart and the SFP for all the assistance and advice right throughout this process and look forward to justifying their decision to offer us these changing rooms, for the benefit of the club and the community of Carloway”.
