Community resource centre in Whitlawburn continues to be a winner 30 years after lottery funding launch

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A community group in Whitlawburn is thriving 30 years after it became one of the first in Scotland to receive funding from the National Lottery.Formerly known as The Bonus Ball Centre, Whitlawburn Resource Centre started off life in 1995 when local people got together to create much-needed change in their own community.The same year they received £804,437 in funding to convert a disused school in Belmont Road into a space for the community.At that time leading the group was Philip Welsh MBE, but the baton has since passed on to his son Phil.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

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Inspired by his dad’s legacy, Phil, 56, has taken on the mantle, volunteering and fundraising to keep the centre running.“Back in 1995 Whitlawburn seemed very grey and drab,” Phil recalls. “There were lots of repairs that needed doing to the houses as well as problems with vandalism and kids fighting.“Someone set up a residents' meeting to see what could be done.

My dad actually only went to the meeting because he was forced into it by my mother, but next thing we knew he was giving it laldie as they say!“With the community behind him, he became chair, and the story of Whitlawburn Resource Centre began.”The centre