Former First Minister Lord McConnell has hailed a new £1million kart racing track in Inverness – claiming it is a model for the rest of Scotland.
The Labour peer was in the Highland capital yesterday to see the new Inverness Kart Raceway for himself.
He leads the panel which selects projects to benefit from a fund set-up by power giant SSE to distribute windfarm cash to Highland communities.
The scheme has awarded more than £1million in grants to 20 projects in the Highlands, including youth mentoring charity DAY 1’s social enterprise at Inverness Kart Raceway, as well as two local apprenticeship schemes in East Sutherland and an ambitious renewable energy project on the Isle of Canna.
Founded in 2005, DAY 1 helps young people aged 14 to 17 in Inverness-shire who are struggling with formal education and are unlikely to find employment.
It opened Inverness Kart Raceway in February with the help of a £150,000 grant from SSE to purchase the site at Fairways Business Park, with all profits going directly to the charity to sustain their mentoring and employability services.
Lord McConnell said: “You can see what a good quality facility this is.
“What I really like about this place is the concept, that they have taken what might have been in the past a subsidised project that was just endlessly spending money, and they’ve turned it into an enterprise that can generate its own funds to make it self-sustaining in the future.
“So not only are they helping the young people very directly, but they have created this facility here, which is going to generate income that will sustain that long into the future.”
The former first minister added: “I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere else in Scotland. I think this is a model that other people will want to come and see and learn about.
“It’s great for the young people whose lives are being changed, but it’s also really good for the city and for the Highlands to be, yet again, innovating and showing the rest of Scotland how to do it.”
Ed Ley-Wilson, co-founder of DAY 1, said: “Five years of hard work is really paying off. The track is getting rave reviews and this grant from SSE is the icing on the cake.
“On behalf of the vulnerable young people in the region who are benefitting from our services we would like to thank SSE for their incredible support.”