South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has welcomed the news that Whithorn Town Hall hub has secured almost £1 million funding from South of Scotland Enterprise.

This means Whithorn’s New Town Hall Hub and Bunk House project is now fully funded after securing a grant of £972,000 from SOSE, with support from a number of other organisations including the Scottish Government.

The £2.65m project will see the creation of a 16-bed bunkhouse which will be predominantly for walkers travelling on the 143-mile Whithorn Way, as well as the renovation of the listed Town Hall for the community providing a gym and sports facilities, flexible space, commercial style kitchens and a learning hub.

Colin Smyth said: “This is great news for Whithorn and the surrounding area. It’s not just been a case of All Roads Lead to Whithorn but quite literally a very long road of hard work for everyone involved, from asset transfer from the council to now being on the cusp of that goal for the new Town Hall hub.

“The town hall hub and bunk house will provide a huge number of facilities which will be vital to the community. It’s also important to recognise the strategic importance of the project, which along with the development of the Whithorn Way, will help boost tourism in the area in the years ahead, which will be so important as we start to build back from the pandemic.

“Whithorn has a very special place in our nation’s cultural and spiritual past and it is fantastic the way the community embraced this, not just to celebrate that rich heritage but to also help try to turn the economy around. Like many small communities in peripheral areas, Whithorn has been hit hard economically, but the Community is really fighting back.

“Covid-19 has presented our small rural areas with a lot of challenges in the past year so it is good to finally have some positive news to celebrate.”