A PROJECT to deliver a community hub at a centre in Alloa is being backed by £550,000 of government funding.

As part of Clackmannanshire Council's Be the Future programme, transformation and recovery work is progressing at the local authority with a project at the Bowmar Centre in the town.

Plans to create a centre to focus on community empowerment, learning, wellbeing and social enterprise gained interest at the Scottish Government.

Council leader Ellen Forson said: "Covid-19 has had a profound impact on all public services and we must accept that there will be no going back to how we operated prior to this crisis.

"However, we now have an opportunity to work creatively with all our partners to focus on our priority areas in Be the Future to deliver the support and services our residents and local businesses need, as we have done throughout this crisis.

"The project to transform the Bowmar Centre to provide a community hub that truly meets the needs of local people is one way that we are going to 'Respond, Recover and Renew' in Clackmannanshire, and I am delighted that the Scottish Government has agreed to award funding towards these innovative plans.

"I look forward to working with people in Alloa South and East and our partners to ensure that the hub reflects local needs and ambitions for the area."

Councillors previously agreed that the programme would focus on current unprecedented challenges.

The £550,000 from the government's Regeneration Capital Grant Fund will convert the existing centre into a modern community hub with training, learning and wellbeing activities with a focus on participatory citizenship, creativity and digital inclusion supporting social enterprises.

The centre already hosts a number of community based programmes and the project was developed after engagement with residents in the area to hear what they wanted for their community.