A £40,000 expansion of a north-east community centre has been officially opened to the public.
The Mintlaw and Central Buchan Initiative (Macbi) has a multi-purpose sports hall, fitness suite and meeting rooms. It hosts a weekly youth club as well.
Now the site on Mintlaw’s Newlands Road has access to a “safe and fun” outdoor play area for local families to enjoy, thanks to the Suez Communities Trust.
The playground has a wooden pirate ship, a climbing frame and a miniature suspension bridge of children.
The unveiling of the play equipment comes as the new Macbi Cafe is opened.
Macbi chairman Norman Smith said: “Macbi is happy to announce the official opening of the new outdoor play area and cafe.
“The play area was made possible through £20,000 funding from Suez landfill tax. Suez was critical to this £40,000 project happening and the speed of the application was very much appreciated.”
Mr Smith said a further £9,000 came from Aberdeenshire Council through developer contributions.
The new cafe and play area were officially opened by council area manager Chris White.
Connie Strachan, Macbi’s community manager, said: “I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone that came along and helped us celebrate our official cafe and outdoor play area opening.
“It has been an incredible three years and I look forward to seeing what the future holds.”
Suez Communities Trust, formerly known as the Sita Trust, provides grants through the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund.
The scheme is linked to the Scottish Landfill Tax which encourages the operators of waste sites to support local communities and environmental causes.
When funding for the project was announced, Suez’s Marianne Ivin said: “The Macbi community hub is a fantastic centre with a lot to offer the local community. We are very happy to offer the funding to enable a new play area to be added to the centre.”
