Funding gives Mid Argyll communities a sporting chance
From swimming to running, recent funding from the Nadara A’Chruach Wind Farm Community Fund is helping deliver significant social value across Mid Argyll. The Fund helps strengthen community health, wellbeing and participation.
Mid Argyll Community Enterprises Ltd (MACPool) - Grant Award: £21,874
Mid Argyll Community Enterprises Ltd (MACPool) is a key community hub in Lochgilphead, welcoming around 28,000 visits each year across swimming, fitness, soft play and therapy services. After a challenging period of rising energy costs, maintenance pressures and staffing turnover, the organisation focused on strengthening resilience, accessibility and skills development across its aquatic programmes.
Funding supported three linked priorities: improving pool accessibility, expanding swim teaching capacity, and developing in-house lifeguard training.
A key early priority was restoring full accessibility. When the existing pool hoist was condemned in July 2024, disabled users temporarily lost safe independent access to the pool. A new portable hoist was installed in November 2024, with staff trained in its safe operation. This immediately reopened access for a wider range of users, including individuals referred through local health and wellbeing programmes focused on physical function, balance and fall prevention.
On swimming lessons, MACPool adapted its training approach after difficulties accessing national qualifications, switching to the STA Level 2 Award in Swim Teaching, delivered locally in Lochgilphead. Three staff qualified in 2025, with a further three booked for July 2026. As a result, the Learn to Swim programme has grown from 188 to 220 participants, while adult and baby swimming sessions—absent for over two years—have been successfully reinstated, supporting swimmers from six months through to 84 years old.
The lifeguard development strand also strengthened long-term capacity. Following the departure of the facility’s only Trainer Assessor, MACPool invested in training a new internal assessor in October 2025. Since qualifying, the team has trained six new staff, renewed three qualifications, and delivered Rookie Lifeguard training entirely in-house. In addition, two staff have completed Rookie Lifeguard Trainer training, supporting wider programme delivery. Across 2026, three free taster sessions and a subsidised six-week course engaged around 90 young people.
“The funding had a positive effect on MACPool, significantly benefiting our staff, young people entering the aquatic profession, and the community members who rely on our accessible swimming facilities.”
These improvements have reduced ongoing training costs, strengthened staffing resilience, and enabled new partnerships with local schools for curriculum swimming. In a coastal and canal-rich area, the benefits extend far beyond the pool itself—supporting safety, confidence and wellbeing across the wider community.
Mid Argyll Triathlon & Cycle Club Crinan Canal parkrun - Grant Award: £3,550
Mid Argyll Triathlon & Cycle Club helped bring a parkrun to Mid Argyll in response to local demand for a free, inclusive weekly 5k event. Parkrun is open to walkers, joggers, runners and volunteers of all abilities, and the new event filled a significant gap, with the nearest alternatives previously in Oban and Dumbarton. Funding from the Nadara A’Chruach Wind Farm Community Fund, alongside other local contributions, supported essential start-up costs including equipment, a defibrillator, volunteer training and the digital event system.
Launched in August 2024 along the Crinan Canal towpath, the event quickly attracted strong community participation.
After a temporary disruption caused by a sinkhole, a new permanent route was developed in partnership with parkrun HQ, restarting in November 2025 from Lochgilphead town centre. The revised course has helped increase visibility and participation.
By May 2026, the event had delivered 64 runs, 3,495 finishes, 1,503 participants and 184 volunteers. Weekly attendance typically ranges from 50–100 people, including families, older adults and visiting “parkrun tourists”. It has also created meaningful volunteering pathways for young people, including Scouts and Duke of Edinburgh Award participants.
Now the most westerly parkrun in Scotland, it has become a valued weekly fixture and a driver of local activity and tourism.
Together, these projects demonstrate how targeted community investment can deliver lasting benefits—supporting inclusive sport, improving access to essential facilities, and building skills that strengthen community wellbeing across Mid Argyll.
For more information visit the Fund Information Page.