On Wednesday 22nd of February the new Dunkeld and Birnam Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) was officially opened by Dunkeld’s very own BBC Sports Commentator Eilidh Barbour at a special ribbon cutting ceremony.
The covered facility which is owned and managed by the Dunkeld and Birnam Sports and Leisure Hub opened to the public at the end of last year and has been widely used by the community since.
Stuart Paton, the Chair of the Sports Hub explains what the MUGA offers: “This fantastic new facility offers a dry, lit space to play a wide range of sports ranging from basketball and tennis and from netball to football. We are delighted that the facility is already getting well used by a lot of different age groups with the youngest being children from our local nursery. We have made the facility freely available for use by The Royal School of Dunkeld every morning and Live Active have been brilliant at introducing the children to the facility. We are extremely grateful to all our funders for helping us build this transformational project.”
Funding for the project came courtesy of the SSE Griffin Callicher Community Fund, The Gannochy Trust, Sports Scotland, Dunkeld and Birnam Leisure Group (including money raised by Kate Stansfield),four local estates (Glenquaich, Snaigow, Garrows and Lochan) and Perth and Kinross Council.
Kate Stansfield contributed to the project through fundraising she carried out to provide a legacy for her son Robbie who was tragically killed while riding his bike seventeen years ago.
Kate and members of her family attended the opening and speaking before the opening she said: “I’m delighted that after 17 years there is now a lasting legacy for my Robbie. I can’t thank enough all the people who donated to and helped my fundraising. It kept me going through a very tough time after losing my son. I’d also like to thank the Leisure Group who never gave up and the Hub for the MUGA. It’s fantastic and Robbie would have loved it. Thank you to all involved for making this happen.”
