TENS OF THOUSANDS of individuals flocked to South Lanarkshire to take pleasure in Scotland’s solely sizzling air balloon pageant.
Strathaven Balloon Pageant introduced collectively greater than 40,000 individuals to John Hastie Park in Strathaven, the place 15 balloons took flight. The 2-day occasion – held on August twenty fifth to twenty seventh – featured every little thing from sizzling air balloons to alpacas and has turn into a fixture on Scotland’s pageant calendar.
The pageant is totally free to attend and was made doable by way of £16,000 of funding from wind farm developer Banks Renewables over the previous 12 months – instantly contributing to the safety, first assist and parking of the occasion.
Martin Mclaughlan, a member of Strathaven Balloon Pageant mentioned: “The weekend was a serious success and we’re delighted to have given hundreds of individuals one thing a bit totally different once more this 12 months by providing a household pleasant day in Strathaven.
“It’s turn into an essential weekend within the native calendar and one which the entire space appears ahead to yearly. Not solely does the day enable individuals to have a fun-filled weekend however it additionally brings the neighborhood and native companies collectively, working collectively to tug it off.
“We, after all, couldn’t have performed it with out Banks Renewables and everybody else who funded us alongside the best way. The funding allowed us to arrange a full park and trip service and make sure the occasion is totally secure and safe.”
The pageant has been operating since 1999 and began with simply 4 balloons. It now welcomes sizzling air balloon pilots from throughout the globe to fly the Strathaven skies. A number of regionally based mostly companies, like Banks, pulled collectively to supply assist and funding in order that the pageant might run this 12 months, amid financial struggles.
Nearly all of the £16k Banks Renewables funding got here instantly from its Kype Muir Neighborhood Partnership Fund (KMCP), which was set as much as present monetary help to neighborhood teams, voluntary organisations, and communities native to the areas surrounding Banks’ Kype Muir wind challenge.
Sustainability and exterior affairs supervisor at Banks Renewables, Robin Winstanley mentioned: “Because the cost-of-living disaster continues, free festivals and actions like Strathaven Balloon Pageant supply households the chance to attend an excellent occasion with out worrying about cash.
“It’s turn into an important occasion for us at Banks to assist and we’ve actually loved being an element
of it. The group at Strathaven Balloon Pageant put in months of laborious work to make it occur and we’re delighted that native renewables initiatives like Kype Muir can ease that load.”
The KMCP fund is a part of Banks Renewables’ Connect2Renewables initiative, wherein the household agency commits to maximising the financial and social advantages of all its wind farms in South Lanarkshire.
Purposes for neighborhood funding are decided by the Kype Muir Neighborhood Panel (KMCP), a gaggle that consists of neighborhood councils native to the Kype Muir Wind Farm and builders, Banks Renewables.
Kype Muir and the neighbouring Kype Muir Extension are set to ship neighborhood advantages equating to greater than £770,000 annually in funding made accessible to surrounding neighborhood initiatives and teams that profit native individuals.
Each websites maintain a complete of 41 generators which have a mixed put in producing capability of over 150MW of electrical energy each year. This is sufficient to meet the electrical energy wants of greater than 100,000 properties, or greater than 200,000 individuals.
To seek out out extra in regards to the Kype Muir Wind Farm Neighborhood Fund go to: https://www.banksgroup.co.uk/kype
